[ogurechny]

If you got the software from pirate BBS, you would meditate on its file list to check for presence of notes, hints, FAQs and release info files if that information was not attached. Newsgroups/echomail could have it posted, too, routinely, or as an answer to someone's question.

That was a bit later, though. In the age of physical disk swapping, you would ask friends, or prepare for an audience with That One Guy Who Has Everything And Knows Everything.