A new version of the RIPE whois client for Unix systems is now available in ftp.ripe.net:tools/ripe-whois.tar.Z. It supports several new options of the RIPE whois server.
From the manual page:
----------------------------------------------------------------- -r This option is only available for the RIPE whois server. suppress recursive lookup of related entries. Normally the RIPE whois server will automatically look up contact persons associated with an object. Specify this flag if you do not want this behavior. Only objects matching the iden- tifier will be printed. -a This option is only available for the RIPE whois server. This causes the server to include informa- tion from non-RIPE whois databases in the reply. Currently these are the public parts of the US NIC and NSFnet databases. Please note that the RIPE NCC does not maintain these databases. The information is included for for your convenience only. -s source This option is only available for the RIPE whois server. selects a database with the requested ----------------------------------------------------------------- These options can also be used without installing the client by connecting directly to the RIPE whois server at port 43 of host whois.ripe.net and entering the option flags followed by the search key(s). Note that there is no prompt and the connection will be closed after the answer to the query is output. Comments welcome RIPE NCC