kit

jargon (Usenet, possibly from DEC) Slang for a full

software distribution, as opposed to a patch or upgrade. A

source software distribution that has been packaged in such a

way that it can (theoretically) be unpacked and installed

according to a series of steps using only standard Unix

tools, and entirely documented by some reasonable chain of

references from the top-level README file. The more general

term distribution may imply that special tools or more

stringent conditions on the host environment are required.

[Jargon File]

(1994-11-18)