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Knowbot System Software
=======================

Version 1.0 alpha 2 -- September 18, 1998

Introduction
------------

The Knowbot (R) software released here implements a research
infrastructure for mobile agents ("Knowbot programs") intended for use
in widely distributed systems such as the Internet.  The current
version is an experimental prototype; we plan to release new, improved
versions on a regular basis.

CNRI invites researchers and other interested parties to test drive
the Knowbot software.  We would like your feedback on the software,
and also welcome proposals for joint projects using the software.  We
plan to run the Knowbot software on one or more of our public hosts
and hope that others will do the same, thereby creating a widely
distributed network of connected public Knowbot "service stations"
(our words for servers running the Knowbot software).

The Knowbot software is written in Python, an interpreted
object-oriented programming language.  The software executes Knowbot
programs also written in Python.  However, the design of the Knowbot
architecture allows multiple programming languages; support for
Knowbot programs written in Java (in addition to Python) is planned
for a future release.  Knowbot programs written Python and Java should
then be able to interoperate.

The current version of the Knowbot software runs only on Unix and
requires Xerox PARC's ILU to run; in addition, Tcl/Tk is required for
certain components.  (For more details, see the instructions below.)

License
-------

This software is made available under certain terms and conditions for
research and educational use.  Read the file LICENSE for the software
license.  Use of the software implies your agreement with the license.

"Knowbot" is a registered trademark of CNRI.

Instructions
------------

For documentation, including build and installation instructions,
point a web browser to the file docs/manuals/index.html in this tree.

Website
-------

The website for Knowbot software has timely information such as known
bugs, new versions, and so on.  The URL is:

    http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/home/koe/index.html

Mailing lists
-------------

We maintain two mailing lists specifically for users of the Knowbot
software.  These are managed by MailMan, a web-based mailing list
manager written in Python.

knowbot-announce, for important announcements regarding the Knowbot
software:

    http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/mailman/listinfo/knowbot-announce

knowbot-list, for open discussion of the Knowbot software:

    http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/mailman/listinfo/knowbot-list

Feedback email
--------------

Direct feedback email to the developers of the Knowbot software,
including bug reports, can be sent to:

    [email protected]

Other mailing lists
-------------------

These are not maintained by CNRI, but may be relevant to users of the
Knowbot software.

Mobility mailing list, discussions on mobile agents and mobile code:

    http://mobility.lboro.ac.uk/

Software agents mailing list, discussions on intelligent agents:

    http://www.csee.umbc.edu/agentslist/