xpksublibs 1.0

Short:        XPK Sub-Libraries Guide
Author:       zeux@amigazeux.de (Kenny Richardson)
Uploader:     zeux amigazeux de (Kenny Richardson)
Type:         docs/misc
Version:      1.0
Architecture: generic

XPK (the eXternal PacKer) is a set of shared libraries designed to supply data 
compression and encryption capabilities to third party programs on the AmigaOS 
platform. Around since 1992 and still able to run on Amiga and Amiga NG systems 
today, its strength was its modularity.

Did you ever lie awake at night wondering how many sub-libraries ("sublibs") 
there were made for this system? No, of course not, because you're not a 
weirdo. But I am, and hence I put together this guide about them all, with
such info as:

* Who wrote them and when they were last compiled;
* What algorithm they use;
* What use they were intended for;
* Which package they are/were in;
* Which bugs they had;
* Where to get them, if known (or why not, if known);
* What fixes Cosmos and Cholok made to them later.

The intention of this document is to preserve information. I've scoured the 
internet for as much as I can on the sublibs, and much of it is slowly 
disappearing, being eroded and lost to the tides of time. I thought this might 
be my last chance to compile it and upload it to Aminet, preserve it a little 
longer, so I did.

Look, nobody really uses XPK any more: there's just no need, with 5 TB hard 
drives being common, the internet using far superior lossy compression, and the 
CPU power to use really high-end lossless compression like LZMA2 for just about 
any situation.

Things were different in 90s, so Amiga developers used ingenuity instead. And 
that has always been fascinating to me. At worst, it's an interesting read. 
Maybe at best it'll restore some memories of a better time for the Amiga.

Versions exist in AmigaGuide, simple text and PDF. There's also a quick 
reference guide in html that should work in CSS-incapable old Amiga browsers.

There are no binaries in this package.

History
=======
1.0 : Initial version.