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<!-- EDG Chapter Introduction -->
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<chapter id="ChapterIntroduction">
  <title>Introduction</title>

  <section id="ChIntroIntro">
    <title>Introduction</title>
    <para>
	This chapter will provide you with information about Ethereal 
	development in general. 
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="ChIntroWhatIs">
    <title>What is <application>Ethereal?</application></title>
    <para>
	Well, if you want to start Ethereal development, you might already 
	know what Ethereal is doing. If not, please have a look at the 
	<ulink url="&EtherealUsersGuidePage;">Ethereal User's Guide</ulink>, 
	which will provide a lot of general information about it.
    </para>
		
  </section>
  
  <section id="ChIntroPlatforms">
    <title>Platforms Ethereal runs on</title>
    <para>
      Ethereal currently runs on most UNIX platforms and various Windows 
      platforms. It requires GTK+, GLib, libpcap and some other libraries in 
	  order to run.
    </para>
    <para>
	As Ethereal is developed in a platform independant way and uses libraries 
	which are available for a lot of different platforms (such as the GTK+ 
	GUI library), it's available on a such a wide variety of platforms.
    </para>
    <para>
      If a binary package is not available for your platform, you should 
      download the source and try to build it. Please report your experiences
	  to <ulink url="mailto:&EtherealDevMailList;">&EtherealDevMailList;</ulink>.
    </para>
    <para>
      Binary packages are available for at least the following platforms:
    </para>

	<section><title>Unix</title>
	<para>
	<itemizedlist>
	<listitem><para>Apple Mac OS X</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>BeOS</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>FreeBSD</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>HP-UX</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>IBM AIX</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>NetBSD</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>OpenBSD</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>SCO UnixWare/OpenUnix</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>SGI Irix</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Sun Solaris/Intel</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Sun Solaris/Sparc</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Tru64 UNIX (formerly Digital UNIX)</para></listitem>
	</itemizedlist>
	</para>
	</section>
	
	<section><title>Linux</title>
	<para>
	<itemizedlist>
	<listitem><para>Debian GNU/Linux</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Gentoo Linux</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>IBM S/390 Linux (Red Hat)</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Mandrake Linux</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>PLD Linux</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Red Hat Linux</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Rock Linux</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Slackware Linux</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Suse Linux</para></listitem>
	</itemizedlist>
	</para>
	</section>
	
	<section><title>Microsoft Windows</title>
    <para>
	Thanks to the Win32 API, development on all Windows platforms will be 
	done in a very similar way. However some differences between the platforms 
	are existing (especially between the NT and 95 based platforms), the 
	differences will be notified where appropriate. All Windows platforms 
	referred to as Win32, Win or Windows may be used with the same meaning.
	As Windows CE differs a lot compared to the other Windows platforms 
	mentioned, Ethereal will not run on Windows CE and there are no plans to 
	support it.
	<itemizedlist>
	<listitem><para>Windows Me / 98 / 95</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Windows Server 2003 / XP / 2000 / NT 4.0</para></listitem>
	</itemizedlist>
    </para>
	</section>
	
  </section>
  
  <section id="ChIntroDevelopment">
    <title>
	Development and maintenance of <application>Ethereal</application>
    </title>
    <para>
      Ethereal was initially developed by Gerald Combs. Ongoing development 
      and maintenance of Ethereal is handled by the Ethereal team, a loose 
      group of individuals who fix bugs and provide new functionality.  
    </para>
    <para>
      There have also been a large number of people who have contributed 
      protocol dissectors to Ethereal, and it is expected that this will 
      continue.  You can find a list of the people who have contributed 
      code to Ethereal by checking the about dialog box of Ethereal, or have 
	  a look at the <ulink url="&EtherealAuthorsPage;"/> page on the Ethereal 
	  web site.
    </para>
    <para>
	The 
	communication between the developers is usually done trough the developer 
	mailing list, which can be joined by anyone interested in the development 
	process. At the time writing of this document, more than 500 persons are 
	subscribed to this mailing list! 
    </para>
    <para>
	It is strongly recommended to join the developer mailing list, if you 
	are going to do any Ethereal development. See 
	<xref linkend="ChIntroMailingLists"/> about the different Ethereal 
	mailing lists available.
    </para>
	
	<section><title>Programming language(s) used</title>
    <para>
	Almost any part of Ethereal is implemented in plain ANSI C. 
    </para>
    <para>
	The typical task for a new Ethereal developer is to extend an existing, 
	or write a new dissector for a specific network protocol. As (almost) any 
	dissector is written in plain old ANSI C, a good knowledge about ANSI C 
	will be sufficient for Ethereal development in almost any case.
    </para>
    <para>
	So unless you are going to change the development process of Ethereal 
	itself, you won't come in touch with any other programming language than 
	ANSI C (such as perl or python, which are used only in the Ethereal build 
	process).
    </para>
    <para>
	Beside the usual tools for developing a program in C (compiler, make, ...), 
	the build process uses some additional helper tools (Perl, Python, Sed, 
	...), which are needed for the build process and in the case Ethereal 
	should be installed from the released source packages. If Ethereal is 
	installed from a binary package, none of these helper tools are needed on 
	the target system.
	</para>
	</section>
	
	
	<section><title>Open Source Software</title>
    <para>
      Ethereal is an open source software project, and is released under 
      the <ulink url="&GPLWebsite;">GNU General Public Licence</ulink> (GPL). 
	  You can freely use Ethereal on any number of computers you like, without 
	  worrying about license keys or fees or such. In addition, all source 
	  code is freely available under the GPL. Because of that, it is very easy 
	  for people to add new protocols to Ethereal, either as plugins, or built 
	  into the source, and they often do!
    </para>
    <para>
	  You are welcome to 
      modify Ethereal to suit your own needs, and it would be appreciated 
      if you contribute your improvements back to the Ethereal team.
    </para>
    <para>
      You gain three benefits by contributing your improvements back to the 
      community:
      <itemizedlist>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Other people who find your contributions useful will appreciate 
	    them, and you will know that you have helped people in the 
	    same way that the developers of Ethereal have helped people.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    The developers of Ethereal might improve your changes even more,
		as there's always room for improvements. Or they may implement some 
		advanced things on top of your code, which can be useful for yourself
		too.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    The maintainers and developers of Ethereal will maintain your 
	    code as well, fixing it when API changes or other changes are 
	    made, and generally keeping it in tune with what is happening 
	    with Ethereal. So if Ethereal is updated (which is done often),
		you can get a new Ethereal version from the website and your changes 
		will already be included without any effort for you.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </para>
    <para>
      The Ethereal source code and binary kits for some platforms are all 
      available on the download page of the Ethereal website: 
      <ulink url="&EtherealDownloadPage;">&EtherealDownloadPage;</ulink>.
    </para>
	
	</section>
	
  </section>
  
  <section id="ChIntroReleases">
    <title>Releases and distributions</title>
    <para>
	The officially released files can be found at: <ulink 
	url="&EtherealDownloadPage;"/>. A new Ethereal version is released, after 
	significant changes compared to the last release were completed or a 
	serious security issue was encountered. The typical release schedule is
	about every 4-8 weeks (although this may vary).
    </para>
    <para>
	There are two kinds of distributions: binary and source, both have their 
	advantages and disadvantages. 
    </para>

	<section id="ChIntroReleaseBinary">
    <title>Binary distributions</title>
    <para>
	Binary distributions are usually easy to install (as simply starting
	the appropriate file is usually the only thing to do). They are available 
	for the following systems:
	<itemizedlist>
	<listitem>
    <para>
	Win32 (.exe file). The typical Windows end user is used to get a setup.exe 
	file, which will install all the required things for him.
    </para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
    <para>
	Debian (.deb file). A user of a Debian Package Manager (DPKG) based system 
	is used to get a .deb file from which the package manager checks the 
	dependancies and installs the software.
    </para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
    <para>
	RedHat (.rpm file). A user of a RedHat Package Manager (RPM) based system
	is used to get a .rpm file from which the package manager checks the 
	dependancies and installs the software.
    </para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
    <para>
	Solaris. A Solaris user is used to get a file from which the package manager 
	(PKG) checks the dependancies and installs the software.
    </para>
	</listitem>
	</itemizedlist>
	However, if you want to start developing with Ethereal, the binary
	distributions won't be much helpful, as you need the source files, of
	course.
    </para>
    <para>
	For details about how to build these binary distributions yourself, 
	e.g. if you need a distribution for a special audience, see 
	<xref linkend="ChSrcBinary"/>.
    </para>
	</section>

	<section id="ChIntroReleaseSource">
	<title>Source code distributions</title>
    <para>
	It's still common for UNIX developers to give the end user a source 
	tarball and let the user compile it on their target machine (configure, 
	make, make install). However, for different UNIX (Linux) distributions 
	it's becoming more common to release binary packages (e.g. .deb or .rpm 
	files) these days.
    </para>
    <para>
	You should use the released sources if you want to build Ethereal from
	source on your platform for productive use. However, if you going to 
	develop changes to the Ethereal sources, it might be better to use the 
	latest SVN sources. For details about the different ways to get the 
	Ethereal source code see <xref linkend="ChSrcObtain"/>.
    </para>
    <para>
	Before building Ethereal from a source distribution, make sure you have
	all the tools and libraries required to build. The following chapters will
	describe the required tools and libraries in detail.
    </para>
	</section>
  </section>
  
  <section id="ChIntroHelp">
    <title>Reporting problems and getting help</title>
	<para>
      If you have problems, or need help with Ethereal, there are several 
      places that may be of interest to you (well, beside this guide of 
	  course).
	</para>

        <section id="ChIntroHomepage"><title>Website</title>
    <para>
        You will find lot's of useful information on the Ethereal homepage at
        <ulink url="&EtherealWebSite;">&EtherealWebSite;</ulink>.
        </para>
        </section>

        <section id="ChIntroWiki"><title>Wiki</title>
    <para>
        The Ethereal Wiki at <ulink
        url="&EtherealWikiSite;">&EtherealWikiSite;</ulink> provides a wide range
        of information related to Ethereal and packet capturing in general.
        You will find a lot of information not part of this developer's guide. For
        example, there is an explanation how to capture on a switched network,
        an ongoing effort to build a protocol reference and a lot more.
        </para>
        <para>
        And best of all, if you would like to contribute your knowledge on a
        specific topic (maybe a network protocol you know well), you can edit the
        wiki pages by simply using your webbrowser.
        </para>
        </section>
	
	<section id="ChIntroFAQ"><title>FAQ</title>
    <para>
	The "Frequently Asked Questions" will list often asked questions and 
	the corresponding answers.
	<note><title>Read the FAQ!</title>
	<para>
	Before sending any mail to the mailing lists below, be sure to read the 
	FAQ, as it will often answer the question(s) you might have. This will save 
	yourself and others a lot of time (keep in mind that a lot of people are 
	subscribed to the mailing lists). 
    </para>
    </note>
	You will find the FAQ inside Ethereal by clicking the menu item 
	Help/Contents and selecting the FAQ page in the upcoming dialog. 
    </para>
    <para>
	An online version is available at the ethereal website:
	<ulink url="&EtherealFAQPage;">&EtherealFAQPage;</ulink>. You might 
	prefer this online version, as it's typically more up to date and the HTML 
	format is easier to use.
    </para>
	</section>
	
	<section id="ChIntroMailingLists"><title>Mailing Lists</title>
    <para>
      There are several mailing lists of specific Ethereal topics available:
      <variablelist>
	<varlistentry><term><command>ethereal-announce</command></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	      This mailing list will inform you about new program 
		  releases, which usually appear about every 4-8 weeks.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry><term><command>ethereal-users</command></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	      This list is for users of Ethereal. People post 
	      questions about building and using Ethereal, others (hopefully) 
		  provide answers. 
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry><term><command>ethereal-dev</command></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	      This list is for Ethereal developers. People post questions about 
		  the development of Ethereal, others (hopefully) provide answers. 
		  If you want to start developing a protocol dissector, join this list.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry><term><command>ethereal-bugs</command></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	      This list is for Ethereal developers. Everytime a change to the bug 
		  database occurs, a mail to this mailing list is generated.
		  If you want to be notified about all the changes to the bug 
		  database, join this list. Details about the bug database can be 
		  found in <xref linkend="ChIntroBugDatabase"/>.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry><term><command>ethereal-cvs</command></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	      This list is for Ethereal developers. Everytime a change to the SVN 
		  repository is checked in, a mail to this mailing list is generated.
		  If you want to be notified about all the changes to the SVN 
		  repository, join this list. Details about the SVN repository can be 
		  found in <xref linkend="ChSrcSVNServer"/>.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
      You can subscribe to each of these lists from the Ethereal web site: 
      <ulink url="&EtherealWebSite;">&EtherealWebSite;</ulink>.  Simply 
      select the <command>mailing lists</command> link on the left hand 
      side of the site. The lists are archived at the Ethereal web site 
      as well.
	<tip><title>Tip!</title>
	<para>
	You can search in the list archives to see if someone asked the same 
	question some time before and maybe already got an answer. That way you 
	don't have to wait until someone answers your question.
	</para>
	</tip>
    </para>
	</section>

	<section id="ChIntroBugDatabase"><title>Bug database</title>
	<para>
	The Etereal community started collecting bug reports in a Bugzilla database at
	<ulink url="&EtherealBugsSite;">&EtherealBugsSite;</ulink>.
	This database is filled with manually filed bug reports, usually after some 
	discussion on ethereal-dev, and bug reports from the QA build tooling.
	</para>
	</section>
		
	<section id="ChIntroReportProblems"><title>Reporting Problems</title>
	<note><title>Note!</title>
	<para>
	Before reporting any problems, please make sure you have installed the 
	latest version of Ethereal.
	</para>
	</note>
    <para>
	If you report problems, provide as much 
	information as possible. In general, just think about what 
	you would need to find that problem, if someone else sends you such a 
	problem report. Also keep in mind, that people uses a lot of different 
	platforms to compile/run Ethereal on. 
    </para>
    <para>
      When reporting problems with Ethereal, it is helpful if you supply the 
      following information:
      <orderedlist>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    The version number of Ethereal and the dependent libraries linked with 
		it, eg GTK+, etc. You can obtain this with the command 
	    <command>ethereal -v</command>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Information about the platform you run Ethereal on.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    A detailed description of your problem.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		If you get an error/warning message, copy the text of that message (and 
		also a few lines before and after it, if there are some), so others may 
		find the build step where things go wrong. 
		Please don't give something like: "I get a warning when comiling x" 
		as this won't give any direction to look at.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </orderedlist>
    </para>
	<note><title>Don't send large files!</title>
	<para>
	Do not send large files (>100KB) to the mailing lists, just place a note 
	that further data is available on request. Large files will only annoy a 
	lot of people on the list who are not interested in your specific problem. 
	If required, you will be asked for further data by the persons who really 
	can help you.
	</para>
	</note>
	<note><title>Don't send confidential information!</title>
	<para>
	If you send captured data to the mailing lists, or add it to your bug report,
	be sure it doesn't contain any sensitive or confidential information, 
	such as passwords.
	</para>
	</note>
  </section>
  
  <section><title>Reporting Crashes on UNIX/Linux platforms</title>
    <para>
      When reporting crashes with Ethereal, it is helpful if you supply the 
      traceback information (besides the information mentioned in 
	  <xref linkend="ChIntroReportProblems"/>).
    </para>
	  <para>
	    You can obtain this traceback information with the following commands:
	    <programlisting>
<![CDATA[
$ gdb `whereis ethereal | cut -f2 -d: | cut -d' ' -f2` core >& bt.txt
backtrace
^D
$
]]>
		</programlisting>
	    <note>
	      <para>
		Type the characters in the first line verbatim! Those are 
		back-tics there!
	      </para>
	    </note>
	    <note>
	      <para>
		backtrace is a <command>gdb</command> command. You should 
		enter it verbatim after the first line shown above, but it will not be 
		echoed. The ^D 
		(Control-D, that is, press the Control key and the D key 
		together) will cause <command>gdb</command> to exit. This will 
		leave you with a file called 
		<filename>bt.txt</filename> in the current directory. 
		Include the file with your bug report.
	      </para>
	    </note>
	    <note>
	      <para>
		If you do not have <command>gdb</command> available, you 
		will have to check out your operating system's debugger.  
	      </para>
	    </note>
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    You should mail the traceback to the 
		<ulink url="mailto:&EtherealDevMailList;">&EtherealDevMailList;</ulink>
	    mailing list, or append it to your bug report.
	  </para>
  </section>
  
  <section><title>Reporting Crashes on Windows platforms</title>
    <para>
	The Windows distributions don't contain the symbol files (.pdb), because 
	they are very large. For this reason it's not possible to create 
	a meaningful backtrace file from it. You should report your crash just
	like other problems, using the mechanism from
	<xref linkend="ChIntroReportProblems"/>.
    </para>
  </section>
  </section>

  <section id="ChIntroOtherSources"><title>Other sources of developer information
  </title>
    <para>
	If you don't find the information you need inside this book, there are 
	various other sources of information:
	<itemizedlist>
	<listitem>
	<para>
    have a look at the Ethereal source code
	</para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	<para>
    there are various documentation files on different topics inside the 
	source code, see all the README.xxx files
	</para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	<para>
    tool documentation of the various tools used 
	(e.g. manpages of sed, gcc, ...)
	</para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	<para>
    the different mailing lists <xref linkend="ChIntroMailingLists"/>
	</para>
	</listitem>
	<listitem>
	<para>
    ...
	</para>
	</listitem>
	</itemizedlist>
    </para>
  </section>

</chapter>
<!-- End of EUG Chapter 1 -->