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+Q: What is sbosrcarch?
+
+A: sbosrcarch is "The SlackBuilds.Org Source Archive". It contains copies
+ of the source files listed in the .info files for all (or almost all)
+ the builds on SlackBuilds.org.
+
+ sbosrcarch is also the name of the software that created and maintains
+ the archive (more about this later, near the end of this FAQ).
+
+Q: What is sbosrcarch for?
+
+A: It's intended to be a backup location for source files that can't be
+ downloaded. This happens mainly for these reasons:
+
+ - The upstream web site goes down, is moved, or has connectivity
+ issues (intermittent or long-term).
+ - Upstream moves or removes the source, when they release a new version.
+
+ Also, the archive is hosted on a fast, well-connected host. Sometimes
+ you might choose to use the archive just for faster downloads.
+
+ A side benefit of the archiving process is that the archive maintenance
+ software produces a log of failed downloads, which can then be sent
+ to the slackbuilds-users mailing list and/or build maintainer so it
+ can be fixed quickly.
+
+Q: Who is responsible for sbosrcarch?
+
+A: The archive server is operated by Darren Austin, aka "Tadgy"
+ on Freenode IRC. The archive script was written by B. Watson, aka
+ "Urchlay" on Freenode. Both of us keep an eye on the logs and keep the
+ archive healthy.
+
+ The best way to contact us is using an IRC client to connect to
+ Freenode and join the ##slackware or ##slackbuilds channel.
+
+ We can also be reached by email:
+
+ B. Watson <yalhcru@gmail.com>
+ TODO: make sure Tadgy is OK with his email being here!
+
+ Please read this entire FAQ before asking us questions. Chances are,
+ you'll find the answer here. If not, or if the answer isn't clear
+ enough, we'll be happy to help.
+
+ Note that the SlackBuilds.org team is NOT responsible for the
+ archive. PLEASE don't bother them with questions about sbosrcarch,
+ they're already busy enough maintaining the actual SlackBuilds site!
+ Same goes for individual build maintainers.
+
+Q: Why create a giant archive like this? Isn't it better to fix the
+ SlackBuilds whose sources can't be downloaded?
+
+A: Sort-of. Yes, if a SlackBuild references a no-longer-existing
+ source download URL, it should be updated. Usually the SlackBuild
+ maintainer is responsible for this. Sometimes the SBo admins take
+ care of it instead. Sometimes, it takes longer than expected to
+ update a SlackBuild: the new version uses a different build system,
+ or requires some dependency to be updated first, or the maintainer
+ is too busy with Real Life and can't spare the time just at the moment.
+
+ Once the build is updated, it still doesn't appear instantly on the
+ site. It has to sit in the "pending" queue until it's been reviewed by
+ the admins, and then in the "ready" queue until the next public update.
+
+ The SBo update process is complex, and requires coordination between
+ the various admins. Generally this means that site updates ("Public
+ www update" in the git log) only happen once a week.
+
+ During the time it takes for the SlackBuild to get updated for the
+ new download URL (and possibly new version), users won't be able to
+ download the source as listed on the SBo site.
+
+ That's what the archive is mainly intended for. It's a fallback,
+ a stop-gap solution, that allows builds to keep working during the
+ period between the source disappearing and the build being updated.
+ Usually this is only a week or less, but sometimes things slip through
+ the cracks...
+
+Q: How do I use the archive?
+
+A: Several answers here:
+
+ - Using a tool that supports the archive, such as sbopkg or sbotools.
+
+ This is by far the easiest way: they automatically use the archive
+ if they need to, without you having to do any extra work.
+
+ - Manually with a web browser. The easy way is to start at:
+
+ http://slackware.uk/sbosrcarch/by-name/
+
+ ...which shows a list of category directories (academic, accessibility,
+ audio, etc). Choose a category, then within the category
+ you'll see a list of build name directories. Each of these will
+ contain the source file(s) for the build.
+
+ Example: you can't download the source to system/atari800, so
+ you go to the by-name page, click on "system", then "atari800".
+ There you'll see the file you wanted, atari800-3.1.0.tar.gz (unless
+ it's been updated since I wrote this).
+
+ - With a download tool like wget or curl. You could do this using the
+ same by-name tree as you would for manual lookups, but it's better to
+ do this by md5sum. The base URL for this is:
+
+ http://slackware.uk/sbosrcarch/by-md5/
+
+ In the build's .info file, take the 'filename' part of each download
+ URL. Example: "atari800-3.1.0.tar.gz", where the link is
+ http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/atari800/atari800/3.1.0/atari800-3.1.0.tar.gz
+
+ Now take the MD5SUM (or MD5SUM_x86_64 if you're using DOWNLOAD_x86_64),
+ and use the first two characters as subdirectory names, followed by the
+ full md5sum. Example: we have
+
+ MD5SUM="354f8756a7f33cf5b7a56377d1759e41"
+
+ in the .info file. The directory for this would be:
+
+ 3/5/354f8756a7f33cf5b7a56377d1759e41
+
+ Add this to the base URL and get:
+
+ http://slackware.uk/sbosrcarch/by-md5/3/5/354f8756a7f33cf5b7a56377d1759e41/
+
+ Now add the filename part from DOWNLOAD or DOWNLOAD_x86_64, and you get:
+
+ http://slackware.uk/sbosrcarch/by-md5/3/5/354f8756a7f33cf5b7a56377d1759e41/atari800-3.1.0.tar.g
+
+ This is the exact URL for the file, if it's actually present in the
+ archive. Most likely, it will be, and your download will succeed. If
+ the download fails, the file's not in the archive.
+
+ Of course, all these steps should be automated. You'll end up writing
+ a script in your favorite language to do the job. Or:
+
+ - Using the sbosrc script
+
+ Same as above, except someone's already written it for you. Download
+ it here:
+
+ http://urchlay.naptime.net/repos/sbostuff/plain/sbosrc
+
+ ...or, it'd be better to use git:
+
+ git clone git://urchlay.naptime.net/sbostuff.git
+
+ Make it executable (chmod +x) and place it somewhere on your $PATH,
+ such as /usr/local/bin.
+
+ Whenever you need to download something from the archive, change
+ to the directory containing the .info file (same place as the
+ .SlackBuild) and just run:
+
+ sbosrc
+
+ ...which will check the current architecture (32-bit or 64-bit),
+ parse the info file, calculate the URL as above, and download the
+ file to the current directory.
+
+Q: I need a specific older version of a source file, not the latest
+ version that's packaged on SBo. Will the archive have it?
+
+A: Probably not. Old versions don't disappear immediately when new
+ ones are archived, but they do get purged monthly... or, almost:
+ old files are deleted on the 30th of every month, and February is
+ only 28 or 29 days long!
+
+ Use the by-md5 tree if you're looking for an old version, since some
+ builds use unversioned filenames (new one will overwrite the old,
+ in the by-name tree).
+
+ If you know the exact filename and/or md5sum, you can always try a
+ google search for them. Use "quotes" around the filename.
+
+Q: How do I know it's safe to use files downloaded from the archive?
+
+A: The same way you know it's safe to use any file you downloaded for
+ use with a SlackBuild: check the downloaded file's md5sum against
+ the MD5SUM line in the build's .info file.
+
+Q: How do I use the archive with automated tools such as sbopkg and sbotools?
+
+A: For sbopkg and sbotools, you just run them normally. They'll automatically
+ search the archive, if a source download fails.
+
+Q: How complete is the archive?
+
+A: Currently (2018-06-26), the by-md5 tree is 100% complete. This does
+ NOT count blacklisted sources (see next question).
+
+ For a more up-to-date answer, see the archive status page:
+
+ http://slackware.uk/sbosrcarch/STATUS
+
+ This gets updated nightly.
+
+Q: Why are some sources missing from the archive?
+
+A: Multiple answers:
+
+ - The archiver couldn't download the file. Maybe the site was down
+ when it tried, or the upstream developers removed the file. Generally
+ this will require the build's maintainer to fix the .info file or
+ update the SlackBuild to a newer version (that actually exists).
+ In some cases, the archive operator will find the file and manually
+ add it to the archive.
+
+ - The archiver downloaded the file, but the download's md5sum doesn't
+ match. The build maintainer will have to fix the .info file. We
+ won't archive any files we can't verify by md5sum.
+
+ - There is some software that can't be automatically downloaded
+ (requires account creation on the upstream site) or whose license
+ doesn't allow us to redistribute it.
+
+ The classic example of both is development/jdk: Oracle's license
+ requires that users download the file directly from their site and
+ doesn't allow us (or anyone else) to offer it for download. Also,
+ downloading from Oracle requires creating an Oracle account, so
+ the archiver couldn't auto-download it even if it were allowed.
+
+ Sources we can't download are blacklisted by the archiver, and
+ don't count towards the completion percentage on the status page.
+ The current blacklist is:
+
+ academic/novocraft
+ academic/wehi-weasel
+ development/amd-app-sdk
+ development/decklink-sdk
+ development/jdk
+ development/J-Link
+ development/sqlcl
+ development/sqldeveloper
+ office/treesheets
+ system/displaylink
+ system/oracle-instantclient-devel
+ system/oracle-xe
+ system/oracle-instantclient-basic
+
+ If you find a file in the archive that shouldn't be there due to
+ its license not allowing redistribution, PLEASE let us know so we
+ can remove and blacklist it. It is not our intention to violate
+ anyone's license.
+
+Q: Why does the status page say the by-name tree is missing 4 files, but
+ the by-md5sum tree is 100% complete?
+
+A: This is due to a design flaw in the archive structure. We assumed that
+ download filenames would either be unique within an .info file, or else
+ that 2 files with the same filename were in fact the same file.
+
+ For 4 of the SlackBuilds, this turns out to be a bad assumption. Example:
+ development/p4's .info file has this:
+
+ DOWNLOAD="https://www.perforce.com/downloads/perforce/r18.1/bin.linux26x86/p4"
+ DOWNLOAD_x86_64="https://www.perforce.com/downloads/perforce/r18.1/bin.linux26x86_64/p4"
+
+ Notice that both URLs end in "/p4". The directory parts of the URL are
+ different, but the filenames are the same.
+
+ The archive script successfully downloads these files and stores them
+ in the by-md5 tree in the correct directories. But when it tries to
+ store them in the by-name tree, it's trying to save two files in the
+ same directory with the same name. The second one overwrites the first.
+
+ The current list of builds affected by this is:
+
+ academic/ucsc-blat
+ development/p4
+ development/p4d
+ libraries/p4api
+
+ Eventually this will get more-or-less fixed: for these builds (and only
+ these), there will probably be separate x86/ and x86_64/ subdirectories
+ (e.g. development/p4/x86/p4).
+
+Q: I'm a SlackBuild maintainer, and the download URL for one of my builds
+ has disappeared. Can I use the archive URL as the DOWNLOAD in my .info
+ file?
+
+A: Yes, but only as a temporary measure or a last resort.
+
+ It's better to do one of these:
+
+ - Find another copy of the source. Try a google search for the exact
+ filename (in "quotes"), or the md5sum.
+
+ - Host the source yourself, if you have access to a web or ftp server.
+
+ - Ask on the slackbuilds-users mailing list. Someone will probably
+ volunteer to host the source for you, provided you have a copy of
+ it to send them (and if you don't, hey, there's this handy source
+ archive you can probably get it from...)
+
+ Using the archive as the DOWNLOAD results in less redundancy. Nobody
+ is currently mirroring the archive that we know of. Ideally, we want
+ every source file to have two working URLs: the original plus the
+ sbosrcarch one.
+
+Q: How do I create my own archive?
+
+A: Two choices:
+
+ - Mirror the directory the usual way, using wget or rsync. Using
+ rsync is better!
+
+ - Get a copy of the sbosrcarch script and run it on your web server.
+ This will be more work on your part, but your archive will be
+ independent: it'll keep updating itself even if the original archive
+ at slackware.uk goes away someday.
+
+ The script lives here:
+
+ http://urchlay.naptime.net/repos/sbostuff/plain/sbosrcarch
+
+ ...or, it'd be better to use git:
+
+ git clone git://urchlay.naptime.net/sbostuff.git
+
+ It's written in perl, and has extensive documentation. Run it as
+ "sbosrcarch --help" to see the docs.
+
+ If you're thinking about running a sbosrcarch instance, please
+ contact me (yalhcru@gmail.com). I've got a list (with only one
+ entry in it) and I'd like it to include all the archives eventually.
+ Also I'm pretty good at troubleshooting, if you're having problems
+ with the script.