ferret graphic Net Ferret v0.1b2
(c)1999 Dave Fletcher
What is this?
Net Ferret is a tool to help you get quicker results when searching the internet. It runs as an applet in the GNOME toolbar. Searching is painful enough already without that pesky search engine front page with seven hundred advertisements...

There are currently 17 different search engines which come pre-installed with Net Ferret, and a total of 35 engines on-line. I plan to add more as I find them, or as people request them; it is really easy to do. Send search engine requests to alchemy@pcc.net, with subject "ferret-engine-request". If your engine is used, your name will be included in the "Contributors" section below. To keep you up to date with the latest search engine list, a "Web Update" feature is included which grabs the latest search engine description list here on pcc.net, last updated on 6/23/99.

 engines list graphic
gnome panel graphic
Quick Installation Instructions
  1. If your distribution is one other than RedHat 6, read "Requirements" below.
  2. Download "netferret-0.1b2.tar.gz"
  3. cd to the directory to which you downloaded "netferret-0.1b2.tar.gz"
  4. type "tar xvzf netferret-0.1b2.tar.gz"
  5. type "cd netferret-0.1b2"
  6. type "./configure"
  7. type "make"
  8. Become root user, if necessary (type "su root")
  9. type "make install"
That's it, your installation is complete. Right click the toolbar on your gnome desktop. Under the "Add applet" submenu, find the "Network" menu. Pick "Net Ferret" to begin.

How Net Ferret came to be
This is the project which I used to familliarize myself with the GNOME environment.

A similar tool exists called "websearch" available at http://www.nodata.demon.co.uk/websearch and within the GNOME CVS distribution as "websearch". I've decided to continue Net Ferret development because I feel it is a more user friendly approach than "websearch". It requires no external compiled binary resources, and the "Web Update" feature makes obtaining and installing the latest greatest search engine list extremely easy.

Contributors
In the order in which they became involved. Hey contributors, and potential contributors, check out the new Developer Corner, a work in progress.

Warning this is a BETA release
Please remember, this is the first beta release of Net Ferret. Although such a situation is highly unlikely, Dave Fletcher cannot be responsible for any damages which use of this software may incur, including the occasional crash, loss of data, destruction of the Earth, etc. Please send bug reports, love or hate mail, or naked pictures of yourself to alchemy@pcc.net, with subject "ferret-bug"

Requirements
A linux box running X windows and the GNOME desktop environment. As of this writing, RedHat 6 is the only linux distribution I know of which installs and activates everything necessary to run Net Ferret, but it should work fine on any system with the latest stable versions of the following libraries installed:

Also, an active internet connection and "libghttp" are required in order to use the "Web Update" function which dynamically updates the list of search engines and the application itself.

Further, gcc, the GNU c compiler, is required in order to build Net Ferret.

A gtk only "windowed" version of Net Ferret which does not require GNOME is currently in the works. It will be available soon in Net Ferret v0.2.

OK, so what does it cost
Nothing, it's free! Enjoy. The source code is freely distributable under the GNU General Public License. (see COPYING)

Changes in the current release
Updated autoconf (thanks, cumarc). Stabalized properties dialog and preferences systems. Removed bogus include which caused compilation problems on some platforms.

Plea for internalization help!
Please, if you speak another language and have an hour or two to spare, consider contributing. Please email me at alchemy@pcc.net, with subject "ferret-international" if you wish to prepare an internationalized distribution. I am fairly certain the properties scheme will work for all roman language variations, but I know nothing about asian languages and multibyte char support. Please send an email to the above address with any successes, failures, or suggestions on the subject.

things to internationalize:

things not to internationalize: