--- /dev/null
+ Yet Another Word List [YAWL]
+
+ i
+ The List
+
+Why indeed is there even a need for Yet Another Word List? The notorious
+"linux.words" list, the public domain "Websters 2", the ispell and
+cracklib dictionaries, not to mention various and sundry purported
+Scrabble lists are already available in electronic form. None of these,
+though, are optimized for word game use and as comprehensive as the
+YAWL. At 263,533 words, this list subsumes the SOWPODS list beloved of
+international Scrabble players. There is no arbitrary word length cutoff,
+and even words longer than 20 letters find a place in the list.
+
+Care has been taken to ensure that the YAWL word list (word.list) will
+for all time remain copyright free. It is based on the updated Public
+Domain ENABLE (Enhanced North American Benchmark Lexicon), researched
+and compiled by the author and his colleague, Alan Beale. The ENABLE
+list has become a sort of de facto on-line standard for word gaming,
+having been adopted by Scrabble servers and used as the basis for at
+least one commercial word game. Additional content in the list came from
+Alan Beale's painstakingly researched "2DICTS" and "OSPDADD" lists, an
+"OSW" clone list generously contributed by the amateur lexicographer,
+C.M.L. Wristlock, David Duffy's list of Australian bird names, and a short
+list of computer jargon oriented "signature words" added by the author
+of this package. While there might be suspicions of arbitrariness in
+the choice of words these signature words, they add a pungent, slightly
+smoky idiosyncratic flavor to the brew.
+
+Those who, in spite of themselves, develop an asthetic
+appreciation of the YAWL package are urged to download the
+lists it is based on, in the ENABLE2K and SUPP2K archives, from
+http://personal.riverusers.com/~thegrendel/software.html. These archives
+contain Alan Beale's erudite, but eminently readable research notes,
+a treat for the amateur lexicographer.
+
+The YAWL word list itself (word.list) is, of course, in standard
+UNIX ASCII format, one word per line, terminated by an LF. Those
+unfortunate Windows persons desiring a DOS ASCII word file, lines
+terminated by an LF-CR, can download the "tofrodos" package from
+http://chrisheng.hypermart.net/ or http://thor.prohosting.com/~cslheng/,
+which contains both 16 and 32-bit Windows executables for converting
+text files from UNIX to DOS format.
+
+The YAWL list, word.list, is herewith and forever placed in the
+Public Domain, which means there are no restrictions on its use and
+redistribution for "lawful" purposes. This means you may not use the list
+to rob banks or swindle investors, but short of that, pretty much anything
+goes. If you decide to incorporate the list into a game, application,
+or product, the author requests, as a courtesy, notification of same,
+so that he can gain a moment's satisfaction in return for all the effort
+he has put into this project.
+
+
+
+ ii
+ The Utilities
+
+This new version of the YAWL package now includes two simple anagramming
+utilities. They are interesting and useful in their own right, but
+their true purpose is to inspire all the Linux word gamers and coders
+out there to invent and create... word games, using the YAWL list,
+of course. It would truly be nice to see a successor to Scrabble -
+a new generation word game with strategic depth, a word game with some
+of the sheer crystalline beauty of chess and the sheer profundity of Go,
+a word game rewarding artistic play rather than dry list memorization,
+a word game for those who truly love the richness of the English language
+and revel in its peculiar permutations, a word game that will take the
+gaming community by storm, a word game that will invade living rooms
+all across the civilized world, in short, a word game fated to run on
+millions of Linux machines.
+
+
+Using 'anagram' involves nothing more than typing, from the command line
+(console or xterm), 'anagram letter-set [dictionary]'. Omitting the
+[dictionary] defaults to the YAWL list, installed by this package as
+"word.list" in /usr/dict. Omitting the letter set causes the program
+to prompt the user for input. The letter set may include "wild cards"
+(blank tiles), which are represented as underscores (_). The output goes
+to stdout, and may, of course be redirected to a file.
+
+Examples:
+ anagram lkwa
+ ------------
+ al
+ aw
+ awl
+ ka
+ la
+ law
+ walk
+
+ anagram whea_l
+ --------------
+ aa
+ aah
+ aal
+ ab
+ able
+ ace
+ ache
+ ... and 459 other words.
+
+ anagram abcd /usr/dict/linux.words
+ ----------------------------------
+ anagrams the letterset "abcd" using /usr/dict/linux.words.
+
+
+
+The multiple word anagram utility, "multi" works similarly. The syntax, from
+the command line, is:
+ multi [letter set] [number of words] [word file]
+
+Example:
+ multi abcdefghij 3
+ ------------------
+ bach fed jig
+ bach jig fed
+ bad chef jig
+ ...
+ bid chef jag
+ ...
+ jab chef dig
+ ...and 49 other combinations.
+
+Using "multi" can provide some cheap thrills when a party gets dull.
+
+Both "anagram" and "multi" have their own man pages, installed by a
+"make install".
+
+It would take only a few small tweaks to transform the anagram code into an
+unscramble tool for "scramblegrams" or even a "find the missing letters"
+utility for crossword puzzle fans. This is left as an "exercise for the
+reader".
+
+Mendel Cooper
+thegrendel@theriver.com
+
+--
+Scrabble is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley, a subsidiary of Hasbro,
+Inc.
+
+ENABLE, YAWL, and 2DICTS are not trademarks.
projects / deb_pkgs / scowl.git / blobdiff