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[weather.git] / README

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+GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE WEATHER UTILITY
+
+Copyright (c) 2006 Jeremy Stanley <fungi@yuggoth.org>, all rights reserved.
+Licensed per terms in the LICENSE file distributed with this software.
+
+
+WHAT?
+
+This command-line utility is intended to provide quick access to
+current weather conditions and forecasts. Presently, it is
+capable of returning data for localities throughout the USA by
+retrieving and formatting decoded METARs (Meteorological
+Aerodrome Reports) from NOAA (the National Oceanic and
+Atmospheric Administration) and forecasts from the NWS (National
+Weather Service). The tool is written to function in the same
+spirit as other command-line informational utilities like cal(1),
+calendar(1) and dict(1). It can retrieve arbitrary weather data
+via specific command-line switches (station ID, city, state), or
+aliases can be configured system wide and on a per-user basis. It
+can be freely used and redistributed under the terms of the BSD
+License.
+
+
+WHY?
+
+My girlfriend has a long commute to/from work and school, and
+often wants to check the weather both for home and her office.
+Unfortunately, starting a Web browser, pulling up a weather site,
+entering multiple ZIP codes and waiting for them to load is
+time-consuming for the marginally-impatient. Since she tends to
+stay logged into a shell server most of the time, I figured I'd
+install a quick command-line tool to retrieve weather info for
+her commute, but to my surprise, a quick search turned up little
+that met my basic requirements:
+
+  * retrieve current data on-demand
+  * provide both current conditions and short-term forecasts
+  * simple, human-readable output
+  * easy to configure and use
+  * flexible command-line switches and options
+
+
+WHERE?
+
+A tarball for the most recent version of the weather utility can
+be had here:
+
+   http://fungi.yuggoth.org/weather/src/
+
+Alternatively, Debian users can grab a pre-built DEB package
+here:
+
+   http://fungi.yuggoth.org/weather/debian/
+
+...or add these lines for binary and, optionally, source packages
+to /etc/apt/sources.list:
+
+   deb http://fungi.yuggoth.org/weather/debian ./
+   deb-src http://fungi.yuggoth.org/weather/debian ./
+
+...then 'apt-get update && apt-get install weather-util' as root
+to get the current package installed and working.
+