XXX under construction. For now, here are the comments that used to be
at the top of the example configuration file:

# This file defines a dictionary full of configuration information for
# secnet. Two keys must be defined in this file for secnet to
# start. One is "system", a dictionary containing systemwide control
# parameters. The other is "sites", a list of all the sites that you
# intend to communicate with.

# Other files can be included inline by writing "include filename" at
# the start of a line.

# The configuration file has a fairly simple syntax:
# key definition;  or key = definition; (the "=" is optional)
# ...sets 'key' in the current dictionary to 'definition'.
# 
# "key" is [[:alpha:]_][[:alnum:]\-_]*
# 
# definition may be one of the following:
#  a string, in quotes
#  a number, in decimal
#  a dictionary, in { }
#  a path to a key that already exists, to reference that definition
#  a "closure", followed by arguments
#
# paths are key1/key2/key3... (starting from wherever we find key1, i.e. in
#  the current dictionary or any of its parents)
# alternatively /key1/key2/key3... (to start from the root)
# 
# closures are followed by an argument list in ( ), and may return
# whatever type they like (including other closures)
#
# closure { definitions } is short for closure({definitions}).
#
# Whenever secnet looks for a key it checks the (lexical) parent dictionaries
# as well until it finds it or reaches the root. This is useful for setting
# defaults for large collections of dictionaries (eg. defining sites).
#
# It is also permissible to list other dictionaries before a dictionary
# definition, eg. <defaults,otherdefaults>{definitions}. These will be
# searched in order for keys, before the lexical parent. (Not yet implemented)
# 
# secnet predefines some keys in the root dictionary; some useful ones are:
#  yes, true, True, TRUE:   the boolean value True
#  no, false, False, FALSE: the boolean value False
#  makelist:   turns a dictionary (arg1) into a list (return value)
#  readfile:   reads a file (arg1) and returns it as a string
#
# secnet modules also predefine keys, eg. "adns", "randomfile", etc.
# See the module documentation for more information.

# After the configuration file is read, secnet looks for particular keys
# in configuration space to tell it what to do:
#  system:     system-wide parameters (control, logging, etc.)
#  sites:      a list of sites with which to communicate