This is GNU Stow, a program for managing the installation of software
packages, keeping them separate (/usr/local/stow/emacs
vs. /usr/local/stow/perl, for example) while making them appear to be
installed in the same place (/usr/local).

Stow is a Perl script which should run correctly under Perl 4 and Perl
5.  You must install Perl before running Stow.  For more information
about Perl, see http://www.perl.com/perl/.

You can get the latest information about Stow from
http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu/software/stow/stow.html.

Stow was inspired by Carnegie Mellon's "Depot" program, but is
substantially simpler.  Whereas Depot requires database files to keep
things in sync, Stow stores no extra state between runs, so there's no
danger (as there is in Depot) of mangling directories when file
hierarchies don't match the database.  Also unlike Depot, Stow will
never delete any files, directories, or links that appear in a Stow
directory (e.g., /usr/local/stow/emacs), so it's always possible to
rebuild the target tree (e.g., /usr/local).

Stow is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License,
which can be found in the file COPYING.

See INSTALL for installation instructions.

Please mail comments, questions, and criticisms to the author, Bob
Glickstein, <bobg+stow@zanshin.com>.