The PROTO package provides a place in the system where users can put their
programs for others to conveniently use, without modifying the IRAF system
itself (see also LOCAL).  A program or package must meet a strict set of
standards to be installed in the IRAF system as a fully supported program;
PROTO provides a way for users to get software into the system without having
to meet the mainline IRAF standards.  Programs or packages installed in PROTO
are automatically candidates for eventual migration into the main system.
Tasks installed in PROTO are generally expected to go away after a while.

Only portable IRAF software should be installed in the PROTO package.
Nonportable programs should be placed in LOCAL and will not be exported with
the system.