upx/README

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                    The Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
   Copyright (c) 1996-2006 Markus Oberhumer, Laszlo Molnar & John Reiser
                        http://upx.sourceforge.net



WARNING - UNSTABLE BETA VERSION
===============================

All versions 1.9x are unstable beta releases - use them only for testing,
and never distribute a program that is packed with them !
There will be hidden bugs. Really.

The current stable release is 1.25, and the next stable release
will be called version 2.00.

The main news since 1.25 are:
  - slightly better compression using the new NRV2E algorithm
  - new options for compression tuning (e.g. `--brute')
  - support for bootable Linux kernels ("vmlinuz/386")
  - support for Linux kernel building  ("vmlinux/386")
  - direct Linux ELF-to-memory decompression ("linux/elf386") and
    shell-to-memory decompression ("linux/sh386")
  - support for arm/WinCE ("arm/pe") exes
  - support for mach/ppc32
  - support for Linux elf/ppc32
  - support for Linux elf/amd64
  - support for playstation exes ("ps1/exe")
  - lots of new bugs ;-) take care


WELCOME
=======

Welcome to UPX !

Please don't forget to read the file LICENSE - UPX is distributed
under the GNU General Public License (GPL) with special exceptions
allowing the distribution of all compressed executables, including
commercial programs.


INTRODUCTION
============

UPX is an advanced executable file compressor. UPX will typically
reduce the file size of programs and DLLs by around 50%-70%, thus
reducing disk space, network load times, download times and
other distribution and storage costs.

Programs and libraries compressed by UPX are completely self-contained
and run exactly as before, with no runtime or memory penalty for most
of the supported formats.

UPX supports a number of different executable formats, including
Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/CE programs and DLLs, DOS programs,
and Linux executables and kernels.

UPX is free software distributed under the term of the GNU General
Public License. Full source code is available.

UPX may be distributed and used freely, even with commercial applications.
See the UPX License Agreement for details.

UPX is rated number one in the well known Archive Comparison Test. Visit
http://compression.ca/ .

UPX aims to be Commercial Quality Freeware.


SHORT DOCUMENTATION
===================

`upx program.exe' will compress a program or DLL. For best compression
results try `upx --best program.exe'.

Please see the file UPX.DOC for the full documentation. The files
NEWS and BUGS also contain various tidbits of information.


DISCLAIMER
==========

UPX comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details see the file LICENSE.

Having said that, we think that UPX is quite stable now. Indeed we
have compressed lots of files without any problems. Also, the
current version has undergone several months of beta testing -
actually it's more than 4 years since our first public beta.

This is the first production quality release, and we plan that future
releases will be backward compatible with this version.

Please report all problems or suggestions to the authors. Thanks.


THE FUTURE
==========

  - We'd really love to support handheld systems like the PalmPilot because
    compression makes a lot of sense here. And - because of the atari/tos
    format - we already have a working decompressor in 68000 assembly.
    Unfortunately we know next to nothing about the operating system
    architecture of such handhelds, so we need some information from
    an expert. Please contact us if you think you can help.

  - The Linux approach could probably get ported to a lot of other Unix
    variants, at least for other i386 architectures it shouldn't be too
    much work. If someone sends me a fresh hard disk and an official
    FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD/Solaris/BeOS... CD I might take a look at it ;-)

  - We will *NOT* add any sort of protection and/or encryption.
    This only gives people a false feeling of security because
    by definition all protectors/compressors can be broken.
    And don't trust any advertisment of authors of other executable
    compressors about this topic - just do a websearch on "unpackers"...

  - Fix all remaining bugs - keep your reports coming ;-)

  - See the file PROJECTS in the source code distribution if you want
    to contribute.


COPYRIGHT
=========

Copyright (C) 1996-2006 Markus Franz Xaver Johannes Oberhumer
Copyright (C) 1996-2006 Laszlo Molnar
Copyright (C) 2000-2006 John F. Reiser

This program may be used freely, and you are welcome to
redistribute it under certain conditions.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
UPX License Agreement for more details.

You should have received a copy of the UPX License Agreement along
with this program; see the file LICENSE. If not, visit the UPX home page.


Share and enjoy,
Markus & Laszlo


   Markus F.X.J. Oberhumer                   Laszlo Molnar
   markus@oberhumer.com                      ml1050@users.sourceforge.net



[ The term UPX is a shorthand for the Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
  and holds no connection with potential owners of registered trademarks
  or other rights. ]

[ Feel free to contact us if you have commercial compression requirements
  or interesting job offers. ]