  Each family of Gauss hypergeometric functions
  $$ f_n={}_2F_1(a+\epsilon_1n, b+\epsilon_2n ;c+\epsilon_3n; z), $$
  for fixed $\epsilon_j=0,\pm1$ (not all $\epsilon_j$ equal to zero) satisfies
a second order linear difference equation of the form
  $$ A_nf_{n-1}+B_nf_n+C_nf_{n+1}=0. $$
  Because of symmetry relations and functional relations for the Gauss
functions, many of the 26 cases (for different $\epsilon_j$ values) can be
transformed into each other. We give a set of basic equations from which all
other equations can be obtained. For each basic equation, we study the
existence of minimal solutions and the character of $f_n$ (minimal or dominant)
as $n\to \pm\infty$. A second independent solution is given in each basic case
which is dominant when $f_n$ is minimal and vice-versa. In this way,
satisfactory pairs of linearly independent solutions for each of the 26 second
order linear difference equations can be obtained.
