A typical file name for an architecture dependent Macaulay 2 distribution file
looks like this:

        Macaulay2-1.2-i386-Linux-FedoraCore-1.tar.gz

whereas the architecture independent file name looks like this

        Macaulay2-1.2-common.tar.gz

Both files are needed (except under Macintosh OS X) and should be unzipped and
unpacked in the same directory.

Explanation of the parts of the name:

  Macaulay2     the name of our software package

    1.2         the Macaulay 2 version (or release) number

    i386        the CPU architecture; it should match your machine and your OS
                   i386, i486, i686 : 32 bit Intel architectures
                   x86_64, amd64: 64 bit Intel/AMD architecture,
                           including the Intel Core 2 Duo
                           and the Intel Centrino Duo.
                           We use these two names as synonyms.
                   powerpc: Macintosh Power PC architecture 

    Linux       the operating system; it should match your machine
                   MacOS : Macintosh operating system
                   MicrosoftWindows : Microsoft Windows
                   FreeBSD : Free BSD (unix)
                   Linux : GNU Linux

 FedoraCore-1   the operating system "issue"; for GNU/Linux, this name is found
                in the file /etc/issue on your computer.  Translation:
                   FedoraCore-1 : Fedora Core release 1 (Yarrow)
                   Cygwin : Microsoft Windows with Cygwin installed
                   Generic : an artificial "issue" designed to run on many machines
                   Ubuntu :
                   Debian :
                   Fedora :

    tar         the format of the archive:
                   tar : use the "tar" program to extract files
                   dmg : a disk image, mountable under Mac OS X
                   deb : a debian archive, use "dpkg" or "gdebi-gtk".
                   rpm : a red hat program manager archive, use "rpm"
                   tbz : a FreeBSD package, use "pkg_add" to install it
                         or "gtar" ("tar") with the appropriate "bunzip2"
                         option to unpack it

    bz2         the method of compression, if any
                   gz : use gunzip, or use GNU "tar" with the "xfz" option
                   bz2: use bunzip2, or use GNU "tar" with the "xfj" option


Some components of the name are optional:

  libc-2.7      the version number of the sharable library "libc" on which the 
                executable file "M2" was compiled