diff --git a/trunk/ripnews/encode/tests/uu_test.rb b/trunk/ripnews/encode/tests/uu_test.rb
index 84cba25..7ba3d8d 100755
--- a/trunk/ripnews/encode/tests/uu_test.rb
+++ b/trunk/ripnews/encode/tests/uu_test.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-#!/usr/local/bin/ruby
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
 
 # $Dwarf: uu_test.rb,v 1.1 2003/04/20 16:33:02 ward Exp $
 # $Source$
 
 require '../uuencode.rb'
-require 'ftools'
+require 'fileutils'
 
 def test1
 	print "Test 1: decoding a file\n"
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def test1
 		print "	Failed, mode should be 644, but is #{mode}\n"
 	elsif filename != "testdata"
 		print "	Failed, filename should be \"testdata\", but is \"#{filename}\"\n"
-	elsif ! File.compare("testdata", tmpfile.path)
+	elsif ! FileUtils.compare_file("testdata", tmpfile.path)
 		print "	Failed, result doesn't match reference data\n"
 	else
 		print "	Succesful\n"
diff --git a/trunk/ripnews/encode/tests/yenc_test.rb b/trunk/ripnews/encode/tests/yenc_test.rb
index 12e7e0e..9b6ec7f 100755
--- a/trunk/ripnews/encode/tests/yenc_test.rb
+++ b/trunk/ripnews/encode/tests/yenc_test.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-#!/usr/local/bin/ruby
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
 
 # $Dwarf: yenc_test.rb,v 1.1 2003/04/20 18:32:39 ward Exp $
 # $Source$
 
 require '../yenc.rb'
-require 'ftools'
+require 'fileutils'
 
 def test1
 	print "Test 1: decoding a file\n"
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ def test1
 	mode, filename, body = YEnc.ydecode(file, tmpfile)
 	if filename != "testdata"
 		print "Failed, filename should be \"testdata\", but is \"#{filename}\"\n"
-	elsif ! File.compare("testdata", tmpfile.path)
+	elsif ! FileUtils.compare_file("testdata", tmpfile.path)
+FileUtils.cp(tmpfile.path, "/tmp/bla")
 		print "Failed, result doesn't match reference data\n"
 	else
 		print "Succesful\n"
diff --git a/trunk/ripnews/encode/uuencode.rb b/trunk/ripnews/encode/uuencode.rb
index 2f34d6e..6058f65 100644
--- a/trunk/ripnews/encode/uuencode.rb
+++ b/trunk/ripnews/encode/uuencode.rb
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ def _uudecode_file(file, outfile)
 		if  line =~ /^begin(.*)/
 			m = $1
 			puts "beginning matched; rest: #{m}"  if Debuglevel > 0
-			if m =~ /^(\s+(\d+))?(\s+(.*?\S))?\s*\Z/
+			if m.match(/^(\s+(\d+))?(\s+(.*?\S))?\s*\Z/)
 				mode = $2
 				filename = $4
 				puts "found beginning" if Debuglevel > 0
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ def _uudecode_file(file, outfile)
 		return mode, filename if line =~ /^end/
 		next if line =~ /[a-z]/
 		next if line == nil
-		next unless ((((line[0] - 32) & 077) + 2) / 3).to_i == (line.length/4).to_i
-		outfile.print line.unpack("u")
+		next unless ((((line[0].ord - 32) & 077) + 2) / 3).to_i == (line.length/4).to_i
+		line.unpack("u").each{|x| outfile.print x}
 	end
 
 	puts "No \"end\" found!!!"
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ def _uudecode_array(data)
 		if  data[i] =~ /^begin(.*)/
 			m = $1
 			puts "beginning matched; rest: #{m}" if Debuglevel > 0
-			if m =~ /^(\s+(\d+))?(\s+(.*?\S))?\s*\Z/
+			if m.match(/^(\s+(\d+))?(\s+(.*?\S))?\s*\Z/)
 				mode = $2
 				filename = $4
 				puts "found beginning" if Debuglevel > 0
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ def _uudecode_array(data)
 		next if line =~ /[a-z]/
 		next if line == nil
 		begin
-			next unless ((((line[0] - 32) & 077) + 2) / 3).to_i == (line.length/4).to_i
+			next unless ((((line[0].ord - 32) & 077) + 2) / 3).to_i == (line.length/4).to_i
 		rescue NoMethodError
 			return false
 		end
diff --git a/trunk/ripnews/encode/yenc.rb b/trunk/ripnews/encode/yenc.rb
index 57bae1d..5049d65 100644
--- a/trunk/ripnews/encode/yenc.rb
+++ b/trunk/ripnews/encode/yenc.rb
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def _ydecode_line(line)
 			end
 		end
 #		begin
-			ostr << @@ymap[line[i].to_i]
+			ostr << @@ymap[line[i].ord]
 #		rescue TypeError
 #			puts "this should not happen!!!"
 #			puts "line[i] contents: '#{line[i]}'\n"
@@ -90,10 +90,10 @@ def _ydecode_file(file, outfile)
 	while (! file.eof)
 		line = file.gets
 		print "line: #{line}" if Debuglevel > 0
-		if  line =~ /^\=ybegin\s+(.*line\=.*)/
+		if  line.match(/^\=ybegin\s+(.*line\=.*)/)
 			m = $1
 			puts "ybegin match; rest: #{m}"  if Debuglevel > 0
-			if m =~ /^\s*(part\=(\d+)\s+)?(total\=(\d+)\s+)?(line\=(\d+))(\s*size\=(\d+))(\s*name=(.*?\S))\s*$/
+			if m.match(/^\s*(part\=(\d+)\s+)?(total\=(\d+)\s+)?(line\=(\d+))(\s*size\=(\d+))(\s*name=(.*?\S))\s*$/)
 				part = $2.to_i
 				total = $4.to_i
 				linesize = $6.to_i
@@ -126,9 +126,9 @@ def _ydecode_file(file, outfile)
 		line = file.gets
 		line.chop!
 
-		if line =~ /^=yend\s+(.*)\Z/
+		if line.match(/^=yend\s+(.*)\Z/)
 			m = $1
-			m =~ /(\s*size=(\d+)\s+)(\s*part=(\d+))?(\s+crc32=(\S+))?/
+			m.match(/(\s*size=(\d+)\s+)(\s*part=(\d+))?(\s+crc32=(\S+))?/)
 			size = $2.to_i
 			part = $4.to_i
 			crc = $6
@@ -149,10 +149,10 @@ def _ydecode_file(file, outfile)
 			bytes = 0
 			next
 		end
-		if search_begin && line =~ /^\=ybegin\s+(.*)\Z/
+		if search_begin && line.match(/^\=ybegin\s+(.*)\Z/)
 			m = $1
 			search_begin = false
-			if m =~ /^\s*(part\=(\d+)\s+)?(total\=(\d+)\s+)?(line\=(\d+))(\s*size\=(\d+))(\s*name=(.*?\S))\s*$/
+			if m.match(/^\s*(part\=(\d+)\s+)?(total\=(\d+)\s+)?(line\=(\d+))(\s*size\=(\d+))(\s*name=(.*?\S))\s*$/)
 				part = $2.to_i
 				total = $4.to_i
 				linesize = $6.to_i
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ def _ydecode_file(file, outfile)
 		if search_begin == true
 			next
 		end
-		if line =~ /^=ypart\s+(\s*begin=(\d+))(\s+end=(\d+))/
+		if line.match(/^=ypart\s+(\s*begin=(\d+))(\s+end=(\d+))/)
 			skip = false
 			b = $2
 			e = $4
@@ -216,10 +216,10 @@ def _ydecode_array(data)
 
 	i = 0
 	while (i < data.length)
-		if  data[i] =~ /^\=ybegin\s+(.*line\=.*)/
+		if  data[i].match(/^\=ybegin\s+(.*line\=.*)/)
 			m = $1
 			puts "ybegin match; rest: #{m}"  if Debuglevel > 0
-			if m =~ /^\s*(part\=(\d+)\s+)?(total\=(\d+)\s+)?(line\=(\d+))(\s*size\=(\d+))(\s*name=(.*?\S))\s*$/
+			if m.match(/^\s*(part\=(\d+)\s+)?(total\=(\d+)\s+)?(line\=(\d+))(\s*size\=(\d+))(\s*name=(.*?\S))\s*$/)
 				part = $2.to_i
 				total = $4.to_i
 				linesize = $6.to_i
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ def _ydecode_array(data)
 		puts "at #{i} need to go to #{data.length}" if Debuglevel > 1
 		print "line: #{line}" if Debuglevel > 0
 		i += 1
-		if line =~ /^\=yend(\s+size=(\d+))(\s+crc32=(\S+))?/
+		if line.match(/^\=yend(\s+size=(\d+))(\s+crc32=(\S+))?/)
 			size = $2.to_i
 			crc = $4
 			if size != decode.length
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ def _ydecode_array(data)
 			dec = [ decode ]
 			return mode, filename, dec
 		end
-		if line =~ /^=ypart\s+(\s*begin=(\d+))(\s+end=(\d+))/
+		if line.match(/^=ypart\s+(\s*begin=(\d+))(\s+end=(\d+))/)
 			skip = false
 			b = $2
 			e = $4
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ def get_filename(data)
 	i = 0
 	while i < data.length
 		line = data[i]
-		if line =~ /=ybegin\s*(part\=(\d+)\s+)?(total\=(\d+)\s+)?(line\=(\d+))(\s*size\=(\d+))(\s*name=(.*?\S))\s*$/m
+		if line.match(/=ybegin\s*(part\=(\d+)\s+)?(total\=(\d+)\s+)?(line\=(\d+))(\s*size\=(\d+))(\s*name=(.*?\S))\s*$/m)
 			return $10
 		end
 		i += 1