B.1.1 Getting the gawk Distribution

There are two ways to get GNU software:

• Copy it from someone else who already has it.
• Retrieve gawk from the Internet host ftp.gnu.org, in the directory /gnu/gawk. Both anonymous ftp and http access are supported. If you have the wget program, you can use a command like the following:

  wget http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gawk/gawk-4.1.4.tar.gz
  

The GNU software archive is mirrored around the world. The up-to-date list of mirror sites is available from the main FSF website. Try to use one of the mirrors; they will be less busy, and you can usually find one closer to your site.

You may also retrieve the gawk source code from the official Git repository; for more information see Accessing The Source.