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- <!-- This HTML file has been created by texi2html 1.30
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- <TITLE>GNU's Bulletin, vol. 1 no. 13</TITLE>
- <H1>GNU's Bulletin, vol. 1 no. 13</H1>
- <P>
- @landscapegnubull
- <HR>
- @dohbox
- @dovtop
- <P>
- {@line {@chaprm GNU's Bulletin June, 1992}}
- <P>
- The GNU's Bulletin is the semi-annual newsletter of the
- <P>
- Free Software Foundation, bringing you
- <P>
- news about the GNU Project.
- <P>
- <P>
- <HR>
- <P>
- @dovtop
- <H3><A NAME="SEC1" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC1">Contents</A></H3>
- <PRE>
- GNU's Who 2
- What Is the Free Software Foundation? 3
- What Is Copyleft? 3
- Free Software Support 4
- GNUs Flashes 5
- Patent Reform Is Not Enough 6
- What Is the LPF? 7
- U.S. Federal Database Bill 8
- The Hurd: the GNU Kernel Advances 9
- Project GNU Status Report 10
- A GNU Standard on Suns? 13
- Andrew Toolkit Stays Free 13
- GNU in Japan 14
- GNU Documentation 15
- Project GNU Wish List 16
- How to Get GNU Software 17
- GNU Software Available Now 18
- Contents of the Emacs Tape 18
- Contents of the Languages Tape 19
- Contents of the Utilities Tape 22
- Contents of the Experimental Tape 24
- X11 and Berkeley Networking 2 Tapes 26
- VMS Emacs and Compiler Tapes 26
- Free Software for Microcomputers 27
- Free Software Foundation Order Form 29
- Thank GNUs 31
- </PRE>
- <P>
- <HR>
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC2" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC2">GNU's Who</A></H1>
- <P>
- @indent <B>Michael Bushnell</B> is working on the GNU operating system and
- maintains GNU <CODE>tar</CODE>. <B>Jim Blandy</B> is preparing GNU Emacs
- 19, and <B>Joseph Arceneaux</B> is implementing active regions for a
- future GNU Emacs release. <B>Roland McGrath</B> is polishing the C
- library and maintains GNU <CODE>make</CODE>.
- <P>
- @indent <B>Tom Lord</B> is writing a graphics library and working on Oleo, the GNU
- spreadsheet. <B>Brian Fox</B> is improving various programs that he
- has written including <CODE>makeinfo</CODE>, <CODE>info</CODE>, the <CODE>readline</CODE>
- library, BASH, and is writing the <CITE>BASH Manual</CITE>. <B>Jan
- Brittenson</B> is working on the C interpreter and maintaining
- <CODE>finger</CODE>. <B>Mike Haertel</B> is making GNU <CODE>grep</CODE> POSIX
- compliant and beginning work on optical character recognition.
- <B>David MacKenzie</B> maintains most of GNU's small utilities--more
- programs than nearly everyone else combined.
- <P>
- @indent <B>Kathy Hargreaves</B> and <B>Karl Berry</B> are making fonts (and
- coordinating volunteers making fonts), developing utilities for dealing
- with them, and working on Ghostscript. <B>Melissa Weisshaus</B> is
- editing documentation and will work on the <CITE>GNU Utilities Manual</CITE>.
- <P>
- @indent <B>Noah Friedman</B> is our system administrator. <B>Lisa `Opus'
- Goldstein</B> continues to run the business end of FSF, with <B>Gena
- Lynne Bean</B> assisting in the office. <B>Spike MacPhee</B> assists RMS
- with legal assignments of software and other administrative tasks.
- <B>Robert J. Chassell</B>, our Secretary/Treasurer, also handles our
- publishing and is working on an introduction to programming in Emacs
- Lisp, in addition to many other tasks.
- <P>
- @indent <B>Richard Stallman</B> continues as a volunteer who does countless tasks,
- such as C compiler maintenance and finishing the <CITE>C Library
- Manual</CITE>.
- <P>
- Volunteer <B>Len Tower</B> remains our on-line JOAT
- (jack-of-all-trades), handling mailing lists and gnUSENET, information
- requests, etc.
- <P>
- <HR>
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC3" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC3">GNU's Bulletin</A></H1>
- <P>
- Written and Edited by: Jan Brittenson, Noah S. Friedman,
- <P>
- @indent Robert J. Chassell, Melissa Weisshaus, Richard Stallman,
- <P>
- and Leonard H. Tower Jr.
- <P>
- Illustrations: Etienne Suvasa
- <P>
- Japanese Edition: Mieko Hikichi and Nobuyuki Hikichi
- <P>
- The GNU's Bulletin is published twice annually. To get a copy, send
- your request to the address on the first page. If you live in an area
- served by the US Post Office, please also send a SASE
- (Self-Addressed Stamped Number 10 Envelope), otherwise please include a
- preprinted mailing label. A small donation to cover copying costs is
- appreciated but not required.
- <P>
- Copyright (C) 1992 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
- <P>
- Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies of
- this document as received, in any medium, provided that the copyright
- notice and permission notice are preserved, and that the distributor
- grants the recipient permission for further redistribution as permitted
- by this notice.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC4" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC4">What Is the Free Software Foundation?</A></H1>
- <P>
- The Free Software Foundation is dedicated to eliminating restrictions on
- copying, redistribution, understanding, and modification of computer
- programs. We do this by promoting the development and use of free
- software in all areas of computer use. Specifically, we are putting
- together a complete integrated software system named "GNU" (GNU's Not
- Unix) that will be upwardly compatible with Unix. Some large parts of
- this system are already working, and we are distributing them
- now.
- <P>
- The word "free" in our name pertains to freedom, not price. You may or
- may not pay a price to get GNU software. Either way, you have two specific
- freedoms once you have the software: first, the freedom to copy the program
- and give it away to your friends and co-workers; and second, the freedom to
- change the program as you wish, by having full access to source code.
- Furthermore, you can study the source and learn how such programs are
- written. You may then be able to port it, improve it, and share your
- changes with others. (If you redistribute GNU software, you may charge a
- fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, or you may give away
- copies.)
- <P>
- Other organizations distribute whatever free software happens to be
- available. By contrast, the Free Software Foundation concentrates on
- development of new free software, working towards a GNU system complete
- enough to eliminate the need for you to purchase a proprietary
- system.
- <P>
- Besides developing GNU, FSF distributes copies of GNU software and
- manuals for a distribution fee, and accepts tax-deductible gifts to
- support GNU development. Most of FSF's funds come from its distribution
- service.
- <P>
- The Board of the Foundation is: Richard M. Stallman, President; <BR>
- Robert J. Chassell, Secretary/Treasurer; Gerald J. Sussman,
- Harold Abelson, and Leonard H. Tower Jr., Directors.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC5" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC5">What Is Copyleft?</A></H1>
- <P>
- The simplest way to make a program free is to put it in the public
- domain, uncopyrighted. But this allows anyone to copyright and restrict
- its use against the author's wishes, thus denying others the right to
- access and freely redistribute it. This completely perverts the
- original intent.
- <P>
- To prevent this, we copyright our software in a novel manner. Typical
- software companies use copyrights to take away your freedoms. We use
- the <DFN>copyleft</DFN> to preserve them. It is a legal instrument that
- requires those who pass on the program to include the rights to further
- redistribute it, and to see and change the code; the code and rights
- become legally inseparable.
- <P>
- The copyleft used by the GNU Project is made from a combination of a
- regular copyright notice and the <DFN>GNU General Public License</DFN> (GPL).
- The GPL is a copying license which basically says
- that you have the freedoms discussed above. An alternate form, the
- <DFN>GNU Library General Public License</DFN> (LGPL), applies to certain GNU
- Libraries. This license permits linking the libraries into proprietary
- executables under certain conditions. The appropriate license is
- included in all GNU source code distributions and in many of our
- manuals. We will also send you a printed copy upon request.
- <P>
- Note that the library license actually represents a strategic retreat.
- We would prefer to insist as much as possible that programs based on GNU
- software must themselves be free. However, in the case of
- libraries, we found that insisting they be used only in free software
- appeared to discourage use of the libraries rather than encouraging
- free applications.
- <P>
- If the library license does promote the further use and development of
- free libraries by the developers of proprietary applications, we may
- consider putting more of the GNU Project libraries under it.
- <P>
- We strongly encourage you to copyleft your programs and documentation,
- and we have made it as simple as possible for you to do so. The details
- on how to apply the GPL appear at the end of the GPL.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC6" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC6">Free Software Support</A></H1>
- <P>
- The Free Software Foundation does not provide any technical support.
- Although we create software, we leave it to others to earn a living
- providing support because we would rather concentrate on the former
- task. We see programmers as providing a service, much as doctors and
- lawyers now do; both medical and legal knowledge are freely
- redistributable entities for which the practitioners charge a
- distribution and service fee.
- <P>
- We maintain a list of people who offer support and other consulting
- services, called the GNU Service Directory. It is in the file
- <TT>`etc/SERVICE'</TT> in the GNU Emacs distribution and <TT>`SERVICE'</TT> in
- the GCC distribution. Contact us if you would like a printed copy or
- wish to be listed in it.
- <P>
- If you find a deficiency in any GNU software, we want to know. We
- have many Internet mailing lists for announcements, bug reports,
- and questions. They are also gatewayed into USENET news as the
- <CODE>gnu.*</CODE> newsgroups.
- <P>
- If you have no Internet access, you can get mail and USENET news via
- UUCP. Contact a local UUCP site, or a commercial UUCP site such
- as:
- <P>
- <PRE>
- Anterior Technology <CODE>info@fernwood.mpk.ca.us</CODE>
- P.O. Box 1206, Fax: (415) 322-1753
- Menlo Park, CA 94026-1206 USA Phone: (415) 328-5615
- UUNET Communications Services, <CODE>info@ftp.uu.net</CODE>
- 3110 Fairview Park Drive -- Suite 570,
- Falls Church, VA 22042 USA Phone: (703) 876--5050
- </PRE>
- <P>
- When we receive a bug report, we usually try to fix the problem. While
- our bug fixes may seem like individual assistance, they are not. Our
- task is so large that we must focus on that which helps the community as
- a whole, such as developing and maintaining software and documentation.
- We do not have the resources to help individuals. If your bug
- report does not evoke a solution from us, you may still get one from the
- many other users who read our bug report mailing lists. Otherwise, use
- the Service Directory.
- <P>
- So, please do not ask us to help you install the software or figure out
- how to use it--but do tell us how an installation script does not work
- or where the documentation is unclear.
- <P>
- <BLOCKQUOTE>
- <EM>"If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of
- giants."</EM>
- </BLOCKQUOTE>
- <P>
- --Isaac Newton
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC7" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC7">GNUs Flashes</A></H1>
- <P>
- <UL>
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Free Unix Emulator for Mach</B>
- <P>
- @indent Randall Dean at CMU is finishing up a free BSD-based Unix
- emulator for Mach. It does not yet run reliably, but if it does become
- robust well before the Hurd is ready we will probably use it to create
- an early, completely free GNU system. We do not expect tape
- distribution of this emulator before the next issue of the GNUs
- Bulletin. Please don't ask us about this project; we will make
- an announcement when it is ready.
- <P>
- @indent Roland McGrath is porting the GNU C library to work with this
- emulator.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Berkeley Networking 2 Release</B>
- <P>
- The FSF now offers the BSD Networking 2 release on tape (see "Berkeley
- Networking 2 Tape" under "GNU Software Available Now").
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Distribution Tapes Reorganized</B>
- <P>
- Our software distribution has been reorganized. The old Compiler
- tape has been split into a Languages and a Utilities tape. Some
- software has also moved from the Emacs tape to the other two tapes.
- In addition, we have a temporary Experimental tape. See "GNU
- Software Available Now."
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>FSF Distributing on Exabyte Cassettes</B>
- <P>
- We are now offering our software on 8mm Exabyte cassettes. For more
- information, see "FSF Order Form".
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>New Binding for GNU Manuals</B>
- <P>
- Several GNU manuals are now bound as soft cover books with a new
- <DFN>lay-flat</DFN> binding technology. This allows you to open them so they
- "lie flat" on a table without creasing the binding. Each book has an
- inner cloth spine and an outer cardboard cover that will not break or
- crease as an ordinary paperback will. Currently, the <CITE>GAWK</CITE>,
- <CITE>Bison</CITE>, <CITE>GDB</CITE>, and <CITE>Emacs Lisp Reference</CITE> manuals have
- this binding. All other GNU manuals are also bound so they lie flat
- when opened, using other technologies.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Fortran Mailing List</B>
- <P>
- A mailing list exists for those interested in the Fortran front end
- for GCC. To subscribe, ask:
- <CODE>info-gnu-fortran-request@prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE>. Meanwhile, the
- front end itself is rapidly approaching an alpha test state.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU in Russia Moves Forward</B>
- <P>
- Progress is being made on the GNU Project in Russia. The "Center for
- GNU Development" is translating GNU documentation into Russian.
- Recently, they finished the first version of a Modula-2-to-C
- translator. They are also working on an SQL database management
- system and on other projects.
- </UL>
- <P>
- <BLOCKQUOTE>
- <EM>"If I have not seen farther, it is because giants were standing
- on my shoulders."</EM>
- </BLOCKQUOTE>
- <P>
- --anonymous
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC8" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC8">Patent Reform Is Not Enough</A></H1>
- <P>
- by Richard Stallman
- <P>
- When people first learn about the problem of software patents, their
- attention is often drawn to the egregious examples: patents that cover
- techniques already widely known. These techniques include sorting a
- collection of formulae so that no variable is used before it is
- calculated (called "natural order recalculation" in spreadsheets), and
- the use of exclusive-or to modify the contents of a bit-map display.
- <P>
- Focusing on these examples can lead some people to ignore the rest of
- the problem. They are attracted to the position that the patent system
- is basically correct and needs only "reforms" to carry out its own
- rules properly.
- <P>
- But would correct implementation really solve the problem of software
- patents? Let's consider an example.
- <P>
- In April 1991, software developer Ross Williams began publishing a
- series of data compression programs using new algorithms of his own
- devising. Their superior speed and compression quality soon attracted
- users.
- <P>
- The following September, when the FSF was about a week away from
- releasing one of them as the new choice for compressing our distribution
- files, use of these programs in the United States was halted by a newly
- issued patent, number 5,049,881.
- <P>
- Under the current patent rules, whether the public is allowed to use
- these programs (i.e., whether the patent is invalid) depends on whether
- there is "prior art": whether the basic idea was published before the
- patent application, which was on June 18, 1990. Williams' publication
- in April 1991 came after that date, so it does not count.
- <P>
- A student described a similar algorithm in 1988--1989 in a class paper
- at the University of San Francisco, but the paper was not published.
- So it does not count as prior art under the current rules.
- <P>
- Reforms to make the patent system work "properly" would be no help
- here. Under the rules of the patent system, this patent seems valid.
- There is no prior art for it. It is not close to obvious, as the patent
- system interprets the term. (Like most patents, it is neither
- worldshaking nor trivial, but somewhere in between.) The fault is in
- the rules themselves, not their execution.
- <P>
- In the US legal system, patents are intended as a bargain between
- society and individuals; society is supposed to gain through the
- disclosure of techniques that would otherwise never be available. It is
- clear that society has gained nothing by issuing patent number
- 5,049,881.
- <P>
- Under current rules, our ability to use Williams's programs depends on
- whether anyone happened to publish the same idea before June 18, 1990.
- That is to say, it depends on luck. This system is good for promoting
- the practice of law, but not progress in software.
- <P>
- Teaching the Patent Office to look at more of the existing prior art
- might prevent some outrageous mistakes. It will not cure the greater
- problem, which is the patenting of every <EM>new</EM> wrinkle in the use
- of computers, like the one that Williams and others independently
- developed.
- <P>
- This will turn software into a quagmire. Even an innovative program
- typically uses dozens of not-quite-new techniques and features, each
- of which might have been patented. Our ability to use each wrinkle
- will depend on luck, and if we are unlucky half the time, few programs
- will escape infringing a large number of patents. Navigating the maze
- of patents will be harder than writing software. As <CITE>The
- Economist</CITE> says, software patents are simply bad for business.
- <P>
- If you'd like to do something, the easiest thing to do is to join the
- League for Programming Freedom.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC9" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC9">What Is the LPF?</A></H1>
- <P>
- The League for Programming Freedom (LPF) aims to protect the freedom
- to write software. This freedom is threatened by "look-and-feel"
- interface copyright lawsuits, and by software patents. The LPF does
- not endorse free software or the FSF.
- <P>
- The League's members include programmers, entrepreneurs, students,
- professors, the FSF, and even some software companies.
- <P>
- From the League membership form:
- <P>
- <BLOCKQUOTE>
- @indent The League for Programming Freedom is a grass-roots
- organization of professors, students, business people, programmers,
- and users dedicated to bringing back the freedom to write programs.
- The League is not opposed to the legal system that Congress
- intended--copyright on individual programs. Our aim is to reverse
- the recent changes made by judges in response to special interests.
- <P>
- Membership dues in the League are $42 per year for programmers, managers
- and professionals; $10.50 for students; $21 for others.
- </BLOCKQUOTE>
- <P>
- To join, please send a check and the following information:
- <P>
- <UL>
- <UL>
- <LI>
- Your name and phone numbers (home, work or both).
- <P>
- <LI>
- The address to use for League mailings, a few each year (please indicate
- whether it is your home address or your work address).
- <P>
- <LI>
- The company you work for, and your position.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Your email address, so the League can contact you for political action.
- (If you don't want to be contacted for this, please say so, but please
- give your email address anyway.)
- <P>
- <LI>
- Please mention anything about you which would enable your<BR>
- endorsement of the LPF to impress the public.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Please say whether you would like to help with LPF activities.
- <P>
- </UL>
- </UL>
- <P>
- The address is:
- <P>
- <PRE>
- League for Programming Freedom <CODE>league@prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE>
- 1 Kendall Square - #143
- P.O. Box 9171
- Cambridge, MA 02139 USA Phone: (617) 243-4091
- </PRE>
- <P>
- If you haven't made up your mind yet, write to LPF for more information,
- or send Internet mail to <CODE>league@prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE>.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC10" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC10">LPF Ends Ashton-Tate Boycott</A></H1>
- <P>
- Ashton-Tate (now a subsidiary of Borland) has offered to drop its
- "look-and-feel" lawsuit against Fox. In response, the League for
- Programming Freedom has dropped its boycott of Ashton-Tate products.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC11" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC11">U.S. Federal Database Bill</A></H1>
- <P>
- A bill before Congress, H.R. 2772, would have the Government Printing
- Office (GPO) create a Wide Information Network for Data Online
- (WINDO), allowing individual users to subscribe to a number of
- Federal databases, including: the FDA Bulletin Board, the Economic
- Bulletin Board, the SEC's EDGAR database of corporate disclosure
- filings, the Patent and Trademark Office's Automated Patent System, the
- "Federal Register," the "Congressional Record," the House of
- Representatives' LEGIS system, the Library of Congress' SCORPIO
- system, the Department of State press briefings and Congressional
- Testimonies, and many other U.S. Federal government information systems.
- <P>
- The GPO would administer the service for a low user dissemination-based
- charge, providing access through most common access methods, including
- by dial-up modem and over the Internet. User feedback would be greatly
- encouraged. Bill H.R. 2772 was introduced by Rep. Charlie Rose
- (D-NC) in June 1991. To support the bill, write or call your
- congressman. Also write or call Rep. Rose to show your support and
- send a copy to the Taxpayer Assets Project. For more information on
- WINDO, you can contact:
- <P>
- <PRE>
- American Library Association Tel: (202) 547-4440
- Washington Office Fax: (202) 547-7363
- 110 Maryland Avenue, NE
- Washington, DC 20002-5675 USA
- Taxpayer Assets Project Tel: (202) 387-8030
- P.O. Box 19367 Fax: (202) 234-5176
- Washington, DC 20036 USA Bitnet: <CODE>love@pucc</CODE>
- Internet: <CODE>508-0621@mcimail.com</CODE>
- Joint Committee on Printing
- 818 Hart Senate Bldg. Tel: (202) 224-5241
- Washington, DC 20510 USA Fax: (202) 224-1176
- </PRE>
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC12" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC12">Another Free Software Support Business</A></H1>
- <P>
- by Russ Nelson, Crynwr Software, <CODE>nelson@crynwr.com</CODE>
- <P>
- The Crynwr packet driver collection, a finalist in PC Magazine's 1991
- Awards for Technical Excellence, is copylefted software. The packet
- drivers are a mix of PC Ethernet drivers and shims to other driver
- software. Packet drivers are used natively by nearly all TCP/IP
- software and can also be used with Novell's NetWare, Banyan Vines, and
- Performance Technology's PowerLAN. After nearly four years, the list of
- contributors stretches almost two pages. My firm, Crynwr Software, six
- months old, is the sole support for my family, selling packet driver
- support. Crynwr Software is another example of a successful business
- venture based on copylefted software.
- <P>
- <BLOCKQUOTE>
- <EM>"In the sciences, we are now uniquely privileged to sit side by side
- with the giants on whose shoulders we stand."</EM>
- </BLOCKQUOTE>
- --anonymous
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC13" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC13">The Hurd: the GNU Kernel Advances</A></H1>
- <P>
- Development is continuing on the kernel-related aspects of the GNU
- Operating System. This job consists of writing a set of servers, called
- the GNU Hurd, that run on top of the Mach 3 microkernel from CMU. The
- Mach microkernel provides a task abstraction with multiple threads
- within a single task and powerful IPC and virtual memory systems. Work
- is proceeding well on our implementation of the BSD Fast Filesystem, and
- we hope to be able to bootstrap a minimal system this summer.
- <P>
- One of the advantages to the GNU Hurd is that it allows ordinary users
- to write programs which insert themselves into the directory hierarchy
- in a secure fashion. Using this idea, we will eventually implement a
- variety of interesting "filesystems." A simple example is transparent
- FTP, but there are also ideas like a transparent tar archive. (Just
- think, all you will need do is <CODE>cd</CODE> into a tar archive and do an
- <CODE>ls</CODE>, instead of remembering incantations like <CODE>tar tfv
- foo.tar</CODE>.) There are even stranger ideas people have thought up; this
- design choice turns out to be surprisingly fruitful. This is a
- characteristic of the Hurd which is not supported by any other free or
- nearly-free operating systems, and only a very few commercial systems
- (none of which look anything like Unix).
- <P>
- We are not sure at this point whether the initial alpha test release
- will have network support in it; this will depend on staffing
- considerations. If it does not, then implementing the network will be
- the top priority after the alpha release. The plan is to write a
- library which will enable network modules from a BSD kernel (many of
- which are now free) to be "dropped in" and used with only minimal
- modification, though more work would be needed to enable such a network
- server to get maximal performance.
- <P>
- Source compatibility with 4.4 BSD and POSIX.1 will be provided by the
- GNU C Library. In addition, binary compatibility will be provided on
- some machines using the system call emulation facilities of Mach.
- Further, a great number of functions, done in Unix by the kernel, will
- be done in the C library. This allows users who dislike some of the
- precise semantics of a system call to easily replace it in their
- programs. Calls such as those which change signal state can be
- implemented entirely in the library and become much faster as well.
- <P>
- We have a mailing list to discuss the design of Hurd. Experts in OS
- design and seasoned Unix wizards are welcome to help hash out the
- details of the interface.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC14" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC14">A Small Way to Help Free Software</A></H1>
- <P>
- If you find that GNU software has been helpful to you, and in particular
- if you have benefitted from having sources freely available, please help
- support the spread of free software by telling others. For example, you
- might say in published papers and internal project reports:
- <P>
- <BLOCKQUOTE>
- "We were able to modify the <CODE>fubar</CODE> utility to serve our
- particular needs because it is free software. As a result, we were able
- to finish the XYZ project six months earlier."
- </BLOCKQUOTE>
- <P>
- Let users, management, and friends know! And send us a copy.
- Thanks!
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC15" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC15">Project GNU Status Report</A></H1>
- <P>
- <UL>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Software Configuration Scheme</B>
- <P>
- To allow GNU software to compile and run on a large number of platforms,
- it is often necessary to include platform-specific code to handle
- different situations. It is then useful to know the type of platform on
- which you are going to build the software. We are now ironing out the
- details of a uniform scheme for configuring GNU software packages in
- order to compile them. This will make it possible to configure any and
- all GNU software in the same way. In particular, all GNU software will
- support the same naming scheme for machine types and system
- types.
- <P>
- The configuration scheme will enable you to configure a directory
- containing several GNU packages with one command. When we have a
- complete system, it will be possible to configure everything at once,
- eliminating the need to learn how to configure each of the individual
- programs that make up the GNU system.
- <P>
- For tools used in development, the configuration scheme lets you specify
- both the host system and the target system, so you can configure and
- build cross-development tools easily.
- <P>
- GCC Version 2 and GDB Version 4 support the new configuration scheme, as
- do many of the smaller programs and collections. Over the coming year,
- we will change our other software to support it.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Emacs</B>
- <P>
- Version 19 will enter beta test late this year. Among its new features
- are: <CODE>before</CODE> and <CODE>after change hooks</CODE>, source-level debugging
- of Emacs Lisp programs, X selection processing (including clipboard
- selections), scrollbars, support for European character sets, floating
- point numbers, per-buffer mouse commands, X resource manager
- interfacing, mouse-tracking, Lisp-level binding of function keys,
- multiple X windows (`screens' to Emacs), a new input system, and buffer
- allocation, which uses a new mechanism capable of returning storage to
- the system when a buffer is killed.
- <P>
- The input stream is now a sequence of Lisp objects, instead of a
- sequence of characters. This allows a reasonable representation for
- mouse clicks, function keys, menu selections, etc.
- <P>
- Thanks go to Alan Carroll and the people who worked on Epoch for
- generating initial feedback to a multi-windowed Emacs, and to Eric
- Raymond for help in polishing the Emacs 19 Lisp libraries.
- <P>
- Emacs 18 maintenance continues for simple bug fixes.
- <LI>
- <B>C Compiler</B>
- <P>
- The GNU C compiler (GCC) version 1.40 is current; 1.41 is expected soon.
- GCC supports both ANSI standard and traditional C, as well as the GNU
- extensions to C.
- <P>
- Version 1 is stable, but still maintained with bug fixes. It supports
- these CPU types: 680x0, VAX, 32x32, 80[34]86, SPARC (Sun-4), SPUR,
- Convex, MIPS, Tahoe, Pyramid, and Alliant. It supports both
- <CODE>a.out</CODE> and COFF format object files when used with a suitable
- assembler.
- <P>
- Version 2 of GCC is in beta test (see "Contents of the Experimental
- Tape") and includes front-ends for C<TT>++</TT> and Objective-C. New front
- ends are being developed, but they are not part of GCC yet. A front end
- for Ada is being funded through the Ada 9X standards committee. Since
- it is a quite complex language, we expect completion to take a while. A
- front end for Fortran is now being integrated, but this will also not be
- available soon. Volunteers are developing front ends for Modula-3 and
- Pascal. There are mumblings about other languages, but no one has
- volunteered to do Cobol yet.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Binutils</B>
- <P>
- Steve Chamberlain and others at Cygnus Support have rewritten the
- binary utilities (including the linker). These are now based on the
- same Binary File Descriptor library used by GDB. All the tools can be
- run on a host that differs from the target (e.g. cross-linking is
- supported). Furthermore, various forms of COFF and other object file
- formats are supported. A tool can deal with object files in multiple
- forms at once. For example, the linker can read object files using two
- different formats, and write the output in a third format. The linker
- interprets a superset of the AT&T Linker Command Language, which allows
- very general control over where segments are placed in memory.
- <P>
- Version 1.94 is currently in beta test. Major changes are not expected.
- Per Bothner, <CODE>bothner@cygnus.com</CODE>, coordinates the release.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>C Library</B>
- <P>
- Roland McGrath continues to work on the C Library. It now conforms to
- ANSI C-1989 and POSIX.1-1990, and work is in progress on POSIX.2 and
- Unix functions (BSD and System V). In the Hurd, it will do much of what
- the system calls do in Unix. Roland is working on this code and has
- written alot of it already. Mike Haertel has written a fast
- <CODE>malloc</CODE> which wastes less memory than the old GNU <CODE>malloc</CODE>.
- The GNU regular-expression functions (<CODE>regex</CODE>) now mostly conform
- to the POSIX.2 standard. A manual for the library (including the
- "system calls") is mostly written.<P>
- GNU <CODE>stdio</CODE> lets you define new kinds of streams, just by writing a few
- C functions. The <CODE>fmemopen</CODE> function uses this to open a stream on a
- string, which can grow as necessary. You can define your own <CODE>printf</CODE>
- formats to use a C function you write; and there is a way to safely use
- format strings from user input, for example to implement a
- <CODE>printf</CODE>-like function for another programming language. Extended
- <CODE>getopt</CODE> functions are already used to parse options, including long
- options, in many GNU utilities.<P>
- Version 1.03 runs on Sun-3 & Sun-4 (SunOS 4.1) and HP 9000/300 (4.3 BSD).
- Version 1.04 will include a complete port for MIPS DECstations (Ultrix
- 4.2), and improved support for the i386/i486 (System V & BSD).
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Debugger</B>
- <P>
- The GNU source-level C and C<TT>++</TT> debugger, GDB, is now being
- distributed along with the GNU C Compiler.
- <P>
- GDB Version 4.5 is in beta test. New machine ports include the IBM
- RS/6000, AMD 29000, and Intel 960. Object files and symbol tables are
- now read via a Binary File Descriptor library, which allows a single
- copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple object file types such as
- <CODE>a.out</CODE> and COFF. Other new features include improvements to the
- command language, watchpoints (breakpoints triggered when the value of
- an expression changes), exception handling (when used with GCC version
- 2) and support for SunOS shared libraries and C<TT>++</TT> multiple
- inheritance.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>JACAL</B>
- <P>
- Aubrey Jaffer is preparing a new release of JACAL, a symbolic
- mathematics system for the simplification and manipulation of equations
- and single-and-multiple-valued algebraic expressions constructed of
- numbers, variables, radicals, and algebraic functions, differential and
- finite differential operators, and holonomic functions. In addition,
- vectors and matrices of the above objects are included.
- <P>
- JACAL runs under either Common Lisp or Scheme. A version of Scheme
- (IEEE P1178 and R4RS compliant) written in C comes with JACAL. It runs
- under VMS, MS-DOS, Unix, and similar systems. Pre-release source is
- available for anonymous FTP from <CODE>martigny.ai.mit.edu</CODE> under
- <TT>`/archive/scm'</TT> in <TT>`jacal0-4.tar.Z'</TT> and <TT>`scm3c13.tar.Z'</TT>.
- <P>
- The FSF is not distributing JACAL on tape yet. To receive an IBM PC
- floppy disk with the source and executable files, send $60.00 ($65.00
- for i386) to: Aubrey Jaffer, 84 Pleasant St., Wakefield MA 01880
- USA.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Ghostscript</B>
- <P>
- The current version of Ghostscript is 2.4.1. Features include: the
- ability to specify device resolution and output file (including piping)
- from the command line; many new output devices and file formats,
- including PBM/PGM/PPM, GIF, and PCX; many more Postscript Level 2
- facilities; improved character rendering; and incorporation of the
- standard Adobe font metrics into the Ghostscript fonts.
- <P>
- Ghostscript 2.4.1 accepts commands in Postscript and executes them by
- drawing on an X window, writing a file that you can print directly, or
- writing directly to a printer. GNU volunteer Tim Theisen,
- <CODE>ghostview@cs.wisc.edu</CODE>, has created a previewer for
- multi-page files, called Ghostview, on top of Ghostscript.
- <P>
- Ghostscript includes a C-callable graphics library (for client programs
- that do not want to deal with the Postscript language). It also
- supports IBM PCs and compatibles with EGA, VGA, or SuperVGA graphics
- (but do not ask the FSF staff any questions about this; we do not use
- PCs).
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>groff</B>
- <P>
- James Clark has completed <CODE>groff</CODE> (GNU <CODE>troff</CODE> and related
- programs). Version 1.05 is now available (see "Contents of Utilities
- Tape"). <CODE>groff</CODE> is written in C<TT>++</TT>. It can be compiled with
- GNU C<TT>++</TT> Version 1.40.3 or later.
- <P>
- Future bugs in <CODE>groff</CODE> will be fixed, but no new development is
- currently planned. However, <CODE>groff</CODE> users are encouraged to
- continue to contribute enhancements. Most needed are complete
- Texinfo documentation, a <CODE>grap</CODE> emulation (a <CODE>pic</CODE>
- preprocessor for typesetting graphs), a page-makeup postprocessor
- similar to <CODE>pm</CODE> (see <CITE>Computing Systems</CITE>, Vol 2, No. 2), and
- an ASCII output class for <CODE>pic</CODE> so that <CODE>pic</CODE> can be
- integrated with Texinfo.
- <P>
- James would like to thank everybody who has contributed bug reports.
- Please continue to send them to <CODE>bug-groff@prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE>
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Graphics</B>
- <P>
- GNU Graphics is a set of programs which produce plots from ASCII or
- binary data. It supports output to Tektronix 4010, Postscript, and the
- X Window System or compatible devices.
- <P>
- A new version of GNU Graphics has begun alpha testing. Improvements
- include: a revised manual; new features in <CODE>graph</CODE>, <CODE>xplot</CODE>
- and <CODE>plot2ps</CODE>; support for output in ln03 and TekniCAD TDA file
- formats; a replacement for the <CODE>spline</CODE> program; examples of shell
- scripts using <CODE>graph</CODE> and <CODE>plot</CODE>; the addition of a statistics
- toolkit; and the use of <CODE>configure</CODE> for installation.
- <P>
- Existing ports need retesting. Contact Rich Murphey,
- <CODE>Rich@rice.edu</CODE>, if you can help test/port it to anything other
- than a SPARCstation.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Texinfo 2</B>
- <P>
- The Texinfo 2 package includes an enhanced Texinfo mode for GNU Emacs,
- new versions of the formatting utilities, and the second edition of the
- <CITE>Texinfo Manual</CITE> (which is more complete than the first edition and
- describes over 50 new commands). Texinfo mode now includes commands for
- automatically creating and updating nodes and menus, a tedious task when
- done by hand. New utilities include <CODE>makeinfo</CODE>, a standalone
- formatter, and <CODE>info</CODE>, a standalone Info reader. Both are written
- in C and are independent of GNU Emacs. Texinfo 2 is in late beta test.
- <P>
- </UL>
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC16" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC16">A GNU Standard on Suns?</A></H1>
- <P>
- @indent Sun Microsystems was one of the pioneers of so-called
- "open systems". They are now leading the industry in a new way: they
- are the first major Unix workstation vendor to announce that they will
- not ship a C compiler with their Unix operating system. Other Unix
- workstation vendors have announced that they will follow suit.
- <P>
- Sun's decision to remove their compiler has created a unique opportunity
- to make GNU C the new standard C compiler for Sun workstations.
- Cygnus Support, in cooperation with the Free Software Foundation
- and other free software developers, has announced plans to port GNU C
- and other required software (GNU <CODE>as</CODE>, <CODE>gdb</CODE>, and possibly
- <CODE>ld</CODE>) to the Solaris platform.
- <P>
- Cygnus is looking for 150 subscribers, each of them to contribute
- $2000 (about the cost of a compiler license from Sun for three CPUs),
- to fund the necessary work. (Subscribers will also get commercial
- support for a year.) The results, when completed, will be free
- software like the rest of the GNU system. Also, $75,000 of the funds
- raised is to be donated to the FSF.
- <P>
- This is the first attempt to raise funds for free software development
- by asking for users to subscribe in advance. For more info,
- contact Cygnus Support at (415) 322-3811 or send mail to
- <CODE>solaris-compiler@cygnus.com</CODE>.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC17" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC17">Andrew Toolkit Stays Free</A></H1>
- <P>
- The Andrew Toolkit is both an extensible, object-oriented toolkit for
- graphical user interfaces and a package of applications. The most
- widely-used application is the Andrew Message System (AMS). The
- Toolkit is distributed on FSF's `optional' X Windows tape.
- <P>
- Not long ago, several people asked whether the Toolkit would stay free.
- It will. The Andrew Toolkit Consortium plans to continue to make
- versions of the Toolkit and the AMS freely usable and distributable.
- However, there is (as there has always been) a catch: members of the
- Consortium get updates sooner and more frequently than the rest of us.
- This provides Consortium members with another incentive to continue as
- members.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC18" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC18">GNU in Japan</A></H1>
- <P>
- Mieko, <CODE>h-mieko@sra.co.jp</CODE>, and Nobuyuki Hikichi,
- <CODE>hikichi@sra.co.jp</CODE>, continue to work on the GNU Project in
- Japan. They translate GNU information, write columns, request
- donations, and consult about GNU. They have translated Version 1 of the
- GNU General Public License into Japanese.
- <P>
- Japanese versions of Emacs and Epoch are available. Both of them,
- <CODE>nemacs</CODE> (Nihongo Emacs) and <CODE>nepoch</CODE> (Nihongo Epoch), are
- widely used in Japan.
- <P>
- Mule (the MULtilingual Enhancement of GNU Emacs) is a version of Emacs
- that can handle many character sets at once. Eventually, the features
- it provides will be merged into the FSF version of Emacs. Ken'ichi
- Handa, <CODE>handa@etl.go.jp</CODE>, is beta testing MULE; you can FTP
- sources from <CODE>sh.wide.ad.jp:/JAPAN/mule</CODE> or
- <CODE>etlport.etl.go.jp:/pub/mule</CODE>.
- <P>
- If you can, please order GNU software directly from the FSF; every 150
- tape orders allows FSF to hire a programmer for a year to create more
- free software. Otherwise, many groups in Japan are distributing GNU
- software, including JUG (a PC user group), Nikkei Business
- Publications and ASCII (publishers), and the Fujitsu FM Towns users
- group. Anonymous UUCP is also now available in Japan; for more
- information contact <CODE>toku@dit.co.jp</CODE>. The FSF does not
- distribute <CODE>nemacs</CODE> or <CODE>nepoch</CODE>.
- <P>
- The Village Center, Inc. has printed a Japanese translation of the
- <CITE>GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual</CITE> and also uploaded the Texinfo
- source to various bulletin boards. They are donating part of the
- revenue generated by distributing the manual to FSF. Their address is:
- Kanda Amerex Bldg. 2F 1-16, 3-Chome, Misaki-Cho,
- Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101.
- <P>
- A group connected with the commercial personal computer network in Japan
- is writing and distributing a copylefted hardware (circuit diagram)
- design and associated software that uses a MIPS-architecture based CPU.
- The OS, called <CODE>t2</CODE>, is a subset of Unix using GCC and
- GDB as the system's compiler and debugger.
- <P>
- <H3><A NAME="SEC19" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC19">GNU Software Support Company in Japan</A></H3>
- <P>
- People in Japan can now contact a company for GNU software support; the
- company is named Wingnut (Fax only: <TT>+</TT>81-3-3954-5174). The
- organizers were inspired by the GNU Manifesto. Wingnut will provide two
- services: porting and customizing GNU software, and answering technical
- questions (including how to install the software).
- <P>
- <BLOCKQUOTE>
- <EM>"In computer science, we stand on each other's feet."</EM>
- </BLOCKQUOTE>
- --anonymous
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC20" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC20">GNU Documentation</A></H1>
- <P>
- GNU manuals are intended to explain the underlying concepts, describe
- how to use all the features of each program, and give examples of
- command use. GNU documentation is distributed as Texinfo source files,
- which yield both typeset hardcopy and on-line hypertext-like
- presentation via the menu-driven Info system. The manuals, provided
- with our software, are also available in hardcopy; see the "FSF Order
- Form" inside the back cover.
- <P>
- The <B>Emacs Manual</B> describes the use of GNU Emacs. It also explains
- advanced features, such as outline mode and regular expression search,
- and how to use special modes for programming in languages like C and
- Lisp.
- <P>
- The <B>Emacs Lisp Reference Manual</B> covers the GNU Emacs Lisp
- programming language in great depth, including data types, control
- structures, functions, macros, syntax tables, searching and matching,
- modes, windows, keymaps, byte compilation, markers, and the operating
- system interface.
- <P>
- The <B>Emacs Calc Manual</B> includes both a tutorial and a reference
- manual for Calc. It describes how to do ordinary arithmetic, how to use
- Calc for algebra, calculus, and other forms of mathematics, and how to
- extend Calc.
- <P>
- The <B>Texinfo Manual</B> explains the markup language used to generate
- both the online Info documentation and hardcopies. It tells you how to
- make tables, lists, chapters, nodes, indexes, cross references, how to
- use Texinfo mode in GNU Emacs, and how to catch mistakes.
- <P>
- The <B>GDB Manual</B> explains how to use the GNU Debugger, including how
- to run your program under debugger control, how to examine and alter
- data, how to modify the flow of control within the program, and how
- to use GDB through GNU Emacs.
- <P>
- The <B>GAWK Manual</B> describes how to use the GNU implementation of
- <CODE>awk</CODE>. It is written for someone who has never used <CODE>awk</CODE> and
- describes all the features of this powerful string manipulation
- language.
- <P>
- The <B>Bison Manual</B> teaches how to write context-free grammars that
- convert into C-coded parsers. You need no prior knowledge of parser
- generators.
- <P>
- The <B>Make Manual</B> describes GNU <CODE>make</CODE>, a program used to rebuild
- parts of other programs. The manual covers writing <TT>`makefile'</TT>s,
- which specifies how a program is to be compiled and its dependencies.
- <P>
- The <B>Termcap Manual</B>, often described as "Twice as much as you ever
- wanted to know about Termcap," details the format of the <CODE>termcap</CODE>
- database, the definitions of terminal capabilities, and the process of
- interrogating a terminal description. This manual is primarily for
- programmers.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC21" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC21">Project Gutenberg Looks for Volunteers</A></H1>
- <P>
- Project Gutenberg encourages the creation and distribution of English
- language electronic texts. Their goal is to provide a collection of
- 10,000 of the most used books by 2001. They need a few volunteers to
- help find copyright information about the books they wish to use as
- sources for electronic editions.
- <P>
- If you want to help with this (or in any other way), please contact Mary
- Brandt Jensen at <CODE>mjensen@charlie.usd.EDU</CODE> or (605) 677-6363.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC22" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC22">Project GNU Wish List</A></H1>
- <P>
- Wishes for this issue are for:
- <P>
- <UL>
- <LI>
- Volunteers to distribute this Bulletin at trade shows and technical
- conferences. Please call the phone number on the front cover to make
- arrangements.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Disk drives to give us more space to develop our software.
- <P>
- <LI>
- One 386 or 486 PC-AT compatible with at least 200 meg of hard disk and
- an Ethernet card.
- <P>
- <LI>
- A Sun QIC-150 cartridge tape drive; a 300<TT>+</TT> meg SCSI disk for a
- Sun-3; a 300<TT>+</TT> meg SCSI disk for a SONY News workstation; a floppy
- disk copying and verification machine; a 19" equipment rack; an Exabyte
- tape drive; Sun-3 workstations; core memory for and a board to add a
- monochrome monitor alongside a color monitor for a Sun-4/110
- workstation; and hard disks for IBM RTs.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Companies to lend us capable programmers and technical writers for at
- least six months. True wizards may be welcome for shorter periods, but
- we have found that six months is the minimum time for a good programmer
- to finish a worthwhile project.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Professors who might be interested in sponsoring or hosting research
- assistants to do GNU development, with FSF support.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Volunteers to help write programs and documentation. Send mail to
- <CODE>gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE> for the task list and coding
- standards.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Speech and character recognition software and systems (if the devices
- aren't too weird), with the device drivers if possible. This would help
- the productivity of a few partially disabled programmers we know.
- <P>
- <LI>
- New quotes and ideas for articles in the GNU's Bulletin. We
- particularly like to highlight organizations involved with free
- information exchange.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Copies of newspaper and journal articles mentioning the GNU Project or
- GNU software. Send these to the address on the front cover, or send a
- citation to <CODE>gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE>.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Money, as always. Please remember, donations are tax-deductible. With
- the latest donations, we have been able to expand our staff again. With
- the increased staff we have an even greater need for donations.
- <P>
- One way to give us a small amount of money is to order a distribution
- tape or two. This may not count as a donation for tax purposes, but it
- can qualify as a business expense.
- </UL>
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC23" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC23">Please Support Free Software</A></H1>
- <P>
- If you believe in free software and you want to make sure there
- is more in the future---<I>please support the efforts of the FSF with
- a donation!</I>
- <P>
- Your tax-deductible donation will greatly help us reach our goals.
- <P>
- <PRE>
- $500 $250 $100 $50 other $______
- Foreign currency:______
- </PRE>
- <P>
- Circle the amount you are donating, tear off this page, and send it with
- your donation to:<BR>
- <PRE>
- Free Software Foundation, 675 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
- </PRE>
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC24" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC24">How to Get GNU Software</A></H1>
- <P>
- All the software and publications from the Free Software Foundation are
- distributed with permission to copy and redistribute. The easiest way
- to get GNU software is to copy it from someone else who has it.
- <P>
- If you have Internet access, you can get the latest software via
- anonymous FTP from the host <CODE>prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE> (the IP address
- is <CODE>18.71.0.38</CODE>). Get file
- <TT>`/pub/gnu/GETTING.GNU.SOFTWARE'</TT> for more information.
- <P>
- If you cannot get the software one of these ways, or would like to
- contribute some funds to our efforts and receive the latest versions, we
- distribute tapes for a copying and distribution fee (see the "FSF Order
- Form").
- <P>
- There are also third party groups that distribute our software; they do
- not work with us, but have our software in other forms. For your
- convenience we list some of them here (also see "Free Software for
- Microcomputers"). Please note that the Free Software Foundation is
- <I>not</I> affiliated with them in any way and is not responsible for
- either the currency of their versions or the swiftness of their
- responses.
- <P>
- These TCP/IP Internet sites provide GNU software via anonymous FTP
- (program: <CODE>ftp</CODE>, user: <CODE>anonymous</CODE>, password: <VAR>your name</VAR>,
- mode: <CODE>binary</CODE>):
- <P>
- <PRE>
- archie.au, utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp, ftp.cs.titech.ac.jp, ugle.unit.no,
- ftp.stacken.kth.se, sunic.sunet.se, isy.liu.se, ftp.win.tue.nl,
- ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de, ftp.diku.dk, ftp.eunet.ch, nic.funet.fi,
- ftp.eu.net, labrea.stanford.edu, cc.utah.edu (VMS GNU Emacs),
- jaguar.cs.utah.edu, ftp.cs.widener.edu, wuarchive.wustl.edu,
- uxc.cso.uiuc.edu, mango.rsmas.miami.edu (VMS GCC),
- gatekeeper.dec.com, and ftp.uu.net (under <TT>`/packages/gnu'</TT>).
- </PRE>
- <P>
- Those on the SPAN network can ask <TT>rdss::corbet</TT>.
- <P>
- Those on JANET can look under <CODE>src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/gnu</CODE>.
- <P>
- You can get some GNU programs via UUCP. Ohio State University posts
- their UUCP instructions regularly to newsgroup <CODE>comp.sources.d</CODE> on
- USENET. The following people will send you information via electronic
- mail:
- <P>
- <PRE>
- hao!scicom!qetzal!upba!ugn!nepa!denny, uunet!hutch!barber,
- src@contrib.de, james@bigtex.cactus.org, acornrc!bob,
- uucp@cis.ohio-state.edu, and info@ftp.uu.net
- </PRE>
- <P>
- For those without Internet access, see the section entitled "Free
- Software Support" for information on receiving electronic mail via
- UUCP.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC25" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC25">GNU Software Available Now</A></H1>
- <P>
- We offer Unix software source distribution tapes in <CODE>tar</CODE> format
- on the following media: 1600 bpi 9-track reel tape, 8mm Exabyte
- cartridges, Sun QIC-24 cartridges, Hewlett-Packard 16-track
- cartridges, and IBM RS/6000 1/4" cartridges (an Emacs binary is also
- on the RS/6000 tape). We also offer VMS tapes for GNU Emacs and the
- GNU C compiler that include sources and VMS executables.
- <P>
- The contents of the various 9-track and cartridge tapes for Unix systems
- are the same (except for the RS/6000 Emacs tape). Only the media are
- different (see the "FSF Order Form"). Documentation comes in Texinfo
- format. The GNU software tapes include both <CODE>texinfo.tex</CODE> and
- <CODE>texi2roff</CODE>.
- <P>
- Version numbers listed by program names were current at the time this
- Bulletin was published. When you order a distribution tape, some of the
- programs might be newer, and therefore the version number higher.
- <P>
- <H3><A NAME="SEC26" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC26">Contents of the Emacs Tape</A></H3>
- <P>
- The software on this release tape is considered fairly stable, but as
- always, we welcome your bug reports. Some of the software that has been
- on this tape in the past has moved to the Languages and Utilities
- tapes.
- <P>
- <UL>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Emacs</B> 18.58
- <P>
- In 1975, Richard Stallman developed the first Emacs, an extensible,
- customizable real-time display editor. GNU Emacs is his second
- implementation. It's the first Emacs for Unix systems that offers true
- Lisp--smoothly integrated into the editor--for writing extensions, and
- provides a special interface to MIT's X Window System. In addition to
- its powerful native command set, extensions which emulate other popular
- editors are distributed: vi, EDT (DEC VMS editor), and Gosling (aka
- Unipress) Emacs. It is described by the <CITE>GNU Emacs Manual</CITE> and the
- <CITE>GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual</CITE>, which come with the software. A
- reference card is available.
- <P>
- GNU Emacs 18.58 runs on many Unix systems: Alliant, Altos 3068, Amdahl
- (UTS), Apollo, AT&T (3B machines & 7300 PC), Aviion, CCI 5/32 & 6/32,
- Celerity, Convex, Digital (DECstation 3100 & 5000 (Pmaxes), VAX (BSD,
- System V, or VMS)), Motorola Delta (System V/68 release 3), Dual, Elxsi
- 6400, Encore (DPC, APC, & XPC), Gould, HP (9000 series 200, 300, 700, &
- 800, but not series 500), HLH Orion 1/05, IBM (RT/PC (4.2 & AIX), PS/2
- (AIX (386 only)) & RS/6000 (AIX)), Integrated Solutions (Optimum V with
- 68020 & VMEbus), Intel 80386 (BSD, Microport, System V, Xenix & PS/2
- (for MS-DOS see "Free Software for Microcomputers")), Iris (2500, 2500
- Turbo, & 4D), LMI (Nu), Masscomp, MIPS, National Semiconductor 32000,
- NCR (Tower 32), Nixdorf Targon 31, Plexus, Prime EXL, Sequent (Balance &
- Symmetry), SONY News, Stride (system release 2), all Suns (including
- 386i), Stardent 1500 & 3000, Tahoe, Tandem Integrity S2, Tektronix
- (NS32000 & 4300), Texas Instruments (Nu), Titan P2 & P3, Ustation E30
- (SS5E), & Whitechapel (MG1).
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Calc</B> 2.02
- <P>
- Calc (written by Dave Gillespie in Emacs Lisp) is an extensible,
- advanced desk calculator and mathematical tool that runs as part of GNU
- Emacs. It comes with the <CITE>Calc Manual</CITE>, which serves as a tutorial
- and reference. If you wish, you can use Calc only as a simple
- four-function calculator, but it provides additional features including
- choice of algebraic or RPN (stack-based) entry, logarithms,
- trigonometric and financial functions, arbitrary precision, complex
- numbers, vectors, matrices, dates, times, infinities, sets, algebraic
- simplification, differentiation, and integration.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>MIT Scheme</B> 7.0 and <B>Yale T</B> 3.1
- <P>
- T is a variant of Scheme developed at Yale University; it is intended
- for production use in program development. T contains a native-code
- optimizing compiler that produces code that runs at speeds comparable to
- the speeds of programs written in conventional languages. It runs on
- BSD VAXen, 680x0 systems, SPARCs, and MIPS R2000 workstations (including
- the DECstation 3100), & NS32000 machines (including the Encore
- Multimax). T is written in itself and cannot be bootstrapped without a
- binary (included), but it is great if you can use it. Some
- documentation is included.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Texinfo</B> 2.14, <B><CODE>texi2roff</CODE></B> 2.0
- <P>
- Texinfo is a set of utilities that generate printed manuals and online
- hypertext-style manuals (called `Info'). The late beta-test Texinfo 2
- package contains enhancements to the current suite and a manual.
- <P>
- <CODE>texi2roff</CODE>, written by Beverly Erlebacher, translates GNU Texinfo
- files so that they can be printed by the <CODE>[gnt]roff</CODE> programs
- utilizing the <CODE>-mm</CODE>, <CODE>-ms</CODE>, or <CODE>-me</CODE> macro packages. It
- is included on all Unix tapes so people without TeX (but who have
- <CODE>[gnt]roff</CODE>) can print out GNU documentation.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Data Compression Software</B>
- <P>
- Some of the contents of our tape distribution are compressed, which is
- currently indicated by a <TT>`.Z'</TT> suffix. We include software on the
- tapes to compress/decompress these files. Due to patent troubles with
- <CODE>compress</CODE>, we will be switching to another compression
- algorithm--as soon as we find one that is safe.
- The online distribution on <CODE>prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE> will be changed
- first to give the new program a trial period. Each tape includes the
- program that will uncompress the compressed files on it.
- </UL>
- <P>
- <H3><A NAME="SEC27" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC27">Contents of the Languages Tape</A></H3>
- <P>
- This tape contains programming language tools: compilers, interpreters,
- and related programs (parsers, conversion programs, debuggers, etc.).
- Many of these programs were on the Compiler tape, which no longer
- exists.
- <P>
- <UL>
- <LI>
- <B>GCC</B> 1.40
- <P>
- The GNU C compiler is a fairly portable optimizing compiler which
- performs automatic register allocation, common sub-expression
- elimination, invariant code motion from loops, induction variable
- optimizations, constant propagation and copy propagation, delayed
- popping of function call arguments, tail recursion elimination,
- integration of inline functions, and frame pointer elimination, plus
- many local optimizations that are automatically deduced from the machine
- description.
- <P>
- GCC supports full ANSI C, traditional C, and the GNU C extensions. It
- generates good code for the 32000, 680x0, 80386, Alliant, Convex, Tahoe
- & VAX CPUs, and for these RISC CPUs: i860, Pyramid, SPARC, & SPUR. The
- MIPS RISC CPU is also supported. Other supported systems include: 386
- (AIX), Alliant FX/8, Altos 3068, Apollo 68000/68020 (Aegis), AT&T 3B1,
- Convex C1 & C2, DECstation 3100 & 5000, DEC VAX, Encore MultiMax
- (NS32000), Genix NS32000, Harris HCX-7 & HCX-9, HP-UX 68000/68020, HP
- (BSD), IBM PS/2 (AIX), Intel 386 (System V, Xenix, BSD, but not MS-DOS),
- Iris MIPS machine, ISI 68000/68020, MIPS, NeXT, Pyramid, Sequent Balance
- (NS32000), Sequent Symmetry (i386), SONY News, Sun (2, 3 (optionally
- with FPA), 4, SPARCstation, & Sun-386i). See "Project GNU Status
- Report" for more details.
- <P>
- A good programmer will be able to make a cross compiler on most of these
- systems to cross-compile to most of these architectures. Most of the
- work will be with the compiler support tools, not GCC itself.
- <P>
- The <CITE>GCC Manual</CITE> is included with the compiler. The manual (not
- yet on our order form) describes how to run and install the GNU C
- compiler, and how to port it to new processors. It describes new
- features and incompatibilities of the compiler, but people not familiar
- with C will also need a good book on the C programming language.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>G<TT>++</TT></B> 1.40.3, <CODE>libg<TT>++</TT></CODE> 1.39.0, and <B>NIH Class Library</B>
- 2.204a
- <P>
- G<TT>++</TT> is a set of changes for GCC that compiles C<TT>++</TT>, the
- well-known object-oriented language. As far as possible, G<TT>++</TT> is
- kept compatible with the evolving draft ANSI standard, but not with
- <CODE>cfront</CODE> (the AT&T compiler), as <CODE>cfront</CODE> has been diverging
- from ANSI. G<TT>++</TT> comes with the <CITE>GNU G<TT>++</TT> User's Guide</CITE> (not
- yet published on paper). G<TT>++</TT> compiles source quickly, provides good
- error messages, and works well with GDB. As G<TT>++</TT> depends on GCC, it
- must be used with a specific numbered version of GCC.
- <P>
- The GNU C<TT>++</TT> library, <CODE>libg</CODE><TT>++</TT>, is an extensive, documented
- collection of C<TT>++</TT> classes and support tools for use with G<TT>++</TT>.
- <P>
- The NIH Class Library (formerly known as "OOPS", Object-Oriented
- Program Support) is a portable collection of classes similar to those in
- Smalltalk-80 that has been developed by Keith Gorlen of NIH, using the
- C<TT>++</TT> programming language.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GAS</B> 1.38.1, <B>binutils</B> 1.9, <B><CODE>dld</CODE></B> 3.2.3, and <B>COFF
- Support</B>
- <P>
- The GNU assembler (GAS) is a fairly portable, one pass assembler that is
- almost twice as fast as Unix <CODE>as</CODE> and works for 32x32, 680x0,
- 80386, SPARC (Sun-4), and VAXen.
- <P>
- We have free versions of <CODE>ar</CODE>, <CODE>gprof</CODE>, <CODE>ld</CODE>, <CODE>nm</CODE>,
- <CODE>ranlib</CODE>, <CODE>size</CODE>, and <CODE>strip</CODE>. The GNU linker <CODE>ld</CODE>
- is fast, and is the only linker with source-line numbered error messages
- for multiply-defined symbols and undefined references.
- <P>
- <CODE>dld</CODE> is a dynamic linker written by W. Wilson Ho. Linking your
- program with the <CODE>dld</CODE> library allows you to dynamically load
- object files into the running binary.
- <P>
- The entire suite of GNU software tools can be run on System V, replacing
- COFF entirely. The GNU tools can operate on BSD object files with a
- COFF header the System V kernel will accept. <CODE>robotussin</CODE> is
- supplied for converting standard libraries to this format.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <CODE>flex</CODE> 2.3.7 and <B>Bison</B> 1.18
- <P>
- <CODE>flex</CODE> is a mostly-compatible replacement for the Unix <CODE>lex</CODE>
- scanner generator, written by Vern Paxson of the Lawrence Berkeley
- Laboratory. <CODE>flex</CODE> generates far more efficient scanners than
- <CODE>lex</CODE> does.
- <P>
- Bison is an upwardly compatible replacement for the parser generator
- <CODE>yacc</CODE>, with additional features. The <CITE>Bison Manual</CITE> comes
- with the software.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>make</CODE></B> 3.62, <B>GDB</B> 3.5, and <CODE>indent</CODE> 1.2
- <P>
- GNU <CODE>make</CODE> has most of the features of the BSD and System V
- versions of <CODE>make</CODE> as well as many of our own extensions, and
- complies with POSIX.2. GNU extensions include parallelism, conditional
- execution, and text manipulation. Version 3.62 of GNU <CODE>make</CODE> is
- fairly stable. The <CITE>Make Manual</CITE> comes with the source.
- <P>
- GDB 3.5, the GNU debugger, runs under BSD 4.2/4.3 on VAXen and Suns (2,
- 3, 4, & SPARCstation), Altos, Convex, HP 9000/370 (BSD), HP 9000/320
- (HP/UX), System V 386 systems (with either GNU or native object file
- format), ISI Optimum V, Merlin under Utek 2.1, SONY News, Gould NPL & PN
- machines, Pyramid, Sequent Symmetry (a 386-based machine), and Encore
- MultiMax under Umax 4.2.
- <P>
- GDB features incremental reading of symbol tables (for fast startup and
- less memory use), command-line editing, interactive function calling in
- the program being debugged, remote debugging over a serial line, a value
- history, and user-defined commands. It can be used to debug C, C<TT>++</TT>,
- and Fortran programs. The <CITE>GDB Manual</CITE> includes a reference
- card.
- <P>
- <CODE>indent</CODE> is the GNU-modified version of the freely-redistributable
- BSD program. It formats C source according to GNU coding standards by
- default, though the original default and other formats are available as
- options.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GAWK</B> 2.13.2, <B>Smalltalk</B> 1.1.1, and <B><CODE>perl</CODE></B> 4.019
- <P>
- GAWK is upwardly compatible with the System V Release 4 version of
- <CODE>awk</CODE>. The <CITE>GAWK Manual</CITE> comes with the software.
- <P>
- GNU Smalltalk is an interpreted object-oriented programming language
- system written in portable C. Features include an incremental garbage
- collector, a binary image save capability, the ability to invoke
- user-written C code and pass parameters to it, a GNU Emacs editing mode,
- optional byte-code compilation tracing and byte-code execution tracing,
- and automatically loaded per-user initialization files.
- <P>
- Larry Wall has written a fast interpreter named <CODE>perl</CODE>, which
- combines the features of <CODE>sed</CODE>, <CODE>awk</CODE>, <CODE>sh</CODE>, and C. It
- has all of the capabilities of the these programs, as well interfaces to
- many system calls and C library routines (including the TCP/IP
- socket-manipulation facilities).
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>gperf</CODE></B> 2.1, <B><CODE>ae</CODE></B>, and <B><CODE>f2c</CODE></B> 3.2.90
- <P>
- <CODE>gperf</CODE> is a "perfect" hash-table generation utility. There are
- actually two versions of <CODE>gperf</CODE>, one written in C and one in
- C<TT>++</TT>. Both will produce hash functions in either C or C<TT>++</TT>.
- <P>
- <CODE>ae</CODE> works with GCC to produce more complete profiling
- information.
- <P>
- <CODE>f2c</CODE> converts Fortran--77 source files into C or C<TT>++</TT>.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>gdbm</CODE></B> 1.5 and <B><CODE>gmp</CODE></B> 1.2
- <P>
- The <CODE>gdbm</CODE> library is the GNU replacement for the standard
- <CODE>dbm</CODE> and <CODE>ndbm</CODE> libraries. <CODE>gdbm</CODE> supports both styles
- but does not need sparse database formats (unlike its Unix
- counterparts).
- <P>
- GNU MP (<CODE>gmp</CODE>) is a library for arbitrary precision arithmetic,
- operating on signed integers and rational numbers. It has a rich set of
- functions, all with a regular interface.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>texi2roff</CODE></B> 2.0 and <B>Texinfo</B> 2.14
- <P>
- These packages are the same as the ones on the Emacs tape.
- <P>
- </UL>
- <P>
- <H3><A NAME="SEC28" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC28">Contents of the Utilities Tape</A></H3>
- <P>
- This tape includes the programs written by the GNU Project (as well as
- some third-party software) that are not on the other two tapes. For the
- most part, they consist of smaller utilities and miscellaneous
- applications. As usual, bug reports are welcome. Many of these
- programs were on the old Emacs tape and the now defunct Compiler tape.
- <P>
- <UL>
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>BASH</B> 1.12, <B><CODE>groff</CODE></B> 1.05, and <B><CODE>gptx</CODE></B> 0.2
- <P>
- The GNU Shell, BASH (for Bourne Again SHell), is compatible with the
- Unix <CODE>sh</CODE> and offers many extensions found in <CODE>csh</CODE> and
- <CODE>ksh</CODE>. BASH has job control, <CODE>csh</CODE>-style command history, and
- command-line editing (with Emacs and <CODE>vi</CODE> modes built-in and the
- ability to rebind keys). BASH should compile on most systems.
- <P>
- <CODE>groff</CODE> is a document formatting system, which includes
- implementations of <CODE>troff</CODE>, <CODE>pic</CODE>, <CODE>eqn</CODE>, <CODE>tbl</CODE>,
- <CODE>refer</CODE>, the <CODE>-man</CODE>, <CODE>-ms</CODE>, and <CODE>-mm</CODE>
- macros, as well as drivers for Postscript, TeX dvi format, and
- typewriter-like devices. Also included is a modified version of the
- Berkeley <CODE>-me</CODE> macros and an enhanced version of the <CODE>X11</CODE>
- <CODE>xditview</CODE> previewer.
- <P>
- <CODE>gptx</CODE> is the GNU version of <CODE>ptx</CODE>, a permuted index
- generator. Among other things, it can produce readable "KWIC"
- (KeyWords In their Context) without the need of <CODE>nroff</CODE>, and there
- is an option to produce TeX-compatible output.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>tar</CODE></B> 1.10 and <B><CODE>cpio</CODE></B> 1.5
- <P>
- GNU <CODE>tar</CODE> includes multivolume support, the ability to archive
- sparse files, automatic archive compression/decompression, remote
- archives, and special features to allow <CODE>tar</CODE> to be used for
- incremental and full backups.
- <P>
- <CODE>cpio</CODE> is an alternative archive format to <CODE>tar</CODE>.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>diff</CODE></B> 1.15, <B><CODE>grep</CODE></B>/<B><CODE>egrep</CODE></B> 1.5,
- <B><CODE>fgrep</CODE></B> 1.1, and <B><CODE>patch</CODE></B> 2.0.12u6
- <P>
- The <CODE>diff</CODE> and <CODE>[ef]grep</CODE> programs are GNU's versions of the
- Unix programs of the same name. They are much faster than the
- traditional Unix versions. <CODE>patch</CODE> is Larry Wall's program to take
- <CODE>diff</CODE>'s output and apply those differences to an original file to
- generate the patched version.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>RCS</B> 5.6 and <B>CVS</B> 1.3
- <P>
- The Revision Control System, RCS, is used for version control and
- management of software projects. When used with GNU <CODE>diff</CODE>, later
- versions of RCS can handle binary files (executables, object files,
- 8-bit data, etc). The Concurrent Version System, CVS, manages software
- revision and release control in a multi-developer, multi-directory,
- multi-group environment. It works best on top of RCS Versions 4 and
- above, but will parse older RCS formats with the loss of CVS's fancier
- features. See Berliner, Brian, "CVS-II: Parallelizing Software
- Development," <CITE>Proceedings of the Winter 1990 USENIX Association
- Conference.</CITE>
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>find</CODE></B> 3.5, <B>fileutils</B> 3.2, <B>shellutils</B> 1.6, and
- <B>textutils</B> 1.3
- <P>
- <CODE>find</CODE> is used frequently both interactively and in shell scripts
- to find files that match certain criteria and perform arbitrary
- operations on them.
- <P>
- The "fileutils" are file manipulation utilities:
- <CODE>chgrp</CODE>,
- <CODE>chmod</CODE>,
- <CODE>chown</CODE>,
- <CODE>cp</CODE>,
- <CODE>dd</CODE>,
- <CODE>df</CODE>,
- <CODE>du</CODE>,
- <CODE>install</CODE>,
- <CODE>ln</CODE>,
- <CODE>ls</CODE>,
- <CODE>mkdir</CODE>,
- <CODE>mkfifo</CODE>,
- <CODE>mknod</CODE>,
- <CODE>mv</CODE>,
- <CODE>mvdir</CODE>,
- <CODE>rm</CODE>,
- <CODE>rmdir</CODE>,
- and
- <CODE>touch</CODE>.
- The "shellutils" are small commands used on the command
- line or in shell scripts:
- <CODE>basename</CODE>,
- <CODE>date</CODE>,
- <CODE>dirname</CODE>,
- <CODE>env</CODE>,
- <CODE>expr</CODE>,
- <CODE>groups</CODE>,
- <CODE>id</CODE>,
- <CODE>logname</CODE>,
- <CODE>nice</CODE>,
- <CODE>nohup</CODE>,
- <CODE>pathchk</CODE>,
- <CODE>printenv</CODE>,
- <CODE>printf</CODE>,
- <CODE>sleep</CODE>,
- <CODE>stty</CODE>,
- <CODE>tee</CODE>,
- <CODE>test</CODE>,
- <CODE>tty</CODE>,
- <CODE>uname</CODE>,
- <CODE>whoami</CODE>,
- and
- <CODE>yes</CODE>.
- The "textutils" programs manipulate textual data:
- <CODE>cat</CODE>,
- <CODE>cmp</CODE>,
- <CODE>comm</CODE>,
- <CODE>csplit</CODE>,
- <CODE>cut</CODE>,
- <CODE>expand</CODE>,
- <CODE>fold</CODE>,
- <CODE>head</CODE>,
- <CODE>join</CODE>,
- <CODE>nl</CODE>,
- <CODE>paste</CODE>,
- <CODE>pr</CODE>,
- <CODE>sort</CODE>,
- <CODE>split</CODE>,
- <CODE>sum</CODE>,
- <CODE>tac</CODE>,
- <CODE>tail</CODE>,
- <CODE>tr</CODE>,
- <CODE>unexpand</CODE>,
- <CODE>uniq</CODE>,
- and
- <CODE>wc</CODE>.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Ghostscript</B> 2.4.1, <B>Ghostview</B> 1.3, <B>fontutils</B> 0.4, and
- <B><CODE>gnuplot</CODE></B> 3.1
- <P>
- Ghostscript is GNU's graphics language that is almost fully compatible
- with Postscript (see "Project GNU Status Report"). Ghostview provides
- an X11 user interface for the Ghostscript interpreter. Ghostview and
- Ghostscript function as two cooperating programs, Ghostview creates the
- viewing window and Ghostscript draws in it.
- <P>
- The "fontutils" can create fonts for use with Ghostscript or TeX,
- starting with a scanned type image and converting the bitmaps to
- outlines. They also contain general conversion programs and other
- utilities.
- <P>
- <CODE>gnuplot</CODE> is an interactive program for plotting mathematical
- expressions and data. Oddly enough, the program was neither written nor
- named for the GNU Project, the name is a coincidence.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>m4</CODE></B> 1.0, <B><CODE>sed</CODE></B> 1.08, and <B><CODE>bc</CODE></B> 1.02
- <P>
- GNU <CODE>m4</CODE> is an implementation of the traditional Unix macro
- processor and is mostly System V Release 4 compatible, although it has
- some extensions (for example, it handles more than 9 positional
- parameters to macros). <CODE>m4</CODE> also has built-in functions for
- including files, running shell commands, doing arithmetic, etc.
- <P>
- <CODE>sed</CODE> is a stream-oriented version of <CODE>ed</CODE>, used to manipulate
- text.
- <P>
- <CODE>bc</CODE> is an interactive algebraic language with arbitrary precision.
- GNU <CODE>bc</CODE> was implemented from the POSIX P1003.2 draft standard, but
- it has several extensions including multi-character variable names, an
- <CODE>else</CODE> statement, and full Boolean expressions.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>elvis</CODE></B> 1.5, <B><CODE>screen</CODE></B> 2.1c, and <CODE>less</CODE> 177
- <P>
- <CODE>elvis</CODE> is a clone of the <CODE>vi</CODE>/<CODE>ex</CODE> Unix editor. It
- supports nearly all of the <CODE>vi</CODE>/<CODE>ex</CODE> commands in both visual
- and line mode. <CODE>elvis</CODE> runs under BSD, System V, Xenix, Minix,
- MS-DOS, and Atari TOS. It should be easy to port to many other
- systems.
- <P>
- <CODE>screen</CODE> is a terminal multiplexor that allows you to handle
- several independent "screens" (ttys) on a single physical terminal.
- Each virtual terminal emulates a DEC VT100 plus several ANSI X3.64 and
- ISO 2022 functions.
- <P>
- <CODE>less</CODE> is a paginator similar to <CODE>more</CODE> and <CODE>pg</CODE> but with
- various features (such as the ability to scroll backwards) that most
- pagers lack.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>time</CODE></B> 1.3, <B><CODE>tput</CODE></B> 1.0, and <B>Termcap</B> 1.0
- <P>
- <CODE>time</CODE> is used to report statistics (usually from a shell) about
- the amount of user, system, and real time used by a process.
- <P>
- <CODE>tput</CODE> is a portable way to allow shell scripts to use special
- terminal capabilities. It uses the <CODE>termcap</CODE> database, rather than
- the usual <CODE>terminfo</CODE>.
- <P>
- The GNU Termcap library is a drop-in replacement for <CODE>libtermcap.a</CODE>
- on any system. It does not place an arbitrary limit on the size of
- <CODE>termcap</CODE> entries, unlike most other <CODE>termcap</CODE> libraries.
- Included is extensive documentation in Texinfo format.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>MandelSpawn</B> 0.06, <B>GNU Chess</B> 3.1, <B>NetHack</B> 3.0, and <B>GnuGo</B>
- 1.1
- <P>
- MandelSpawn is a parallel Mandelbrot program for the MIT X Window
- System. GNU Chess has text and X display interfaces. NetHack is a
- display-oriented adventure game similar to Rogue. GnuGo plays the game
- of Go (Wei-Chi); it is not yet very sophisticated.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B><CODE>texi2roff</CODE></B> 2.0, <B>Texinfo</B> 2.14, and <B><CODE>make</CODE></B> 3.62
- <P>
- <CODE>texi2roff</CODE> and Texinfo are the same as the ones on the
- Emacs tape. <CODE>make</CODE> is the same as the one on the Languages tape.
- <P>
- </UL>
- <P>
- <H3><A NAME="SEC29" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC29">Contents of the Experimental Tape</A></H3>
- <P>
- This tape includes software that is currently in beta test and is
- available for people who are feeling adventurous. Some of the software
- already has released versions on the distribution tapes. This tape is
- being offered for a limited time; as the programs become stable, they
- will replace older versions on other tapes. Please send bug reports to
- the appropriate addresses (listed on the tape in the notes for each
- program).
- <P>
- <UL>
- <LI>
- <B>GCC</B> 2.1
- <P>
- New features in GCC Version 2 include instruction scheduling, loop
- unrolling, filling of delay slots, leaf function optimization, optimized
- multiplication by constants, and a certain amount of common
- subexpression elimination (CSE) between basic blocks. (Not all of the
- supported machine descriptions provide for scheduling or delay slots.)
- Function-wide CSE has been written, but needs to be cleaned up before it
- can be installed. Position-independent code is supported on the 88000
- and SPARC, and soon perhaps on the 680x0.
- <P>
- GCC 2 can also open-code most arithmetic on 64-bit values (type <CODE>long
- long int</CODE>). It can generate code for most of the same machines as
- Version 1, plus the IBM PC/RT, the IBM RS/6000, the Motorola 88000, the
- Acorn RISC machine, the AMD 29000 and the HP-PA (700 or 800). Ports for
- the IBM 370, the Intel 960, and the NCUBE are on their way. Version 2
- can generate <CODE>a.out</CODE>, COFF, Elf, and OSF/Rose files when used with a
- suitable assembler. GCC 2 can produce debugging information in several
- formats: BSD stabs, COFF, ECOFF, ECOFF with stabs symbols, and Dwarf.
- <P>
- Not all of the Version 1 machine descriptions have been updated yet;
- some do not work, and others need work to take full advantage of
- instruction scheduling and delay slots. The old machine descriptions
- for the Pyramid, Alliant, Tahoe, and Spur (as well as a new port for the
- Tron) do not work, but are still included in the distribution in case
- you want to work on them.
- <P>
- In GCC 2, using the new configuration scheme, building a
- cross-compiler is as easy as building a compiler for the same target
- machine. GCC 2 also supports more general calling conventions; it can
- pass arguments "by reference" and can preallocate stack space
- arguments. On the SPARC it uses the standard conventions for structure
- arguments, but structure return values are still a problem. With
- luck, this too will be fixed soon.
- <P>
- Version 2 of the compiler supports three languages: Objective-C,
- C<TT>++</TT>, and C; the source file name selects the language. (The front
- end support for Objective-C was donated by NeXT.) The runtime support
- needed to run Objective-C programs is mostly working, but not available
- yet.
- <P>
- C has been extended to support nested functions, nonlocal gotos, and
- taking the address of a label.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GDB</B> 4.5
- <P>
- GDB 4 contains many new features since 3.5 (the version currently on the
- release tapes). They include remote debugging over serial lines or
- TCP/IP; watchpoints; more readable output and a simplified command
- interface; support of more binary formats (using BFD); limited debugging
- of C<TT>++</TT> (when using GCC 2); preliminary support for Modula-2
- debugging (for the compiler being developed at the State University of
- New York at Buffalo, others will not work); and the ability to debug
- programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries.
- <P>
- GDB 4 can perform cross-debugging. To say that GDB 4 <EM>targets</EM> a
- platform means that it can perform native or cross-debugging for it. To
- say that GDB 4 can <EM>host</EM> a given platform means that it can be
- built on it, but cannot necessarily debug native programs. GDB 4
- can:
- <P>
- <UL>
- <P>
- <LI><EM>target</EM> and <EM>host</EM>: Amiga 3000 (Amix), DECstation 3100
- & 5000, HP 9000/370 (BSD), IBM RS/6000 (AIX), Motorola Delta 88000
- (System V), NCR 3000 (SVR4), SGI Iris (MIPS running Irix V3 or V4), SONY
- News (NEWSOS 3.x), Sun-3, Sun-4, & Ultracomputer (29K running Sym1).
- <P>
- <LI><EM>target</EM>, but not <EM>host</EM>: i960 Nindy & AMD
- 29000 (COFF or <CODE>a.out</CODE>).
- <P>
- <LI><EM>host</EM>, but not <EM>target</EM>: Intel 386 (Mach) & IBM
- RT/PC.
- <P>
- </UL>
- <P>
- In addition, GDB 4 can understand the symbol tables emitted by the
- compilers supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including
- DEC. (These symbol tables are in a format which essentially nobody else
- uses.) Debugging of G<TT>++</TT> remains a problem, and GDB 4 won't work for
- any version of G<TT>++</TT> 1 at all.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>BFD</B>
- <P>
- The BFD (Binary File Descriptor) Library from Cygnus Support is a set of
- routines to make handling different object file formats more transparent
- to programs using them. Some GNU software is in the process of being
- converted to use it. BFD comes with documentation.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU C Library</B> 1.03
- <P>
- The library is ANSI C and POSIX.1 compliant and has most of the functions
- specified in POSIX.2 draft 11.2. It is upward compatible with the 4.4 BSD
- C library and includes many System V functions, plus GNU extensions.
- <P>
- The C library works on HP 9000 series 300s running 4.3 BSD and Sun-3 or
- Sun-4 systems running SunOS 4.1. Someone has built it successfully for
- an i860 cross-development environment. Porting is not hard.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>libg<TT>++</TT></B> 2.0
- <P>
- This is the GNU C<TT>++</TT> library for GCC Version 2 (see "Contents of
- Languages Tape" for more info regarding libg<TT>++</TT>). The latest
- version tries to automatically configure itself, thus working out of the
- box on many hosts. The iostream facility has been improved.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Graphics</B> 0.17
- <P>
- See "Project GNU Status Report" for details.
- <P>
- </UL>
- <P>
- <H3><A NAME="SEC30" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC30">Contents of the X11 Tapes</A></H3>
- <P>
- The two X11 tapes contain Version 11, Release 5 of the MIT X Window
- System. The first FSF tape contains all the core software,
- documentation, and some contributed clients. FSF refers to its first
- tape as the `required' X tape since it is necessary for running X or
- running GNU Emacs under X. The second, `optional,' FSF tape contains
- contributed libraries and other toolkits, the Andrew software, games,
- and other programs.
- <P>
- <H3><A NAME="SEC31" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC31">Berkeley Networking 2 Tape</A></H3>
- <P>
- The Berkeley "Net2" release contains the second 4.3 BSD distribution
- and is newer than both 4.3BSD-Tahoe and 4.3BSD-Reno. It includes nearly
- the entire BSD software system except for a few utilities, some parts of
- the kernel, and some library routines which your own C library is likely
- to provide. This release contains much more software than the older
- releases, including third party software like Kerberos and some GNU
- software (for example, GCC, now the standard BSD compiler). Except for
- kernel sources, the GNU Project has replacements on other tapes for many
- of the missing programs.
- <P>
- <H3><A NAME="SEC32" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC32">VMS Emacs and Compiler Tapes</A></H3>
- <P>
- We offer two VMS tapes. One has just the GNU Emacs editor. The second
- contains the GNU C compiler, Bison (needed to compile GCC), <CODE>gas</CODE>
- (needed to assemble GCC's output), and some library and include files.
- We are not aware of a GDB port for VMS. Both VMS tapes have executables
- from which you can bootstrap, since the DEC VMS C compiler has bugs
- and cannot compile GCC.
- <P>
- Please do not ask us to devote effort to VMS support, because it is
- peripheral to the GNU Project.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC33" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC33">Free Software for Microcomputers</A></H1>
- <P>
- We do not provide support for GNU software on microcomputers because it
- is peripheral to the GNU Project. However, we are willing to publish
- information about groups who do so. If you are aware of any such
- efforts, please send the details, including postal addresses, archive
- sites, and mailing lists, to <CODE>gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE> or to the
- postal address on the front cover.
- <P>
- Please do <I>not</I> ask the Free Software Foundation about this
- microcomputer software. FSF does <I>not</I> maintain it, and has no more
- information about it.
- <P>
- <UL>
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Software not on Apple computers</B>
- <P>
- In lawsuits, Apple claims the power to stop people from writing any
- program that has a user interface that works even vaguely like the
- Macintosh's. If Apple triumphs in the courts, it will create for itself
- a new power over the public that will enable it to put an end to free
- software. So long as Apple continues to try to establish this kind of
- monopoly, we will not provide any support or software for Apple machines.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Boston Computer Society</B>
- <P>
- The BCS has thousands of shareware and free programs for microcomputers,
- including some GNU programs. Contact them to see what is available for
- your machine: Boston Computer Society, 1 Kendall Square -- Bldg 1400,
- Cambridge, MA 02139 USA. Phone: (617) 252-0600.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Software on the Amiga</B>
- <P>
- Get Amiga ports of many GNU programs via anonymous FTP from:
- <CODE>karazm.math.uh.edu</CODE> in <CODE>/pub/Amiga/Gnu</CODE> (USA),
- <CODE>titan.ksc.nasa.gov</CODE> in <CODE>/pub/amiga</CODE> (USA), and
- <CODE>ftp.funet.fi</CODE> in <CODE>/pub/amiga/gnu</CODE> (Europe).
- <P>
- For info on (or offers to help with) the GCC port and related projects,
- ask Leonard Norrgard, <CODE>vinsci@nic.funet.fi</CODE>. For info on the
- GNU Emacs port, ask Mark D. Henning, <CODE>henning@stolaf.edu</CODE>.
- Get more info via anonymous FTP in
- <TT>`prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/MicrosPorts/Amiga'</TT>.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Software for Atari TOS and Atari Minix</B>
- <P>
- You can obtain Atari ports from <CODE>atari.archive.umich.edu</CODE> using
- anonymous FTP. Howard Chu, <CODE>hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov</CODE>,
- maintains the archive. Ports are discussed on USENET in
- <CODE>comp.sys.atari.st.tech</CODE> & <CODE>comp.sys.atari.st</CODE>. In
- order to get this group via e-mail, please ask
- <CODE>info-atari16-request@score.stanford.edu</CODE>.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU C/C<TT>++</TT> 2.1 for OS/2 2.0</B>
- <P>
- Michael Johnson has completed a new, completely stand-alone port of the
- GNU C/C<TT>++</TT> Version 2.1 compiler for OS/2 2.0. The distribution
- contains C/C<TT>++</TT> compilers, the GNU assembler, the BSD C library and
- an OS/2-specific library, and documentation. It is available via
- anonymous FTP from <CODE>hobbes.nmsu.edu</CODE> in the directory
- <TT>`/pub/os2/2.0/gnu/gcc21'</TT>.
- <P>
- Send a message to <CODE>os2gcc-request@charon.mit.edu</CODE> to be placed on
- a mailing list for discussion about this system.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Linux: a free Unix system for 386 machines</B>
- <P>
- Linux (named after its author, Linus Torvalds) is a free Unix clone
- which implements a subset of System V and POSIX functionality. Linux
- has been written from scratch and does not contain any proprietary code
- in the kernel. A large number of the utilities and libraries are GNU
- software. Linux runs only on 386/486 AT-bus machines, and porting to
- non-Intel architectures is likely to be difficult as the kernel makes
- extensive use of 386 memory management and task primitives. Linux is
- freely distributable and available via anonymous FTP:
- <CODE>tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux</CODE> (USA), and
- <CODE>nic.funet.fi:/pub/OS/Linux</CODE> (Europe).
- <P>
- There is a newsgroup, <CODE>comp.os.linux</CODE>, for discussions about Linux.
- Ask <CODE>linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi</CODE> regarding the
- mailing lists.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Free 386 BSD</B>
- <P>
- Experienced hackers may be interested in the alpha test version of a 386
- port of BSD Unix by William F. Jolitz et al. This kernel is free of
- AT&T code and is freely redistributable. You can obtain more
- information from <CODE>sokol@reyes.stanford.edu</CODE>. Note that this
- early version is not reliable, and has trouble booting on some systems.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>DJGPP, the GNU C/C<TT>++</TT> compiler for MS-DOS</B>
- <P>
- D. J. Delorie has ported GCC/G<TT>++</TT> to the 386 MS-DOS platform. The
- compiler and programs it generates run in 32-bit mode with full virtual
- memory support. DJGPP is available via FTP from
- <CODE>barnacle.erc.clarkson.edu</CODE> in <TT>`/pub/msdos/djgpp'</TT>.
- You can subscribe to a mailing list on DJGPP by sending your e-mail
- address to <CODE>djgpp-request@sun.soe.clarkson.edu</CODE>.
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Demacs, GNU Emacs for MS-DOS</B>
- <P>
- Manabu Higashida and Hirano Satoshi have released Demacs, a GNU Emacs
- port for 386/486 MS-DOS. Version 1.2.0 is the first post-beta release.
- Demacs provides several DOS-specific features: support for binary or
- text file translation, "8bit clean" display mode, 80x86 software
- interrupt calls via a <CODE>int86</CODE> Lisp function, machine-specific
- features such as function key support, file name completion with drive
- name, child processes (<CODE>suspend-emacs</CODE>, and <CODE>call-process</CODE>).
- Dired mode works without <TT>`ls.exe'</TT>. Anonymous FTP it from:
- <CODE>wuarchive.wustl.edu</CODE> in <CODE>/mirrors/msdos/demacs</CODE> (US),
- <CODE>utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp</CODE> in <CODE>/GNU/demacs</CODE> (Japan),
- <CODE>rana.cc.deakin.oz.au</CODE> in <CODE>/pub/PC/oak/demacs</CODE>
- (Pacific), and <CODE>ftp.funet.fi</CODE> in
- <CODE>/pub/gnu/emacs/demacs</CODE> (Europe).
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>Freemacs, an Extensible Editor for MS-DOS</B>
- <P>
- Russ Nelson, <CODE>nelson@crynwr.com</CODE>, has written a small
- programmable editor that is somewhat compatible with GNU Emacs and will
- run on most MS-DOS systems, including 8088 machines. It is so compatible
- that Freemacs users can use the <CITE>GNU Emacs Manual</CITE> as a reference
- for it.
- <P>
- Anonymous FTP it from <TT>`emacs16a.zip'</TT> (under
- <CODE>PD1:<MSDOS.FREEMACS></CODE>) from <CODE>wsmr-simtel20.army.mil</CODE>;
- or send $15 (copying fee) to Russ Nelson, 11 Grant St., Potsdam, NY
- 13676 USA. Phone: (315) 268-1925 (Fax: 9201). Specify floppy
- format: <CODE>5.25"/360K</CODE>; or <CODE>3.50"/720K.</CODE>
- <P>
- <LI>
- <B>GNU Software on MS-DOS</B>
- <P>
- Russ Nelson has ports for many GNU programs for MS-DOS available on
- floppy disk. Contact him at the above address for more information.
- <P>
- In addition, contact
- <CODE>info-gnu-msdos-request@sun.soe.clarkson.edu</CODE> for info on
- ports of GNU programs to MS-DOS and related mailing lists. More
- information is in <TT>`/pub/gnu/MicrosPorts/MSDOS'</TT> and
- <TT>`MSDOS.gcc'</TT>, obtainable via anonymous FTP on
- <CODE>prep.ai.mit.edu</CODE>.
- <P>
- </UL>
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC34" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC34">Thank GNUs</A></H1>
- <P>
- Thanks to all those mentioned above in "GNUs Flashes", "Project GNU
- Status Report", "GNU in Japan", and "GNU Software Available Now".
- <P>
- Thanks to the <B>Artificial</B> <B>Intelligence</B> <B>Laboratory</B>
- and the <B>Laboratory</B> <B>for</B> <B>Computer</B> <B>Science</B> at
- <B>MIT</B> for their invaluable assistance of many kinds.
- <P>
- Thanks to <B>Village Center, Inc.</B>, <B>ASCII</B>
- <B>Corporation,</B> and the <B>Japan</B> <B>Unix</B> <B>Society</B>,
- all of Japan, for their continued donations and support, and thanks to
- the anonymous GNU users in Japan for their gifts.
- <P>
- Thanks again to the <B>Open</B> <B>Software</B> <B>Foundation</B> for
- their continued support.
- <P>
- Thanks to the <B>Technical</B> <B>University</B> of <B>Eindhoven</B>
- in the Netherlands.
- <P>
- Thanks to the <B>University</B> <B>of</B> <B>Massachusetts</B>
- <B>at</B> <B>Boston</B> (especially <B>Rick</B> <B>Martin</B>) for
- allowing Karl Berry and Kathryn Hargreaves to use their computers.
- <P>
- Thanks to <B>Chris Thyberg</B> and <B>Carnegie-Mellon University</B>
- for supporting Tom Lord.
- <P>
- Thanks to <B>Jim Mochel</B> for his help with MS-DOS.
- <P>
- Thanks to <B>Chet Ramey</B> for his continuing work on improving
- BASH.
- <P>
- Thanks to <B>Lucid, Inc.</B> for the loan of an X terminal and for
- their support of Joe Arceneaux.
- <P>
- Thanks to <B>Carol</B> <B>Botteron</B> for proofreading and other
- assistance, and to <B>Mieko</B> and <B>Nobuyuki</B> <B>Hikichi</B>
- for their invaluable help raising both funds and consciousness in
- Japan.
- <P>
- Thanks to <B>Cygnus</B> <B>Support</B> for continuing to improve
- various programs and assisting the GNU Project in other ways.
- <P>
- Thanks go out to all those who have either lent or donated machines,
- including <B>Hewlett-Packard</B> for two 80486 computers, and six 68030
- and four Spectrum workstations; <B>Brewster Kahle</B> of Thinking
- Machines Corp. for the Sun-4/110; <B>Doug Blewett</B> of AT&T Bell Labs
- for two Convergent Miniframes; CMU's <B>Mach</B> <B>Project</B> for
- the Sun-3/60; <B>Intel Corp.</B> for their 386 machine; <B>NeXT</B>
- for their workstation; the <B>MIT</B> <B>Media</B> <B>Laboratory</B>
- for the Hewlett-Packard 68020; <B>SONY</B> <B>Corp.</B> and
- <B>Software</B> <B>Research</B> <B>Associates</B>, <B>Inc.</B>, both
- of Tokyo, for three SONY News workstations; <B>IBM</B> <B>Corp.</B>
- for an RS/6000 computer; the <B>MIT</B> <B>Laboratory</B> <B>of</B>
- <B>Computer</B> <B>Science</B> for the DEC MicroVAX; the <B>Open</B>
- <B>Software</B> <B>Foundation</B> for the Compaq 386; <B>Delta
- Microsystems</B> for an Exabyte tape drive; an anonymous donor for 5 IBM
- RT computers; <B>Liant Software Corp.</B> for five VT100s; <B>Jerry
- Peek</B> for a 386 machine; <B>NCD Corporation</B> for an X terminal; and
- <B>Interleaf, Inc.</B>, <B>Veronika Caslavsky</B>, <B>Paul
- English</B>, <B>Cindy Woolworth</B>, and <B>Lisa Bergen</B> for the loan
- of a scanner.
- <P>
- Thanks to all those who have contributed ports and extensions, as well
- as those who have contributed other source code, documentation, and good
- bug reports. Thanks to those who sent money and offered help. Thanks
- also to those who support us by ordering manuals and distribution
- tapes.
- <P>
- The creation of this bulletin is our way of thanking all who have
- expressed interest in what we are doing.
- <P>
- <H1><A NAME="SEC35" HREF="bull13_toc.html#SEC35">Free Software Foundation Order Form</A></H1>
- <P>
- this title is for the info-gnu edition. leave it here -len
- <P>
- opus should just ignore it. ;-)
- <P>
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