gnubeep 1.4 README


gnubeep is a simple C program to generate custom tones (beeps).  It was 
designed to be used as a backend by shell scripts and perl scripts where the
bell character doesn't suffice (`printf("\a")`).  gnubeep 1. has various
options:

--
-h      Output a usage/help message
-b      Generate a beep using the bell character (\a)
-f      Frequency of the tone
-l      Length of the tone
--

gnubeep utilises the system PIT to emit tones using the speaker (the internal
speaker, not the soundcard).

I have often found myself needing to generate certain tones, or certain 
lengths for various reasons, including:

1) giving a special message to a user
2) playing simple tunes (like Jingle Bells ;-))
3) comparing already acquired sounds to determine what pitch (frequency) the
   sound is played at.
4) or just for fun :-)


gnubeep 1.4 fixes more non-standardizations in the code, reported by Andrew B.
Collier.  This means that gnubeep should build on older versions of GCC also.
Consult the BUGS file for more info.

Note that gnubeep must be SUID root to allow users other than root it.  There
are now two install targets in the makefile: install, and install-suid.  These
ideas were suggested by Andrew B. Collier.  Thanks Andrew :-).  The SUID target
will install gnubeep with the SUID bit set, so that non-root users can run
gnubeep aswell as root.  gnubeep *NEEDS* root privileges, so if you choose to
run 'make install' instead, only root will be able to run gnubeep.

I have added a 'clean' target in the Makefile, should someone wish to remove
gnubeep and related files.  The 'clean' target will remove the gnubeep binary
from the install directory, and the /usr/bin directory, as well as removing the
gnubeep man page.

Read the manpage for more info on gnubeep.

Thank you, enjoy.




Shaun Colley - 
<shaunige@yahoo.co.uk>
