freeWAIS 0.5 is now available via anonymous ftp:

ftp://ftp.cnidr.org/pub/NIDR.tools/freeWAIS-0.5.tar
ftp://ftp.cnidr.org/pub/NIDR.tools/freeWAIS-0.5.tar.Z
ftp://ftp.cnidr.org/pub/NIDR.tools/freeWAIS-0.5.tar.gz

Comments and bug fixes should be addressed to freewais@cnidr.org.

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freeWAIS 0.5 is a beta release for testing purposes only. Bug fixes
will be incorporated on a regular basis until the version stabilizes.
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freeWAIS 0.5 incorporates many contributed fixes from users of freeeWAIS
0.4. Thanks to all who contributed.

Many enhancements and fixes to the current wais-8-b5 release were
incorporated into freeWAIS 0.1. freeWAIS 0.n is designed to be a
transition module during the development of ZDist.  ZDist, included in
Isite and currently in release, includes support for Z39.50 Version 2.

The current WAIS protocol extensions to Z39.50-88 are incompatible with
Z39.50 Version 2 and 3, but Isite and ZDist will provide the necessary
backwards compatibility so queries may be answered from either client
set.

A summary of fixes and enhancements may be found in

ftp://ftp/cnidr.org/pub/NIDR.tools/freewais/freeWAIS-0.5-RELEASE-NOTES

If you are interested in discussing wais, freeWAIS, or Z39.50, three
discussion lists exist for these purposes:

wais-talk@think.com - Z39.50-88 compliant versions 
zip@cnidr.org - ZDist 1.0 (Z39.50-92 compliant versions) 
z3950iw@nervm.bitnet - Z39.50 protocol

Send standard subscription requests (subscribe listname Firstname
Lastname) to:

listname-request@site.domain

as in

zip-request@cnidr.org

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Clearinghouse for Networked Information Discovery and Retrieval (CNIDR)
Center for Communications at MCNC 
PO Box 12889, 3021 Cornwallis Road
Research Triangle Park, NC  27709-2889 
E-mail: cnidr@cnidr.org  Phone: 919-248-1499
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