This documents how to get you up, running and using FreeAmp.  It also
explains a bit about where we are coming from.

Send feedback to info@freeamp.org. If you have any questions, please
check the web site at http://www.freeamp.org for answers to common
problems before sending us mail.

INSTALLATION:
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From the source:

  See the document INSTALL

From binaries:

  Run "./install-freeamp" from this directory

  Or alternatively, if you prefer to install the files manually:
    - Move freeamp to /usr/local/bin (or, somewhere else in your path)
    - Move the plugins directory (complete with contents) to
        /usr/local/lib/freeamp
    - If you do not have ALSA installed, remove alsa.pmo from the
        /usr/local/lib/freeamp/plugins directory.
    - If you do not have EsounD installed, remove esound.pmo from the
        /usr/local/lib/freeamp/plugins directory.


SETTING UP FREEAMP: (Unix only -- done automatically in Windows)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

To properly setup FreeAmp, you need to set the mime-type associations
in your Web Browser. To do this in Netscape, open up the Edit menu and
select 'Preferences'. On the left pane, select 'Navigator', then 
'Applications' to get to the configuration pane where you can setup
Helper Application. Then all that needsjust click on the 'New...' button
to start adding new associations.  For all the following mime-types, fill
in the Application field to be: freeamp %s

The mimetypes and their extension that FreeAmp can handle are: 
     
     mimetype                             extension
     ----------------------------------------------
     audio/x-mpeg                         mp3
     audio/x-mp3                          mp3
     audio/mpeg                           mp3
     audio/mp3                            mp3
     audio/mpegurl                        m3u 
     audio/x-mpegurl                      m3u
     audio/scpls                          pls
     audio/x-scpls                        pls
     application/vnd.rn-rn_music_package  rmp
     application/x-freeamp-theme          fat

Just set up seperate associations for each of these mimetypes, and 
FreeAmp will be launched whenever you click on a relavent URL in your
browser.


USING FREEAMP:
----------------------------------------------------------------------

FreeAmp 2.0.5 for Win32 and Linux:

  freeamp [options] [file 1] [file 2]...

  A lot has changed since version 1.3. In version 2.0 we have an all
  new interface with easily labelled buttons.

  * My Music - Opens a music browser which will hopefully allow you
      to more easily manage your music. The "My Music" dialog allows
      you to edit the current play queue as well as persistant 
      playlists.
  * Options - Opens the preferences dialog, enabling you to control
      many features in FreeAmp.
  * Files - Allows you to immediately open files located on your
      file system.
  * Download - Opens the download manager.

  Above the button bar are the volume slider on the left and the seek
  slider on the right.

  Below the button bar are the primary audio controls, Previous Song, 
  Play/Pause, Stop, and Next Song.

  The small buttons to the left of the primary audio controls control
  shuffle and repeat modes.


  



ABOUT FreeAmp:
----------------------------------------------------------------------

FreeAmp is an Open Source effort to build the best digital audio 
player available.  In the interest of supporting the free software 
community, while at the same time fostering the growth of the online 
delivery of music, EMusic.com, THE Source for Downloadable Music, is 
funding both the FreeAmp.org domain and the efforts of the FreeAmp 
team. The FreeAmp team consists of: Mark B. Elrod, Robert Kaye, Isaac
Richards, Brett Thomas, and Jason Woodward. 

Other people have also contributed to FreeAmp. Bill Yuan in China has
contributed the RainPlay user interface and Gabor Fleischer in Hungary 
has contributed Linux ALSA support. For a complete list of contributors
and their contributions check out the AUTHORS file. If you feel like 
contributing to the project, please check out our developer pages. 

FreeAmp is being released under the GPL.  As is provided by the GPL, 
all of EMusic's and your efforts toward FreeAmp will be released back 
to the community at large. 

The current development and release versions of FreeAmp can be found
at http://www.freeamp.org.

To join a low volume mailing list which will announce updates to the
release software, visit:
http://www.freeamp.org/mailman/listinfo/freeamp-announce 

To join a mailing list actively discussing the ongoing development of
FreeAmp, visit: http://www.freeamp.org/mailman/listinfo/freeamp-dev 

To make feature suggestions, send mail to freeamp-features@freeamp.org, 
or, better yet, if you are able, add the feature yourself and send us 
the updates!

