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  1. GNU's Bulletin June, 1992
  2. The GNU's Bulletin is the semi-annual newsletter of the
  3. Free Software Foundation, bringing you news about the GNU Project.
  4. Free Software Foundation, Inc. Telephone: (617) 876-3296
  5. 675 Massachusetts Avenue Electronic mail: gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu
  6. Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
  7. Contents
  8. --------
  9. GNU's Who
  10. What Is the Free Software Foundation?
  11. What Is Copyleft?
  12. Free Software Support
  13. GNUs Flashes
  14. Patent Reform Is Not Enough
  15. What Is the LPF?
  16. LPF Ends Ashton-Tate Boycott
  17. U.S. Federal Database Bill
  18. Another Free Software Support Business
  19. The Hurd: the GNU Kernel Advances
  20. A Small Way to Help Free Software
  21. Project GNU Status Report
  22. A GNU Standard on Suns?
  23. Andrew Toolkit Stays Free
  24. GNU in Japan
  25. GNU Software Support Company in Japan
  26. GNU Documentation
  27. Project Gutenberg Looks for Volunteers
  28. Project GNU Wish List
  29. Please Support Free Software
  30. How to Get GNU Software
  31. GNU Software Available Now
  32. Contents of the Emacs Tape
  33. Contents of the Languages Tape
  34. Contents of the Utilities Tape
  35. Contents of the Experimental Tape
  36. Contents of the X11 Tapes
  37. Berkeley Networking 2 Tape
  38. VMS Emacs and Compiler Tapes
  39. Free Software for Microcomputers
  40. Thank GNUs
  41. Free Software Foundation Order Form
  42. GNU's Who
  43. *********
  44. Michael Bushnell is working on the GNU operating system and maintains GNU
  45. `tar'. Jim Blandy is preparing GNU Emacs 19, and Joseph Arceneaux is
  46. implementing active regions for a future GNU Emacs release. Roland McGrath is
  47. polishing the C library and maintains GNU `make'.
  48. Tom Lord is writing a graphics library and working on Oleo, the GNU
  49. spreadsheet. Brian Fox is improving various programs that he has written
  50. including `makeinfo', `info', the `readline' library, BASH, and is writing the
  51. `BASH Manual'. Jan Brittenson is working on the C interpreter and maintaining
  52. `finger'. Mike Haertel is making GNU `grep' POSIX compliant and beginning work
  53. on optical character recognition. David MacKenzie maintains most of GNU's small
  54. utilities--more programs than nearly everyone else combined.
  55. Kathy Hargreaves and Karl Berry are making fonts (and coordinating volunteers
  56. making fonts), developing utilities for dealing with them, and working on
  57. Ghostscript. Melissa Weisshaus is editing documentation and will work on the
  58. `GNU Utilities Manual'.
  59. Noah Friedman is our system administrator. Lisa `Opus' Goldstein continues to
  60. run the business end of FSF, with Gena Lynne Bean assisting in the office.
  61. Spike MacPhee assists RMS with legal assignments of software and other
  62. administrative tasks. Robert J. Chassell, our Secretary/Treasurer, also handles
  63. our publishing and is working on an introduction to programming in Emacs Lisp,
  64. in addition to many other tasks.
  65. Richard Stallman continues as a volunteer who does countless tasks, such as C
  66. compiler maintenance and finishing the `C Library Manual'.
  67. Volunteer Len Tower remains our on-line JOAT (jack-of-all-trades), handling
  68. mailing lists and gnUSENET, information requests, etc.
  69. GNU's Bulletin
  70. **************
  71. Written and Edited by: Jan Brittenson, Noah S. Friedman,
  72. Robert J. Chassell, Melissa Weisshaus, Richard Stallman,
  73. and Leonard H. Tower Jr.
  74. Illustrations: Etienne Suvasa
  75. Japanese Edition: Mieko Hikichi and Nobuyuki Hikichi
  76. The GNU's Bulletin is published twice annually. To get a copy, send your
  77. request to the address on the first page. If you live in an area served by the
  78. US Post Office, please also send a SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Number 10
  79. Envelope), otherwise please include a preprinted mailing label. A small
  80. donation to cover copying costs is appreciated but not required.
  81. Copyright (C) 1992 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
  82. Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies of this
  83. document as received, in any medium, provided that the copyright notice and
  84. permission notice are preserved, and that the distributor grants the recipient
  85. permission for further redistribution as permitted by this notice.
  86. What Is the Free Software Foundation?
  87. *************************************
  88. The Free Software Foundation is dedicated to eliminating restrictions on
  89. copying, redistribution, understanding, and modification of computer programs.
  90. We do this by promoting the development and use of free software in all areas
  91. of computer use. Specifically, we are putting together a complete integrated
  92. software system named "GNU" (GNU's Not Unix) that will be upwardly compatible
  93. with Unix. Some large parts of this system are already working, and we are
  94. distributing them now.
  95. The word "free" in our name pertains to freedom, not price. You may or may not
  96. pay a price to get GNU software. Either way, you have two specific freedoms
  97. once you have the software: first, the freedom to copy the program and give it
  98. away to your friends and co-workers; and second, the freedom to change the
  99. program as you wish, by having full access to source code. Furthermore, you can
  100. study the source and learn how such programs are written. You may then be able
  101. to port it, improve it, and share your changes with others. (If you
  102. redistribute GNU software, you may charge a fee for the physical act of
  103. transferring a copy, or you may give away copies.)
  104. Other organizations distribute whatever free software happens to be available.
  105. By contrast, the Free Software Foundation concentrates on development of new
  106. free software, working towards a GNU system complete enough to eliminate the
  107. need for you to purchase a proprietary system.
  108. Besides developing GNU, FSF distributes copies of GNU software and manuals for
  109. a distribution fee, and accepts tax-deductible gifts to support GNU
  110. development. Most of FSF's funds come from its distribution service.
  111. The Board of the Foundation is: Richard M. Stallman, President;
  112. Robert J. Chassell, Secretary/Treasurer; Gerald J. Sussman, Harold Abelson, and
  113. Leonard H. Tower Jr., Directors.
  114. What Is Copyleft?
  115. *****************
  116. The simplest way to make a program free is to put it in the public domain,
  117. uncopyrighted. But this allows anyone to copyright and restrict its use
  118. against the author's wishes, thus denying others the right to access and freely
  119. redistribute it. This completely perverts the original intent.
  120. To prevent this, we copyright our software in a novel manner. Typical software
  121. companies use copyrights to take away your freedoms. We use the "copyleft" to
  122. preserve them. It is a legal instrument that requires those who pass on the
  123. program to include the rights to further redistribute it, and to see and change
  124. the code; the code and rights become legally inseparable.
  125. The copyleft used by the GNU Project is made from a combination of a regular
  126. copyright notice and the "GNU General Public License" (GPL). The GPL is a
  127. copying license which basically says that you have the freedoms discussed
  128. above. An alternate form, the "GNU Library General Public License" (LGPL),
  129. applies to certain GNU Libraries. This license permits linking the libraries
  130. into proprietary executables under certain conditions. The appropriate license
  131. is included in all GNU source code distributions and in many of our manuals.
  132. We will also send you a printed copy upon request.
  133. Note that the library license actually represents a strategic retreat. We would
  134. prefer to insist as much as possible that programs based on GNU software must
  135. themselves be free. However, in the case of libraries, we found that insisting
  136. they be used only in free software appeared to discourage use of the libraries
  137. rather than encouraging free applications.
  138. If the library license does promote the further use and development of free
  139. libraries by the developers of proprietary applications, we may consider
  140. putting more of the GNU Project libraries under it.
  141. We strongly encourage you to copyleft your programs and documentation, and we
  142. have made it as simple as possible for you to do so. The details on how to
  143. apply the GPL appear at the end of the GPL.
  144. Free Software Support
  145. *********************
  146. The Free Software Foundation does not provide any technical support. Although
  147. we create software, we leave it to others to earn a living providing support
  148. because we would rather concentrate on the former task. We see programmers as
  149. providing a service, much as doctors and lawyers now do; both medical and legal
  150. knowledge are freely redistributable entities for which the practitioners
  151. charge a distribution and service fee.
  152. We maintain a list of people who offer support and other consulting services,
  153. called the GNU Service Directory. It is in the file `etc/SERVICE' in the GNU
  154. Emacs distribution and `SERVICE' in the GCC distribution. Contact us if you
  155. would like a printed copy or wish to be listed in it.
  156. If you find a deficiency in any GNU software, we want to know. We have many
  157. Internet mailing lists for announcements, bug reports, and questions. They are
  158. also gatewayed into USENET news as the `gnu.*' newsgroups.
  159. If you have no Internet access, you can get mail and USENET news via UUCP.
  160. Contact a local UUCP site, or a commercial UUCP site such as:
  161. Anterior Technology,
  162. P.O. Box 1206,
  163. Menlo Park, CA 94026-1206
  164. USA
  165. Phone: (415) 328-5615 or Fax: (415) 322-1753
  166. E-mail: `info@fernwood.mpk.ca.us'
  167. UUNET Communications Services,
  168. 3110 Fairview Park Drive - Suite 570,
  169. Falls Church, VA 22042
  170. USA
  171. Phone: (703) 876-5050
  172. E-mail: `info@ftp.uu.net'
  173. When we receive a bug report, we usually try to fix the problem. While our bug
  174. fixes may seem like individual assistance, they are not. Our task is so large
  175. that we must focus on that which helps the community as a whole, such as
  176. developing and maintaining software and documentation. We do not have the
  177. resources to help individuals. If your bug report does not evoke a solution
  178. from us, you may still get one from the many other users who read our bug
  179. report mailing lists. Otherwise, use the Service Directory.
  180. So, please do not ask us to help you install the software or figure out how to
  181. use it--but do tell us how an installation script does not work or where the
  182. documentation is unclear.
  183. *"If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."*
  184. -Isaac Newton
  185. GNUs Flashes
  186. ************
  187. * Free Unix Emulator for Mach
  188. Randall Dean at CMU is finishing up a free BSD-based Unix emulator for
  189. Mach. It does not yet run reliably, but if it does become robust well
  190. before the Hurd is ready we will probably use it to create an early,
  191. completely free GNU system. We do not expect tape distribution of this
  192. emulator before the next issue of the GNUs Bulletin. Please don't ask us
  193. about this project; we will make an announcement when it is ready.
  194. Roland McGrath is porting the GNU C library to work with this emulator.
  195. * Berkeley Networking 2 Release
  196. The FSF now offers the BSD Networking 2 release on tape (see "Berkeley
  197. Networking 2 Tape" under "GNU Software Available Now").
  198. * Distribution Tapes Reorganized
  199. Our software distribution has been reorganized. The old Compiler tape has
  200. been split into a Languages and a Utilities tape. Some software has also
  201. moved from the Emacs tape to the other two tapes. In addition, we have a
  202. temporary Experimental tape. See "GNU Software Available Now."
  203. * FSF Distributing on Exabyte Cassettes
  204. We are now offering our software on 8mm Exabyte cassettes. For more
  205. information, see "FSF Order Form".
  206. * New Binding for GNU Manuals
  207. Several GNU manuals are now bound as soft cover books with a new
  208. "lay-flat" binding technology. This allows you to open them so they "lie
  209. flat" on a table without creasing the binding. Each book has an inner
  210. cloth spine and an outer cardboard cover that will not break or crease as
  211. an ordinary paperback will. Currently, the `GAWK', `Bison', `GDB', and
  212. `Emacs Lisp Reference' manuals have this binding. All other GNU manuals
  213. are also bound so they lie flat when opened, using other technologies.
  214. * GNU Fortran Mailing List
  215. A mailing list exists for those interested in the Fortran front end for
  216. GCC. To subscribe, ask: `info-gnu-fortran-request@prep.ai.mit.edu'.
  217. Meanwhile, the front end itself is rapidly approaching an alpha test state.
  218. * GNU in Russia Moves Forward
  219. Progress is being made on the GNU Project in Russia. The "Center for GNU
  220. Development" is translating GNU documentation into Russian. Recently, they
  221. finished the first version of a Modula-2-to-C translator. They are also
  222. working on an SQL database management system and on other projects.
  223. *"If I have not seen farther, it is because giants were standing on my
  224. shoulders."*
  225. -anonymous
  226. Patent Reform Is Not Enough
  227. ***************************
  228. by Richard Stallman
  229. When people first learn about the problem of software patents, their attention
  230. is often drawn to the egregious examples: patents that cover techniques already
  231. widely known. These techniques include sorting a collection of formulae so
  232. that no variable is used before it is calculated (called "natural order
  233. recalculation" in spreadsheets), and the use of exclusive-or to modify the
  234. contents of a bit-map display.
  235. Focusing on these examples can lead some people to ignore the rest of the
  236. problem. They are attracted to the position that the patent system is
  237. basically correct and needs only "reforms" to carry out its own rules properly.
  238. But would correct implementation really solve the problem of software patents?
  239. Let's consider an example.
  240. In April 1991, software developer Ross Williams began publishing a series of
  241. data compression programs using new algorithms of his own devising. Their
  242. superior speed and compression quality soon attracted users.
  243. The following September, when the FSF was about a week away from releasing one
  244. of them as the new choice for compressing our distribution files, use of these
  245. programs in the United States was halted by a newly issued patent, number
  246. 5,049,881.
  247. Under the current patent rules, whether the public is allowed to use these
  248. programs (i.e., whether the patent is invalid) depends on whether there is
  249. "prior art": whether the basic idea was published before the patent
  250. application, which was on June 18, 1990. Williams' publication in April 1991
  251. came after that date, so it does not count.
  252. A student described a similar algorithm in 1988--1989 in a class paper at the
  253. University of San Francisco, but the paper was not published. So it does not
  254. count as prior art under the current rules.
  255. Reforms to make the patent system work "properly" would be no help here. Under
  256. the rules of the patent system, this patent seems valid. There is no prior art
  257. for it. It is not close to obvious, as the patent system interprets the term.
  258. (Like most patents, it is neither worldshaking nor trivial, but somewhere in
  259. between.) The fault is in the rules themselves, not their execution.
  260. In the US legal system, patents are intended as a bargain between society and
  261. individuals; society is supposed to gain through the disclosure of techniques
  262. that would otherwise never be available. It is clear that society has gained
  263. nothing by issuing patent number 5,049,881.
  264. Under current rules, our ability to use Williams's programs depends on whether
  265. anyone happened to publish the same idea before June 18, 1990. That is to say,
  266. it depends on luck. This system is good for promoting the practice of law, but
  267. not progress in software.
  268. Teaching the Patent Office to look at more of the existing prior art might
  269. prevent some outrageous mistakes. It will not cure the greater problem, which
  270. is the patenting of every *new* wrinkle in the use of computers, like the one
  271. that Williams and others independently developed.
  272. This will turn software into a quagmire. Even an innovative program typically
  273. uses dozens of not-quite-new techniques and features, each of which might have
  274. been patented. Our ability to use each wrinkle will depend on luck, and if we
  275. are unlucky half the time, few programs will escape infringing a large number
  276. of patents. Navigating the maze of patents will be harder than writing
  277. software. As `The Economist' says, software patents are simply bad for
  278. business.
  279. If you'd like to do something, the easiest thing to do is to join the
  280. League for Programming Freedom.
  281. What Is the LPF?
  282. ****************
  283. The League for Programming Freedom (LPF) aims to protect the freedom to write
  284. software. This freedom is threatened by "look-and-feel" interface copyright
  285. lawsuits, and by software patents. The LPF does not endorse free software or
  286. the FSF.
  287. The League's members include programmers, entrepreneurs, students, professors,
  288. the FSF, and even some software companies.
  289. >From the League membership form:
  290. The League for Programming Freedom is a grass-roots organization of
  291. professors, students, business people, programmers, and users dedicated to
  292. bringing back the freedom to write programs. The League is not opposed to
  293. the legal system that Congress intended--copyright on individual programs.
  294. Our aim is to reverse the recent changes made by judges in response to
  295. special interests.
  296. Membership dues in the League are $42 per year for programmers, managers
  297. and professionals; $10.50 for students; $21 for others.
  298. To join, please send a check and the following information:
  299. * Your name and phone numbers (home, work or both).
  300. * The address to use for League mailings, a few each year (please
  301. indicate whether it is your home address or your work address).
  302. * The company you work for, and your position.
  303. * Your email address, so the League can contact you for political
  304. action. (If you don't want to be contacted for this, please say so,
  305. but please give your email address anyway.)
  306. * Please mention anything about you which would enable your
  307. endorsement of the LPF to impress the public.
  308. * Please say whether you would like to help with LPF activities.
  309. The address is:
  310. League for Programming Freedom
  311. 1 Kendall Square - #143
  312. P.O. Box 9171
  313. Cambridge, MA 02139
  314. USA
  315. Phone: (617) 243-4091
  316. Email: `league@prep.ai.mit.edu'
  317. If you haven't made up your mind yet, write to LPF for more information, or
  318. send Internet mail to `league@prep.ai.mit.edu'.
  319. LPF Ends Ashton-Tate Boycott
  320. ****************************
  321. Ashton-Tate (now a subsidiary of Borland) has offered to drop its
  322. "look-and-feel" lawsuit against Fox. In response, the League for Programming
  323. Freedom has dropped its boycott of Ashton-Tate products.
  324. U.S. Federal Database Bill
  325. **************************
  326. A bill before Congress, H.R. 2772, would have the Government Printing
  327. Office (GPO) create a Wide Information Network for Data Online (WINDO),
  328. allowing individual users to subscribe to a number of Federal databases,
  329. including: the FDA Bulletin Board, the Economic Bulletin Board, the SEC's EDGAR
  330. database of corporate disclosure filings, the Patent and Trademark Office's
  331. Automated Patent System, the "Federal Register," the "Congressional Record,"
  332. the House of Representatives' LEGIS system, the Library of Congress' SCORPIO
  333. system, the Department of State press briefings and Congressional Testimonies,
  334. and many other U.S. Federal government information systems.
  335. The GPO would administer the service for a low user dissemination-based charge,
  336. providing access through most common access methods, including by dial-up modem
  337. and over the Internet. User feedback would be greatly encouraged. Bill H.R.
  338. 2772 was introduced by Rep. Charlie Rose (D-NC) in June 1991. To support the
  339. bill, write or call your congressman. Also write or call Rep. Rose to show
  340. your support and send a copy to the Taxpayer Assets Project. For more
  341. information on WINDO, you can contact:
  342. American Library Association Taxpayer Assets Project
  343. Washington Office P.O. Box 19367
  344. 110 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20036
  345. Washington, DC 20002-5675 USA
  346. USA Tel: (202) 387-8030
  347. Tel: (202) 547-4440 Fax: (202) 234-5176
  348. Fax: (202) 547-7363 Bitnet: `love@pucc'
  349. Internet: `508-0621@mcimail.com'
  350. Joint Committee on Printing
  351. 818 Hart Senate Bldg.
  352. Washington, DC 20510
  353. USA
  354. Tel: (202) 224-5241
  355. Fax: (202) 224-1176
  356. Another Free Software Support Business
  357. **************************************
  358. by Russ Nelson, Crynwr Software, `nelson@crynwr.com'
  359. The Crynwr packet driver collection, a finalist in PC Magazine's 1991 Awards
  360. for Technical Excellence, is copylefted software. The packet drivers are a mix
  361. of PC Ethernet drivers and shims to other driver software. Packet drivers are
  362. used natively by nearly all TCP/IP software and can also be used with Novell's
  363. NetWare, Banyan Vines, and Performance Technology's PowerLAN. After nearly
  364. four years, the list of contributors stretches almost two pages. My firm,
  365. Crynwr Software, six months old, is the sole support for my family, selling
  366. packet driver support. Crynwr Software is another example of a successful
  367. business venture based on copylefted software.
  368. *"In the sciences, we are now uniquely privileged to sit side by side with
  369. the giants on whose shoulders we stand."*
  370. -anonymous
  371. The Hurd: the GNU Kernel Advances
  372. *********************************
  373. Development is continuing on the kernel-related aspects of the GNU Operating
  374. System. This job consists of writing a set of servers, called the GNU Hurd,
  375. that run on top of the Mach 3 microkernel from CMU. The Mach microkernel
  376. provides a task abstraction with multiple threads within a single task and
  377. powerful IPC and virtual memory systems. Work is proceeding well on our
  378. implementation of the BSD Fast Filesystem, and we hope to be able to bootstrap
  379. a minimal system this summer.
  380. One of the advantages to the GNU Hurd is that it allows ordinary users to write
  381. programs which insert themselves into the directory hierarchy in a secure
  382. fashion. Using this idea, we will eventually implement a variety of
  383. interesting "filesystems." A simple example is transparent FTP, but there are
  384. also ideas like a transparent tar archive. (Just think, all you will need do
  385. is `cd' into a tar archive and do an `ls', instead of remembering incantations
  386. like `tar tfv foo.tar'.) There are even stranger ideas people have thought up;
  387. this design choice turns out to be surprisingly fruitful. This is a
  388. characteristic of the Hurd which is not supported by any other free or
  389. nearly-free operating systems, and only a very few commercial systems (none of
  390. which look anything like Unix).
  391. We are not sure at this point whether the initial alpha test release will have
  392. network support in it; this will depend on staffing considerations. If it does
  393. not, then implementing the network will be the top priority after the alpha
  394. release. The plan is to write a library which will enable network modules from
  395. a BSD kernel (many of which are now free) to be "dropped in" and used with only
  396. minimal modification, though more work would be needed to enable such a network
  397. server to get maximal performance.
  398. Source compatibility with 4.4 BSD and POSIX.1 will be provided by the GNU C
  399. Library. In addition, binary compatibility will be provided on some machines
  400. using the system call emulation facilities of Mach. Further, a great number of
  401. functions, done in Unix by the kernel, will be done in the C library. This
  402. allows users who dislike some of the precise semantics of a system call to
  403. easily replace it in their programs. Calls such as those which change signal
  404. state can be implemented entirely in the library and become much faster as well.
  405. We have a mailing list to discuss the design of Hurd. Experts in OS design and
  406. seasoned Unix wizards are welcome to help hash out the details of the
  407. interface.
  408. A Small Way to Help Free Software
  409. *********************************
  410. If you find that GNU software has been helpful to you, and in particular if you
  411. have benefitted from having sources freely available, please help support the
  412. spread of free software by telling others. For example, you might say in
  413. published papers and internal project reports:
  414. "We were able to modify the `fubar' utility to serve our particular needs
  415. because it is free software. As a result, we were able to finish the XYZ
  416. project six months earlier."
  417. Let users, management, and friends know! And send us a copy. Thanks!
  418. Project GNU Status Report
  419. *************************
  420. * GNU Software Configuration Scheme
  421. To allow GNU software to compile and run on a large number of platforms,
  422. it is often necessary to include platform-specific code to handle
  423. different situations. It is then useful to know the type of platform on
  424. which you are going to build the software. We are now ironing out the
  425. details of a uniform scheme for configuring GNU software packages in order
  426. to compile them. This will make it possible to configure any and all GNU
  427. software in the same way. In particular, all GNU software will support
  428. the same naming scheme for machine types and system types.
  429. The configuration scheme will enable you to configure a directory
  430. containing several GNU packages with one command. When we have a complete
  431. system, it will be possible to configure everything at once, eliminating
  432. the need to learn how to configure each of the individual programs that
  433. make up the GNU system.
  434. For tools used in development, the configuration scheme lets you specify
  435. both the host system and the target system, so you can configure and build
  436. cross-development tools easily.
  437. GCC Version 2 and GDB Version 4 support the new configuration scheme, as
  438. do many of the smaller programs and collections. Over the coming year, we
  439. will change our other software to support it.
  440. * GNU Emacs
  441. Version 19 will enter beta test late this year. Among its new features
  442. are: `before' and `after change hooks', source-level debugging of Emacs
  443. Lisp programs, X selection processing (including clipboard selections),
  444. scrollbars, support for European character sets, floating point numbers,
  445. per-buffer mouse commands, X resource manager interfacing, mouse-tracking,
  446. Lisp-level binding of function keys, multiple X windows (`screens' to
  447. Emacs), a new input system, and buffer allocation, which uses a new
  448. mechanism capable of returning storage to the system when a buffer is
  449. killed.
  450. The input stream is now a sequence of Lisp objects, instead of a sequence
  451. of characters. This allows a reasonable representation for mouse clicks,
  452. function keys, menu selections, etc.
  453. Thanks go to Alan Carroll and the people who worked on Epoch for
  454. generating initial feedback to a multi-windowed Emacs, and to Eric Raymond
  455. for help in polishing the Emacs 19 Lisp libraries.
  456. Emacs 18 maintenance continues for simple bug fixes.
  457. * C Compiler
  458. The GNU C compiler (GCC) version 1.40 is current; 1.41 is expected soon.
  459. GCC supports both ANSI standard and traditional C, as well as the GNU
  460. extensions to C.
  461. Version 1 is stable, but still maintained with bug fixes. It supports
  462. these CPU types: 680x0, VAX, 32x32, 80[34]86, SPARC (Sun-4), SPUR, Convex,
  463. MIPS, Tahoe, Pyramid, and Alliant. It supports both `a.out' and COFF
  464. format object files when used with a suitable assembler.
  465. Version 2 of GCC is in beta test (see "Contents of the Experimental Tape")
  466. and includes front-ends for C++ and Objective-C. New front ends are being
  467. developed, but they are not part of GCC yet. A front end for Ada is being
  468. funded through the Ada 9X standards committee. Since it is a quite
  469. complex language, we expect completion to take a while. A front end for
  470. Fortran is now being integrated, but this will also not be available soon.
  471. Volunteers are developing front ends for Modula-3 and Pascal. There are
  472. mumblings about other languages, but no one has volunteered to do Cobol
  473. yet.
  474. * Binutils
  475. Steve Chamberlain and others at Cygnus Support have rewritten the binary
  476. utilities (including the linker). These are now based on the same Binary
  477. File Descriptor library used by GDB. All the tools can be run on a host
  478. that differs from the target (e.g. cross-linking is supported).
  479. Furthermore, various forms of COFF and other object file formats are
  480. supported. A tool can deal with object files in multiple forms at once.
  481. For example, the linker can read object files using two different formats,
  482. and write the output in a third format. The linker interprets a superset
  483. of the AT&T Linker Command Language, which allows very general control
  484. over where segments are placed in memory.
  485. Version 1.94 is currently in beta test. Major changes are not expected.
  486. Per Bothner, `bothner@cygnus.com', coordinates the release.
  487. * C Library
  488. Roland McGrath continues to work on the C Library. It now conforms to
  489. ANSI C-1989 and POSIX.1-1990, and work is in progress on POSIX.2 and Unix
  490. functions (BSD and System V). In the Hurd, it will do much of what the
  491. system calls do in Unix. Roland is working on this code and has written
  492. alot of it already. Mike Haertel has written a fast `malloc' which wastes
  493. less memory than the old GNU `malloc'. The GNU regular-expression
  494. functions (`regex') now mostly conform to the POSIX.2 standard. A manual
  495. for the library (including the "system calls") is mostly written.
  496. GNU `stdio' lets you define new kinds of streams, just by writing a few C
  497. functions. The `fmemopen' function uses this to open a stream on a
  498. string, which can grow as necessary. You can define your own `printf'
  499. formats to use a C function you write; and there is a way to safely use
  500. format strings from user input, for example to implement a `printf'-like
  501. function for another programming language. Extended `getopt' functions
  502. are already used to parse options, including long options, in many GNU
  503. utilities.
  504. Version 1.03 runs on Sun-3 & Sun-4 (SunOS 4.1) and HP 9000/300 (4.3 BSD).
  505. Version 1.04 will include a complete port for MIPS DECstations (Ultrix
  506. 4.2), and improved support for the i386/i486 (System V & BSD).
  507. * GNU Debugger
  508. The GNU source-level C and C++ debugger, GDB, is now being distributed
  509. along with the GNU C Compiler.
  510. GDB Version 4.5 is in beta test. New machine ports include the IBM
  511. RS/6000, AMD 29000, and Intel 960. Object files and symbol tables are now
  512. read via a Binary File Descriptor library, which allows a single copy of
  513. GDB to debug programs of multiple object file types such as `a.out' and
  514. COFF. Other new features include improvements to the command language,
  515. watchpoints (breakpoints triggered when the value of an expression
  516. changes), exception handling (when used with GCC version 2) and support
  517. for SunOS shared libraries and C++ multiple inheritance.
  518. * JACAL
  519. Aubrey Jaffer is preparing a new release of JACAL, a symbolic mathematics
  520. system for the simplification and manipulation of equations and
  521. single-and-multiple-valued algebraic expressions constructed of numbers,
  522. variables, radicals, and algebraic functions, differential and finite
  523. differential operators, and holonomic functions. In addition, vectors and
  524. matrices of the above objects are included.
  525. JACAL runs under either Common Lisp or Scheme. A version of Scheme (IEEE
  526. P1178 and R4RS compliant) written in C comes with JACAL. It runs under
  527. VMS, MS-DOS, Unix, and similar systems. Pre-release source is available
  528. for anonymous FTP from `martigny.ai.mit.edu' under `/archive/scm' in
  529. `jacal0-4.tar.Z' and `scm3c13.tar.Z'.
  530. The FSF is not distributing JACAL on tape yet. To receive an IBM PC
  531. floppy disk with the source and executable files, send $60.00 ($65.00 for
  532. i386) to: Aubrey Jaffer, 84 Pleasant St., Wakefield MA 01880 USA.
  533. * Ghostscript
  534. The current version of Ghostscript is 2.4.1. Features include: the
  535. ability to specify device resolution and output file (including piping)
  536. from the command line; many new output devices and file formats, including
  537. PBM/PGM/PPM, GIF, and PCX; many more Postscript Level 2 facilities;
  538. improved character rendering; and incorporation of the standard Adobe font
  539. metrics into the Ghostscript fonts.
  540. Ghostscript 2.4.1 accepts commands in Postscript and executes them by
  541. drawing on an X window, writing a file that you can print directly, or
  542. writing directly to a printer. GNU volunteer Tim Theisen,
  543. `ghostview@cs.wisc.edu', has created a previewer for multi-page files,
  544. called Ghostview, on top of Ghostscript.
  545. Ghostscript includes a C-callable graphics library (for client programs
  546. that do not want to deal with the Postscript language). It also supports
  547. IBM PCs and compatibles with EGA, VGA, or SuperVGA graphics (but do not
  548. ask the FSF staff any questions about this; we do not use PCs).
  549. * groff
  550. James Clark has completed `groff' (GNU `troff' and related programs).
  551. Version 1.05 is now available (see "Contents of Utilities Tape"). `groff'
  552. is written in C++. It can be compiled with GNU C++ Version 1.40.3 or
  553. later.
  554. Future bugs in `groff' will be fixed, but no new development is currently
  555. planned. However, `groff' users are encouraged to continue to contribute
  556. enhancements. Most needed are complete Texinfo documentation, a `grap'
  557. emulation (a `pic' preprocessor for typesetting graphs), a page-makeup
  558. postprocessor similar to `pm' (see `Computing Systems', Vol 2, No. 2), and
  559. an ASCII output class for `pic' so that `pic' can be integrated with
  560. Texinfo.
  561. James would like to thank everybody who has contributed bug reports.
  562. Please continue to send them to `bug-groff@prep.ai.mit.edu'
  563. * GNU Graphics
  564. GNU Graphics is a set of programs which produce plots from ASCII or binary
  565. data. It supports output to Tektronix 4010, Postscript, and the X Window
  566. System or compatible devices.
  567. A new version of GNU Graphics has begun alpha testing. Improvements
  568. include: a revised manual; new features in `graph', `xplot' and `plot2ps';
  569. support for output in ln03 and TekniCAD TDA file formats; a replacement
  570. for the `spline' program; examples of shell scripts using `graph' and
  571. `plot'; the addition of a statistics toolkit; and the use of `configure'
  572. for installation.
  573. Existing ports need retesting. Contact Rich Murphey, `Rich@rice.edu', if
  574. you can help test/port it to anything other than a SPARCstation.
  575. * Texinfo 2
  576. The Texinfo 2 package includes an enhanced Texinfo mode for GNU Emacs, new
  577. versions of the formatting utilities, and the second edition of the
  578. `Texinfo Manual' (which is more complete than the first edition and
  579. describes over 50 new commands). Texinfo mode now includes commands for
  580. automatically creating and updating nodes and menus, a tedious task when
  581. done by hand. New utilities include `makeinfo', a standalone formatter,
  582. and `info', a standalone Info reader. Both are written in C and are
  583. independent of GNU Emacs. Texinfo 2 is in late beta test.
  584. A GNU Standard on Suns?
  585. ***********************
  586. Sun Microsystems was one of the pioneers of so-called "open systems". They are
  587. now leading the industry in a new way: they are the first major Unix
  588. workstation vendor to announce that they will not ship a C compiler with their
  589. Unix operating system. Other Unix workstation vendors have announced that they
  590. will follow suit.
  591. Sun's decision to remove their compiler has created a unique opportunity to
  592. make GNU C the new standard C compiler for Sun workstations. Cygnus Support, in
  593. cooperation with the Free Software Foundation and other free software
  594. developers, has announced plans to port GNU C and other required software (GNU
  595. `as', `gdb', and possibly `ld') to the Solaris platform.
  596. Cygnus is looking for 150 subscribers, each of them to contribute $2000 (about
  597. the cost of a compiler license from Sun for three CPUs), to fund the necessary
  598. work. (Subscribers will also get commercial support for a year.) The results,
  599. when completed, will be free software like the rest of the GNU system. Also,
  600. $75,000 of the funds raised is to be donated to the FSF.
  601. This is the first attempt to raise funds for free software development by
  602. asking for users to subscribe in advance. For more info, contact Cygnus
  603. Support at (415) 322-3811 or send mail to `solaris-compiler@cygnus.com'.
  604. Andrew Toolkit Stays Free
  605. *************************
  606. The Andrew Toolkit is both an extensible, object-oriented toolkit for graphical
  607. user interfaces and a package of applications. The most widely-used
  608. application is the Andrew Message System (AMS). The Toolkit is distributed on
  609. FSF's `optional' X Windows tape.
  610. Not long ago, several people asked whether the Toolkit would stay free. It
  611. will. The Andrew Toolkit Consortium plans to continue to make versions of the
  612. Toolkit and the AMS freely usable and distributable. However, there is (as
  613. there has always been) a catch: members of the Consortium get updates sooner
  614. and more frequently than the rest of us. This provides Consortium members with
  615. another incentive to continue as members.
  616. GNU in Japan
  617. ************
  618. Mieko, `h-mieko@sra.co.jp', and Nobuyuki Hikichi, `hikichi@sra.co.jp', continue
  619. to work on the GNU Project in Japan. They translate GNU information, write
  620. columns, request donations, and consult about GNU. They have translated
  621. Version 1 of the GNU General Public License into Japanese.
  622. Japanese versions of Emacs and Epoch are available. Both of them, `nemacs'
  623. (Nihongo Emacs) and `nepoch' (Nihongo Epoch), are widely used in Japan.
  624. Mule (the MULtilingual Enhancement of GNU Emacs) is a version of Emacs that can
  625. handle many character sets at once. Eventually, the features it provides will
  626. be merged into the FSF version of Emacs. Ken'ichi Handa, `handa@etl.go.jp', is
  627. beta testing MULE; you can FTP sources from `sh.wide.ad.jp:/JAPAN/mule' or
  628. `etlport.etl.go.jp:/pub/mule'.
  629. If you can, please order GNU software directly from the FSF; every 150 tape
  630. orders allows FSF to hire a programmer for a year to create more free software.
  631. Otherwise, many groups in Japan are distributing GNU software, including JUG (a
  632. PC user group), Nikkei Business Publications and ASCII (publishers), and the
  633. Fujitsu FM Towns users group. Anonymous UUCP is also now available in Japan;
  634. for more information contact `toku@dit.co.jp'. The FSF does not distribute
  635. `nemacs' or `nepoch'.
  636. The Village Center, Inc. has printed a Japanese translation of the `GNU Emacs
  637. Lisp Reference Manual' and also uploaded the Texinfo source to various bulletin
  638. boards. They are donating part of the revenue generated by distributing the
  639. manual to FSF. Their address is: Kanda Amerex Bldg. 2F 1-16, 3-Chome,
  640. Misaki-Cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101.
  641. A group connected with the commercial personal computer network in Japan is
  642. writing and distributing a copylefted hardware (circuit diagram) design and
  643. associated software that uses a MIPS-architecture based CPU. The OS, called
  644. `t2', is a subset of Unix using GCC and GDB as the system's compiler and
  645. debugger.
  646. GNU Software Support Company in Japan
  647. -------------------------------------
  648. People in Japan can now contact a company for GNU software support; the company
  649. is named Wingnut (Fax only: +81-3-3954-5174). The organizers were inspired by
  650. the GNU Manifesto. Wingnut will provide two services: porting and customizing
  651. GNU software, and answering technical questions (including how to install the
  652. software).
  653. *"In computer science, we stand on each other's feet."*
  654. -anonymous
  655. GNU Documentation
  656. *****************
  657. GNU manuals are intended to explain the underlying concepts, describe how to
  658. use all the features of each program, and give examples of command use. GNU
  659. documentation is distributed as Texinfo source files, which yield both typeset
  660. hardcopy and on-line hypertext-like presentation via the menu-driven Info
  661. system. The manuals, provided with our software, are also available in
  662. hardcopy; see the "FSF Order Form" inside the back cover.
  663. The Emacs Manual describes the use of GNU Emacs. It also explains advanced
  664. features, such as outline mode and regular expression search, and how to use
  665. special modes for programming in languages like C and Lisp.
  666. The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual covers the GNU Emacs Lisp programming language
  667. in great depth, including data types, control structures, functions, macros,
  668. syntax tables, searching and matching, modes, windows, keymaps, byte
  669. compilation, markers, and the operating system interface.
  670. The Emacs Calc Manual includes both a tutorial and a reference manual for Calc.
  671. It describes how to do ordinary arithmetic, how to use Calc for algebra,
  672. calculus, and other forms of mathematics, and how to extend Calc.
  673. The Texinfo Manual explains the markup language used to generate both the
  674. online Info documentation and hardcopies. It tells you how to make tables,
  675. lists, chapters, nodes, indexes, cross references, how to use Texinfo mode in
  676. GNU Emacs, and how to catch mistakes.
  677. The GDB Manual explains how to use the GNU Debugger, including how to run your
  678. program under debugger control, how to examine and alter data, how to modify
  679. the flow of control within the program, and how to use GDB through GNU Emacs.
  680. The GAWK Manual describes how to use the GNU implementation of `awk'. It is
  681. written for someone who has never used `awk' and describes all the features of
  682. this powerful string manipulation language.
  683. The Bison Manual teaches how to write context-free grammars that convert into
  684. C-coded parsers. You need no prior knowledge of parser generators.
  685. The Make Manual describes GNU `make', a program used to rebuild parts of other
  686. programs. The manual covers writing `makefile's, which specifies how a program
  687. is to be compiled and its dependencies.
  688. The Termcap Manual, often described as "Twice as much as you ever wanted to
  689. know about Termcap," details the format of the `termcap' database, the
  690. definitions of terminal capabilities, and the process of interrogating a
  691. terminal description. This manual is primarily for programmers.
  692. Project Gutenberg Looks for Volunteers
  693. **************************************
  694. Project Gutenberg encourages the creation and distribution of English language
  695. electronic texts. Their goal is to provide a collection of 10,000 of the most
  696. used books by 2001. They need a few volunteers to help find copyright
  697. information about the books they wish to use as sources for electronic editions.
  698. If you want to help with this (or in any other way), please contact Mary Brandt
  699. Jensen at `mjensen@charlie.usd.EDU' or (605) 677-6363.
  700. Project GNU Wish List
  701. *********************
  702. Wishes for this issue are for:
  703. * Volunteers to distribute this Bulletin at trade shows and technical
  704. conferences. Please call the phone number on the front cover to make
  705. arrangements.
  706. * Disk drives to give us more space to develop our software.
  707. * One 386 or 486 PC-AT compatible with at least 200 meg of hard disk and an
  708. Ethernet card.
  709. * The following equipment:
  710. * Sun QIC-150 cartridge tape drive.
  711. * 300+ meg SCSI disk(s) for a Sun-3.
  712. * 300+ meg SCSI disk(s) for a SONY News workstation.
  713. * a floppy disk copying and verification machine.
  714. * a 19" equipment rack.
  715. * an Exabyte tape drive.
  716. * Sun-3 workstations.
  717. * Core memory for and a board to add a monochrome monitor alongside
  718. a color monitor for a Sun-4/110 workstation.
  719. * Hard disks for IBM RTs.
  720. * Companies to lend us capable programmers and technical writers for at
  721. least six months. True wizards may be welcome for shorter periods, but we
  722. have found that six months is the minimum time for a good programmer to
  723. finish a worthwhile project.
  724. * Professors who might be interested in sponsoring or hosting research
  725. assistants to do GNU development, with FSF support.
  726. * Volunteers to help write programs and documentation. Send mail to
  727. `gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu' for the task list and coding standards.
  728. * Speech and character recognition software and systems (if the devices
  729. aren't too weird), with the device drivers if possible. This would help
  730. the productivity of a few partially disabled programmers we know.
  731. * New quotes and ideas for articles in the GNU's Bulletin. We particularly
  732. like to highlight organizations involved with free information exchange.
  733. * Copies of newspaper and journal articles mentioning the GNU Project or GNU
  734. software. Send these to the address on the front cover, or send a
  735. citation to `gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu'.
  736. * Money, as always. Please remember, donations are tax-deductible. With
  737. the latest donations, we have been able to expand our staff again. With
  738. the increased staff we have an even greater need for donations.
  739. One way to give us a small amount of money is to order a distribution tape
  740. or two. This may not count as a donation for tax purposes, but it can
  741. qualify as a business expense.
  742. Please Support Free Software
  743. ****************************
  744. If you believe in free software and you want to make sure there is more in the
  745. future--please support the efforts of the FSF with a donation!
  746. Your tax-deductible donation will greatly help us reach our goals.
  747. $500 $250 $100 $50 other $______
  748. Foreign currency:______
  749. Circle the amount you are donating, tear off this page, and send it with your
  750. donation to:
  751. Free Software Foundation, 675 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
  752. How to Get GNU Software
  753. ***********************
  754. All the software and publications from the Free Software Foundation are
  755. distributed with permission to copy and redistribute. The easiest way to get
  756. GNU software is to copy it from someone else who has it.
  757. If you have Internet access, you can get the latest software via anonymous FTP
  758. from the host `prep.ai.mit.edu' (the IP address is `18.71.0.38'). Get file
  759. `/pub/gnu/GETTING.GNU.SOFTWARE' for more information.
  760. If you cannot get the software one of these ways, or would like to contribute
  761. some funds to our efforts and receive the latest versions, we distribute tapes
  762. for a copying and distribution fee (see the "FSF Order Form").
  763. There are also third party groups that distribute our software; they do not
  764. work with us, but have our software in other forms. For your convenience we
  765. list some of them here (also see "Free Software for Microcomputers"). Please
  766. note that the Free Software Foundation is not affiliated with them in any way
  767. and is not responsible for either the currency of their versions or the
  768. swiftness of their responses.
  769. These TCP/IP Internet sites provide GNU software via anonymous FTP (program:
  770. `ftp', user: `anonymous', password: YOUR NAME, mode: `binary'):
  771. archie.au, ftp.eu.net, wuarchive.wustl.edu, uxc.cso.uiuc.edu,
  772. ftp.stacken.kth.se, sunic.sunet.se, isy.liu.se, ugle.unit.no,
  773. ftp.win.tue.nl, ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de, ftp.diku.dk,
  774. utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp, labrea.stanford.edu, jaguar.cs.utah.edu,
  775. cc.utah.edu (VMS GNU Emacs), ftp.eunet.ch, nic.funet.fi,
  776. gatekeeper.dec.com, mango.rsmas.miami.edu (VMS GCC),
  777. ftp.cs.titech.ac.jp, and ftp.uu.net (under `/packages/gnu').
  778. Those on the SPAN network can ask rdss::corbet.
  779. Those on JANET can look under `src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/gnu'.
  780. You can get some GNU programs via UUCP. Ohio State University posts their UUCP
  781. instructions regularly to newsgroup `comp.sources.d' on USENET. The following
  782. people will send you information via electronic mail:
  783. hao!scicom!qetzal!upba!ugn!nepa!denny, uunet!hutch!barber,
  784. src@contrib.de, james@bigtex.cactus.org, acornrc!bob,
  785. uucp@cis.ohio-state.edu, and info@ftp.uu.net
  786. For those without Internet access, see the section entitled "Free Software
  787. Support" for information on receiving electronic mail via UUCP.
  788. GNU Software Available Now
  789. **************************
  790. We offer Unix software source distribution tapes in `tar' format on the
  791. following media: 1600 bpi 9-track reel tape, 8mm Exabyte cartridges, Sun QIC-24
  792. cartridges, Hewlett-Packard 16-track cartridges, and IBM RS/6000 1/4"
  793. cartridges (an Emacs binary is also on the RS/6000 tape). We also offer VMS
  794. tapes for GNU Emacs and the GNU C compiler that include sources and VMS
  795. executables.
  796. The contents of the various 9-track and cartridge tapes for Unix systems are
  797. the same (except for the RS/6000 Emacs tape). Only the media are different
  798. (see the "FSF Order Form"). Documentation comes in Texinfo format. The GNU
  799. software tapes include both `texinfo.tex' and `texi2roff'.
  800. Version numbers listed by program names were current at the time this Bulletin
  801. was published. When you order a distribution tape, some of the programs might
  802. be newer, and therefore the version number higher.
  803. Contents of the Emacs Tape
  804. --------------------------
  805. The software on this release tape is considered fairly stable, but as always,
  806. we welcome your bug reports. Some of the software that has been on this tape
  807. in the past has moved to the Languages and Utilities tapes.
  808. * GNU Emacs 18.58
  809. In 1975, Richard Stallman developed the first Emacs, an extensible,
  810. customizable real-time display editor. GNU Emacs is his second
  811. implementation. It's the first Emacs for Unix systems that offers true
  812. Lisp--smoothly integrated into the editor--for writing extensions, and
  813. provides a special interface to MIT's X Window System. In addition to its
  814. powerful native command set, extensions which emulate other popular
  815. editors are distributed: vi, EDT (DEC VMS editor), and Gosling (aka
  816. Unipress) Emacs. It is described by the `GNU Emacs Manual' and the `GNU
  817. Emacs Lisp Reference Manual', which come with the software. A reference
  818. card is available.
  819. GNU Emacs 18.58 runs on many Unix systems: Alliant, Altos 3068, Amdahl
  820. (UTS), Apollo, AT&T (3B machines & 7300 PC), Aviion, CCI 5/32 & 6/32,
  821. Celerity, Convex, Digital (DECstation 3100 & 5000 (Pmaxes), VAX (BSD,
  822. System V, or VMS)), Motorola Delta (System V/68 release 3), Dual, Elxsi
  823. 6400, Encore (DPC, APC, & XPC), Gould, HP (9000 series 200, 300, 700, &
  824. 800, but not series 500), HLH Orion 1/05, IBM (RT/PC (4.2 & AIX), PS/2
  825. (AIX (386 only)) & RS/6000 (AIX)), Integrated Solutions (Optimum V with
  826. 68020 & VMEbus), Intel 80386 (BSD, Microport, System V, Xenix & PS/2 (for
  827. MS-DOS see "Free Software for Microcomputers")), Iris (2500, 2500 Turbo, &
  828. 4D), LMI (Nu), Masscomp, MIPS, National Semiconductor 32000, NCR (Tower
  829. 32), Nixdorf Targon 31, Plexus, Prime EXL, Sequent (Balance & Symmetry),
  830. SONY News, Stride (system release 2), all Suns (including 386i), Stardent
  831. 1500 & 3000, Tahoe, Tandem Integrity S2, Tektronix (NS32000 & 4300), Texas
  832. Instruments (Nu), Titan P2 & P3, Ustation E30 (SS5E), & Whitechapel (MG1).
  833. * GNU Calc 2.02
  834. Calc (written by Dave Gillespie in Emacs Lisp) is an extensible, advanced
  835. desk calculator and mathematical tool that runs as part of GNU Emacs. It
  836. comes with the `Calc Manual', which serves as a tutorial and reference.
  837. If you wish, you can use Calc only as a simple four-function calculator,
  838. but it provides additional features including choice of algebraic or RPN
  839. (stack-based) entry, logarithms, trigonometric and financial functions,
  840. arbitrary precision, complex numbers, vectors, matrices, dates, times,
  841. infinities, sets, algebraic simplification, differentiation, and
  842. integration.
  843. * MIT Scheme 7.0 and Yale T 3.1
  844. Scheme is a simplified, lexically-scoped dialect of Lisp. It was designed
  845. at MIT and other universities to teach students the art of programming and
  846. to research new parallel programming constructs and compilation
  847. techniques. MIT Scheme is written in C and the interpreter runs on many
  848. Unix systems. It conforms to the "Revised^3 Report On the Algorithmic
  849. Language Scheme" (MIT AI Lab Memo 848a), for which TeX source is included.
  850. T is a variant of Scheme developed at Yale University; it is intended for
  851. production use in program development. T contains a native-code
  852. optimizing compiler that produces code that runs at speeds comparable to
  853. the speeds of programs written in conventional languages. It runs on BSD
  854. VAXen, 680x0 systems, SPARCs, and MIPS R2000 workstations (including the
  855. DECstation 3100), & NS32000 machines (including the Encore Multimax). T
  856. is written in itself and cannot be bootstrapped without a binary
  857. (included), but it is great if you can use it. Some documentation is
  858. included.
  859. * Texinfo 2.14, `texi2roff' 2.0
  860. Texinfo is a set of utilities that generate printed manuals and online
  861. hypertext-style manuals (called `Info'). The late beta-test Texinfo 2
  862. package contains enhancements to the current suite and a manual.
  863. `texi2roff', written by Beverly Erlebacher, translates GNU Texinfo files
  864. so that they can be printed by the `[gnt]roff' programs utilizing the
  865. `-mm', `-ms', or `-me' macro packages. It is included on all Unix tapes
  866. so people without TeX (but who have `[gnt]roff') can print out GNU
  867. documentation.
  868. * Data Compression Software
  869. Some of the contents of our tape distribution are compressed, which is
  870. currently indicated by a `.Z' suffix. We include software on the tapes to
  871. compress/decompress these files. Due to patent troubles with `compress',
  872. we will be switching to another compression algorithm--as soon as we find
  873. one that is safe. The online distribution on `prep.ai.mit.edu' will be
  874. changed first to give the new program a trial period. Each tape includes
  875. the program that will uncompress the compressed files on it.
  876. Contents of the Languages Tape
  877. ------------------------------
  878. This tape contains programming language tools: compilers, interpreters, and
  879. related programs (parsers, conversion programs, debuggers, etc.). Many of these
  880. programs were on the Compiler tape, which no longer exists.
  881. * GCC 1.40
  882. The GNU C compiler is a fairly portable optimizing compiler which performs
  883. automatic register allocation, common sub-expression elimination,
  884. invariant code motion from loops, induction variable optimizations,
  885. constant propagation and copy propagation, delayed popping of function
  886. call arguments, tail recursion elimination, integration of inline
  887. functions, and frame pointer elimination, plus many local optimizations
  888. that are automatically deduced from the machine description.
  889. GCC supports full ANSI C, traditional C, and the GNU C extensions. It
  890. generates good code for the 32000, 680x0, 80386, Alliant, Convex, Tahoe &
  891. VAX CPUs, and for these RISC CPUs: i860, Pyramid, SPARC, & SPUR. The MIPS
  892. RISC CPU is also supported. Other supported systems include: 386 (AIX),
  893. Alliant FX/8, Altos 3068, Apollo 68000/68020 (Aegis), AT&T 3B1, Convex C1
  894. & C2, DECstation 3100 & 5000, DEC VAX, Encore MultiMax (NS32000), Genix
  895. NS32000, Harris HCX-7 & HCX-9, HP-UX 68000/68020, HP (BSD), IBM PS/2
  896. (AIX), Intel 386 (System V, Xenix, BSD, but not MS-DOS), Iris MIPS
  897. machine, ISI 68000/68020, MIPS, NeXT, Pyramid, Sequent Balance (NS32000),
  898. Sequent Symmetry (i386), SONY News, Sun (2, 3 (optionally with FPA), 4,
  899. SPARCstation, & Sun-386i). See "Project GNU Status Report" for more
  900. details.
  901. A good programmer will be able to make a cross compiler on most of these
  902. systems to cross-compile to most of these architectures. Most of the work
  903. will be with the compiler support tools, not GCC itself.
  904. The `GCC Manual' is included with the compiler. The manual (not yet on
  905. our order form) describes how to run and install the GNU C compiler, and
  906. how to port it to new processors. It describes new features and
  907. incompatibilities of the compiler, but people not familiar with C will
  908. also need a good book on the C programming language.
  909. * G++ 1.40.3, `libg++' 1.39.0, and NIH Class Library 2.204a
  910. G++ is a set of changes for GCC that compiles C++, the well-known
  911. object-oriented language. As far as possible, G++ is kept compatible with
  912. the evolving draft ANSI standard, but not with `cfront' (the AT&T
  913. compiler), as `cfront' has been diverging from ANSI. G++ comes with the
  914. `GNU G++ User's Guide' (not yet published on paper). G++ compiles source
  915. quickly, provides good error messages, and works well with GDB. As G++
  916. depends on GCC, it must be used with a specific numbered version of GCC.
  917. The GNU C++ library, `libg'++, is an extensive, documented collection of
  918. C++ classes and support tools for use with G++.
  919. The NIH Class Library (formerly known as "OOPS", Object-Oriented Program
  920. Support) is a portable collection of classes similar to those in
  921. Smalltalk-80 that has been developed by Keith Gorlen of NIH, using the C++
  922. programming language.
  923. * GAS 1.38.1, binutils 1.9, `dld' 3.2.3, and COFF Support
  924. The GNU assembler (GAS) is a fairly portable, one pass assembler that is
  925. almost twice as fast as Unix `as' and works for 32x32, 680x0, 80386, SPARC
  926. (Sun-4), and VAXen.
  927. We have free versions of `ar', `gprof', `ld', `nm', `ranlib', `size', and
  928. `strip'. The GNU linker `ld' is fast, and is the only linker with
  929. source-line numbered error messages for multiply-defined symbols and
  930. undefined references.
  931. `dld' is a dynamic linker written by W. Wilson Ho. Linking your program
  932. with the `dld' library allows you to dynamically load object files into
  933. the running binary.
  934. The entire suite of GNU software tools can be run on System V, replacing
  935. COFF entirely. The GNU tools can operate on BSD object files with a COFF
  936. header the System V kernel will accept. `robotussin' is supplied for
  937. converting standard libraries to this format.
  938. * `flex' 2.3.7 and Bison 1.18
  939. `flex' is a mostly-compatible replacement for the Unix `lex' scanner
  940. generator, written by Vern Paxson of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.
  941. `flex' generates far more efficient scanners than `lex' does.
  942. Bison is an upwardly compatible replacement for the parser generator
  943. `yacc', with additional features. The `Bison Manual' comes with the
  944. software.
  945. * `make' 3.62, GDB 3.5, and `indent' 1.2
  946. GNU `make' has most of the features of the BSD and System V versions of
  947. `make' as well as many of our own extensions, and complies with POSIX.2.
  948. GNU extensions include parallelism, conditional execution, and text
  949. manipulation. Version 3.62 of GNU `make' is fairly stable. The `Make
  950. Manual' comes with the source.
  951. GDB 3.5, the GNU debugger, runs under BSD 4.2/4.3 on VAXen and Suns (2, 3,
  952. 4, & SPARCstation), Altos, Convex, HP 9000/370 (BSD), HP 9000/320 (HP/UX),
  953. System V 386 systems (with either GNU or native object file format), ISI
  954. Optimum V, Merlin under Utek 2.1, SONY News, Gould NPL & PN machines,
  955. Pyramid, Sequent Symmetry (a 386-based machine), and Encore MultiMax under
  956. Umax 4.2.
  957. GDB features incremental reading of symbol tables (for fast startup and
  958. less memory use), command-line editing, interactive function calling in
  959. the program being debugged, remote debugging over a serial line, a value
  960. history, and user-defined commands. It can be used to debug C, C++, and
  961. Fortran programs. The `GDB Manual' includes a reference card.
  962. `indent' is the GNU-modified version of the freely-redistributable BSD
  963. program. It formats C source according to GNU coding standards by
  964. default, though the original default and other formats are available as
  965. options.
  966. * GAWK 2.13.2, Smalltalk 1.1.1, and `perl' 4.019
  967. GAWK is upwardly compatible with the System V Release 4 version of `awk'.
  968. The `GAWK Manual' comes with the software.
  969. GNU Smalltalk is an interpreted object-oriented programming language
  970. system written in portable C. Features include an incremental garbage
  971. collector, a binary image save capability, the ability to invoke
  972. user-written C code and pass parameters to it, a GNU Emacs editing mode,
  973. optional byte-code compilation tracing and byte-code execution tracing,
  974. and automatically loaded per-user initialization files.
  975. Larry Wall has written a fast interpreter named `perl', which combines the
  976. features of `sed', `awk', `sh', and C. It has all of the capabilities of
  977. the these programs, as well interfaces to many system calls and C library
  978. routines (including the TCP/IP socket-manipulation facilities).
  979. * `gperf' 2.1, `ae', and `f2c' 3.2.90
  980. `gperf' is a "perfect" hash-table generation utility. There are actually
  981. two versions of `gperf', one written in C and one in C++. Both will
  982. produce hash functions in either C or C++.
  983. `ae' works with GCC to produce more complete profiling information.
  984. `f2c' converts Fortran--77 source files into C or C++.
  985. * `gdbm' 1.5 and `gmp' 1.2
  986. The `gdbm' library is the GNU replacement for the standard `dbm' and
  987. `ndbm' libraries. `gdbm' supports both styles but does not need sparse
  988. database formats (unlike its Unix counterparts).
  989. GNU MP (`gmp') is a library for arbitrary precision arithmetic, operating
  990. on signed integers and rational numbers. It has a rich set of functions,
  991. all with a regular interface.
  992. * `texi2roff' 2.0 and Texinfo 2.14
  993. These packages are the same as the ones on the Emacs tape.
  994. Contents of the Utilities Tape
  995. ------------------------------
  996. This tape includes the programs written by the GNU Project (as well as some
  997. third-party software) that are not on the other two tapes. For the most part,
  998. they consist of smaller utilities and miscellaneous applications. As usual,
  999. bug reports are welcome. Many of these programs were on the old Emacs tape and
  1000. the now defunct Compiler tape.
  1001. * BASH 1.12, `groff' 1.05, and `gptx' 0.2
  1002. The GNU Shell, BASH (for Bourne Again SHell), is compatible with the Unix
  1003. `sh' and offers many extensions found in `csh' and `ksh'. BASH has job
  1004. control, `csh'-style command history, and command-line editing (with Emacs
  1005. and `vi' modes built-in and the ability to rebind keys). BASH should
  1006. compile on most systems.
  1007. `groff' is a document formatting system, which includes implementations of
  1008. `troff', `pic', `eqn', `tbl', `refer', the `-man', `-ms', and `-mm'
  1009. macros, as well as drivers for Postscript, TeX dvi format, and
  1010. typewriter-like devices. Also included is a modified version of the
  1011. Berkeley `-me' macros and an enhanced version of the `X11' `xditview'
  1012. previewer.
  1013. `gptx' is the GNU version of `ptx', a permuted index generator. Among
  1014. other things, it can produce readable "KWIC" (KeyWords In their Context)
  1015. without the need of `nroff', and there is an option to produce
  1016. TeX-compatible output.
  1017. * `tar' 1.10 and `cpio' 1.5
  1018. GNU `tar' includes multivolume support, the ability to archive sparse
  1019. files, automatic archive compression/decompression, remote archives, and
  1020. special features to allow `tar' to be used for incremental and full
  1021. backups.
  1022. `cpio' is an alternative archive format to `tar'.
  1023. * `diff' 1.15, `grep'/`egrep' 1.5, `fgrep' 1.1, and `patch' 2.0.12u6
  1024. The `diff' and `[ef]grep' programs are GNU's versions of the Unix programs
  1025. of the same name. They are much faster than the traditional Unix
  1026. versions. `patch' is Larry Wall's program to take `diff''s output and
  1027. apply those differences to an original file to generate the patched
  1028. version.
  1029. * RCS 5.6 and CVS 1.3
  1030. The Revision Control System, RCS, is used for version control and
  1031. management of software projects. When used with GNU `diff', later
  1032. versions of RCS can handle binary files (executables, object files, 8-bit
  1033. data, etc). The Concurrent Version System, CVS, manages software revision
  1034. and release control in a multi-developer, multi-directory, multi-group
  1035. environment. It works best on top of RCS Versions 4 and above, but will
  1036. parse older RCS formats with the loss of CVS's fancier features. See
  1037. Berliner, Brian, "CVS-II: Parallelizing Software Development,"
  1038. `Proceedings of the Winter 1990 USENIX Association Conference.'
  1039. * `find' 3.5, fileutils 3.2, shellutils 1.6, and textutils 1.3
  1040. `find' is used frequently both interactively and in shell scripts to find
  1041. files that match certain criteria and perform arbitrary operations on them.
  1042. The "fileutils" are file manipulation utilities: `chgrp', `chmod', `chown',
  1043. `cp', `dd', `df', `du', `install', `ln', `ls', `mkdir', `mkfifo', `mknod',
  1044. `mv', `mvdir', `rm', `rmdir', and `touch'. The "shellutils" are small
  1045. commands used on the command line or in shell scripts: `basename', `date',
  1046. `dirname', `env', `expr', `groups', `id', `logname', `nice', `nohup',
  1047. `pathchk', `printenv', `printf', `sleep', `stty', `tee', `test', `tty',
  1048. `uname', `whoami', and `yes'. The "textutils" programs manipulate textual
  1049. data: `cat', `cmp', `comm', `csplit', `cut', `expand', `fold', `head',
  1050. `join', `nl', `paste', `pr', `sort', `split', `sum', `tac', `tail', `tr',
  1051. `unexpand', `uniq', and `wc'.
  1052. * Ghostscript 2.4.1, Ghostview 1.3, fontutils 0.4, and `gnuplot' 3.1
  1053. Ghostscript is GNU's graphics language that is almost fully compatible
  1054. with Postscript (see "Project GNU Status Report"). Ghostview provides an
  1055. X11 user interface for the Ghostscript interpreter. Ghostview and
  1056. Ghostscript function as two cooperating programs, Ghostview creates the
  1057. viewing window and Ghostscript draws in it.
  1058. The "fontutils" can create fonts for use with Ghostscript or TeX, starting
  1059. with a scanned type image and converting the bitmaps to outlines. They
  1060. also contain general conversion programs and other utilities.
  1061. `gnuplot' is an interactive program for plotting mathematical expressions
  1062. and data. Oddly enough, the program was neither written nor named for the
  1063. GNU Project, the name is a coincidence.
  1064. * `m4' 1.0, `sed' 1.08, and `bc' 1.02
  1065. GNU `m4' is an implementation of the traditional Unix macro processor and
  1066. is mostly System V Release 4 compatible, although it has some extensions
  1067. (for example, it handles more than 9 positional parameters to macros).
  1068. `m4' also has built-in functions for including files, running shell
  1069. commands, doing arithmetic, etc.
  1070. `sed' is a stream-oriented version of `ed', used to manipulate text.
  1071. `bc' is an interactive algebraic language with arbitrary precision. GNU
  1072. `bc' was implemented from the POSIX P1003.2 draft standard, but it has
  1073. several extensions including multi-character variable names, an `else'
  1074. statement, and full Boolean expressions.
  1075. * `elvis' 1.5, `screen' 2.1c, and `less' 177
  1076. `elvis' is a clone of the `vi'/`ex' Unix editor. It supports nearly all
  1077. of the `vi'/`ex' commands in both visual and line mode. `elvis' runs
  1078. under BSD, System V, Xenix, Minix, MS-DOS, and Atari TOS. It should be
  1079. easy to port to many other systems.
  1080. `screen' is a terminal multiplexor that allows you to handle several
  1081. independent "screens" (ttys) on a single physical terminal. Each virtual
  1082. terminal emulates a DEC VT100 plus several ANSI X3.64 and ISO 2022
  1083. functions.
  1084. `less' is a paginator similar to `more' and `pg' but with various features
  1085. (such as the ability to scroll backwards) that most pagers lack.
  1086. * `time' 1.3, `tput' 1.0, and Termcap 1.0
  1087. `time' is used to report statistics (usually from a shell) about the
  1088. amount of user, system, and real time used by a process.
  1089. `tput' is a portable way to allow shell scripts to use special terminal
  1090. capabilities. It uses the `termcap' database, rather than the usual
  1091. `terminfo'.
  1092. The GNU Termcap library is a drop-in replacement for `libtermcap.a' on any
  1093. system. It does not place an arbitrary limit on the size of `termcap'
  1094. entries, unlike most other `termcap' libraries. Included is extensive
  1095. documentation in Texinfo format.
  1096. * MandelSpawn 0.06, GNU Chess 3.1, NetHack 3.0, and GnuGo 1.1
  1097. MandelSpawn is a parallel Mandelbrot program for the MIT X Window System.
  1098. GNU Chess has text and X display interfaces. NetHack is a
  1099. display-oriented adventure game similar to Rogue. GnuGo plays the game of
  1100. Go (Wei-Chi); it is not yet very sophisticated.
  1101. * `texi2roff' 2.0, Texinfo 2.14, and `make' 3.62
  1102. `texi2roff' and Texinfo are the same as the ones on the Emacs tape.
  1103. `make' is the same as the one on the Languages tape.
  1104. Contents of the Experimental Tape
  1105. ---------------------------------
  1106. This tape includes software that is currently in beta test and is available for
  1107. people who are feeling adventurous. Some of the software already has released
  1108. versions on the distribution tapes. This tape is being offered for a limited
  1109. time; as the programs become stable, they will replace older versions on other
  1110. tapes. Please send bug reports to the appropriate addresses (listed on the
  1111. tape in the notes for each program).
  1112. * GCC 2.1
  1113. New features in GCC Version 2 include instruction scheduling, loop
  1114. unrolling, filling of delay slots, leaf function optimization, optimized
  1115. multiplication by constants, and a certain amount of common subexpression
  1116. elimination (CSE) between basic blocks. (Not all of the supported machine
  1117. descriptions provide for scheduling or delay slots.) Function-wide CSE has
  1118. been written, but needs to be cleaned up before it can be installed.
  1119. Position-independent code is supported on the 88000 and SPARC, and soon
  1120. perhaps on the 680x0.
  1121. GCC 2 can also open-code most arithmetic on 64-bit values (type `long long
  1122. int'). It can generate code for most of the same machines as Version 1,
  1123. plus the IBM PC/RT, the IBM RS/6000, the Motorola 88000, the Acorn RISC
  1124. machine, the AMD 29000 and the HP-PA (700 or 800). Ports for the IBM 370,
  1125. the Intel 960, and the NCUBE are on their way. Version 2 can generate
  1126. `a.out', COFF, Elf, and OSF/Rose files when used with a suitable
  1127. assembler. GCC 2 can produce debugging information in several formats:
  1128. BSD stabs, COFF, ECOFF, ECOFF with stabs symbols, and Dwarf.
  1129. Not all of the Version 1 machine descriptions have been updated yet; some
  1130. do not work, and others need work to take full advantage of instruction
  1131. scheduling and delay slots. The old machine descriptions for the Pyramid,
  1132. Alliant, Tahoe, and Spur (as well as a new port for the Tron) do not work,
  1133. but are still included in the distribution in case you want to work on
  1134. them.
  1135. In GCC 2, using the new configuration scheme, building a cross-compiler is
  1136. as easy as building a compiler for the same target machine. GCC 2 also
  1137. supports more general calling conventions; it can pass arguments "by
  1138. reference" and can preallocate stack space arguments. On the SPARC it
  1139. uses the standard conventions for structure arguments, but structure
  1140. return values are still a problem. With luck, this too will be fixed soon.
  1141. Version 2 of the compiler supports three languages: Objective-C, C++, and
  1142. C; the source file name selects the language. (The front end support for
  1143. Objective-C was donated by NeXT.) The runtime support needed to run
  1144. Objective-C programs is mostly working, but not available yet.
  1145. C has been extended to support nested functions, nonlocal gotos, and
  1146. taking the address of a label.
  1147. * GDB 4.5
  1148. GDB 4 contains many new features since 3.5 (the version currently on the
  1149. release tapes). They include remote debugging over serial lines or
  1150. TCP/IP; watchpoints; more readable output and a simplified command
  1151. interface; support of more binary formats (using BFD); limited debugging
  1152. of C++ (when using GCC 2); preliminary support for Modula-2 debugging (for
  1153. the compiler being developed at the State University of New York at
  1154. Buffalo, others will not work); and the ability to debug programs and core
  1155. files that use SunOS shared libraries.
  1156. GDB 4 can perform cross-debugging. To say that GDB 4 *targets* a platform
  1157. means that it can perform native or cross-debugging for it. To say that
  1158. GDB 4 can *host* a given platform means that it can be built on it, but
  1159. cannot necessarily debug native programs. GDB 4 can:
  1160. * *target* and *host*: Amiga 3000 (Amix), DECstation 3100 & 5000, HP
  1161. 9000/370 (BSD), IBM RS/6000 (AIX), Motorola Delta 88000 (System V),
  1162. NCR 3000 (SVR4), SGI Iris (MIPS running Irix V3 or V4), SONY News
  1163. (NEWSOS 3.x), Sun-3, Sun-4, & Ultracomputer (29K running Sym1).
  1164. * *target*, but not *host*: i960 Nindy & AMD 29000 (COFF or `a.out').
  1165. * *host*, but not *target*: Intel 386 (Mach) & IBM RT/PC.
  1166. In addition, GDB 4 can understand the symbol tables emitted by the
  1167. compilers supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC.
  1168. (These symbol tables are in a format which essentially nobody else uses.)
  1169. Debugging of G++ remains a problem, and GDB 4 won't work for any version
  1170. of G++ 1 at all.
  1171. * BFD
  1172. The BFD (Binary File Descriptor) Library from Cygnus Software is a set of
  1173. routines to make handling different object file formats more transparent
  1174. to programs using them. Some GNU software is in the process of being
  1175. converted to use it. BFD comes with documentation.
  1176. * GNU C Library 1.03
  1177. The library is ANSI C and POSIX.1 compliant and has most of the functions
  1178. specified in POSIX.2 draft 11.2. It is upward compatible with the 4.4 BSD
  1179. C library and includes many System V functions, plus GNU extensions.
  1180. The C library works on HP 9000 series 300s running 4.3 BSD and Sun-3 or
  1181. Sun-4 systems running SunOS 4.1. Someone has built it successfully for an
  1182. i860 cross-development environment. Porting is not hard.
  1183. * libg++ 2.0
  1184. This is the GNU C++ library for GCC Version 2 (see "Contents of Languages
  1185. Tape" for more info regarding libg++). The latest version tries to
  1186. automatically configure itself, thus working out of the box on many hosts.
  1187. The iostream facility has been improved.
  1188. * GNU Graphics 0.17
  1189. See "Project GNU Status Report" for details.
  1190. Contents of the X11 Tapes
  1191. -------------------------
  1192. The two X11 tapes contain Version 11, Release 5 of the MIT X Window System.
  1193. The first FSF tape contains all the core software, documentation, and some
  1194. contributed clients. FSF refers to its first tape as the `required' X tape
  1195. since it is necessary for running X or running GNU Emacs under X. The second,
  1196. `optional,' FSF tape contains contributed libraries and other toolkits, the
  1197. Andrew software, games, and other programs.
  1198. Berkeley Networking 2 Tape
  1199. --------------------------
  1200. The Berkeley "Net2" release contains the second 4.3 BSD distribution and is
  1201. newer than both 4.3BSD-Tahoe and 4.3BSD-Reno. It includes nearly the entire
  1202. BSD software system except for a few utilities, some parts of the kernel, and
  1203. some library routines which your own C library is likely to provide. This
  1204. release contains much more software than the older releases, including third
  1205. party software like Kerberos and some GNU software (for example, GCC, now the
  1206. standard BSD compiler). Except for kernel sources, the GNU Project has
  1207. replacements on other tapes for many of the missing programs.
  1208. VMS Emacs and Compiler Tapes
  1209. ----------------------------
  1210. We offer two VMS tapes. One has just the GNU Emacs editor. The second
  1211. contains the GNU C compiler, Bison (needed to compile GCC), `gas' (needed to
  1212. assemble GCC's output), and some library and include files. We are not aware of
  1213. a GDB port for VMS. Both VMS tapes have executables from which you can
  1214. bootstrap, since the DEC VMS C compiler has bugs and cannot compile GCC.
  1215. Please do not ask us to devote effort to VMS support, because it is peripheral
  1216. to the GNU Project.
  1217. Free Software for Microcomputers
  1218. ********************************
  1219. We do not provide support for GNU software on microcomputers because it is
  1220. peripheral to the GNU Project. However, we are willing to publish information
  1221. about groups who do so. If you are aware of any such efforts, please send the
  1222. details, including postal addresses, archive sites, and mailing lists, to
  1223. `gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu' or to the postal address on the front cover.
  1224. Please do not ask the Free Software Foundation about this microcomputer
  1225. software. FSF does not maintain it, and has no more information about it.
  1226. * GNU Software not on Apple computers
  1227. In lawsuits, Apple claims the power to stop people from writing any
  1228. program that has a user interface that works even vaguely like the
  1229. Macintosh's. If Apple triumphs in the courts, it will create for itself a
  1230. new power over the public that will enable it to put an end to free
  1231. software. So long as Apple continues to try to establish this kind of
  1232. monopoly, we will not provide any support or software for Apple machines.
  1233. * Boston Computer Society
  1234. The BCS has thousands of shareware and free programs for microcomputers,
  1235. including some GNU programs. Contact them to see what is available for
  1236. your machine:
  1237. Boston Computer Society
  1238. 1 Kendall Square, Bldg 1400
  1239. Cambridge, MA 02139
  1240. USA
  1241. Phone: (617) 252-0600
  1242. * GNU Software on the Amiga
  1243. Get Amiga ports of many GNU programs via anonymous FTP from:
  1244. `karazm.math.uh.edu' in `/pub/Amiga/Gnu' (USA), `titan.ksc.nasa.gov' in
  1245. `/pub/amiga' (USA), and `ftp.funet.fi' in `/pub/amiga/gnu' (Europe).
  1246. For info on (or offers to help with) the GCC port and related projects,
  1247. ask Leonard Norrgard, `vinsci@nic.funet.fi'. For info on the GNU Emacs
  1248. port, ask Mark D. Henning, `henning@stolaf.edu'. Get more info via
  1249. anonymous FTP in `prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/MicrosPorts/Amiga'.
  1250. * GNU Software for Atari TOS and Atari Minix
  1251. You can obtain Atari ports from `atari.archive.umich.edu' using anonymous
  1252. FTP. Howard Chu, `hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov', maintains the archive.
  1253. Ports are discussed on USENET in `comp.sys.atari.st.tech' &
  1254. `comp.sys.atari.st'. In order to get this group via e-mail, please ask
  1255. `info-atari16-request@score.stanford.edu'.
  1256. * GNU C/C++ 2.1 for OS/2 2.0
  1257. Michael Johnson has completed a new, completely stand-alone port of the
  1258. GNU C/C++ Version 2.1 compiler for OS/2 2.0. The distribution contains
  1259. C/C++ compilers, the GNU assembler, the BSD C library and an OS/2-specific
  1260. library, and documentation. It is available via anonymous FTP from
  1261. `hobbes.nmsu.edu' in the directory `/pub/os2/2.0/gnu/gcc21'.
  1262. Send a message to `os2gcc-request@charon.mit.edu' to be placed on a
  1263. mailing list for discussion about this system.
  1264. * Linux: a free Unix system for 386 machines
  1265. Linux (named after its author, Linus Torvalds) is a free Unix clone which
  1266. implements a subset of System V and POSIX functionality. Linux has been
  1267. written from scratch and does not contain any proprietary code in the
  1268. kernel. A large number of the utilities and libraries are GNU software.
  1269. Linux runs only on 386/486 AT-bus machines, and porting to non-Intel
  1270. architectures is likely to be difficult as the kernel makes extensive use
  1271. of 386 memory management and task primitives. Linux is freely
  1272. distributable and available via anonymous FTP: `tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux'
  1273. (USA), and `nic.funet.fi:/pub/OS/Linux' (Europe).
  1274. There is a newsgroup, `comp.os.linux', for discussions about Linux. Ask
  1275. `linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi' regarding the mailing lists.
  1276. * Free 386 BSD
  1277. Experienced hackers may be interested in the alpha test version of a 386
  1278. port of BSD Unix by William F. Jolitz et al. This kernel is free of AT&T
  1279. code and is freely redistributable. You can obtain more information from
  1280. `sokol@reyes.stanford.edu'. Note that this early version is not reliable,
  1281. and has trouble booting on some systems.
  1282. * DJGPP, the GNU C/C++ compiler for MS-DOS
  1283. D. J. Delorie has ported GCC/G++ to the 386 MS-DOS platform. The compiler
  1284. and programs it generates run in 32-bit mode with full virtual memory
  1285. support. DJGPP is available via FTP from `barnacle.erc.clarkson.edu' in
  1286. `/pub/msdos/djgpp'. You can subscribe to a mailing list on DJGPP by
  1287. sending your e-mail address to `djgpp-request@sun.soe.clarkson.edu'.
  1288. * Demacs, GNU Emacs for MS-DOS
  1289. Manabu Higashida and Hirano Satoshi have released Demacs, a GNU Emacs port
  1290. for 386/486 MS-DOS. Version 1.2.0 is the first post-beta release. Demacs
  1291. provides several DOS-specific features: support for binary or text file
  1292. translation, "8bit clean" display mode, 80x86 software interrupt calls via
  1293. a `int86' Lisp function, machine-specific features such as function key
  1294. support, file name completion with drive name, child processes
  1295. (`suspend-emacs', and `call-process'). Dired mode works without `ls.exe'.
  1296. Anonymous FTP it from: `wuarchive.wustl.edu' in `/mirrors/msdos/demacs'
  1297. (US), `utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp' in `/GNU/demacs' (Japan),
  1298. `rana.cc.deakin.oz.au' in `/pub/PC/oak/demacs' (Pacific), and
  1299. `ftp.funet.fi' in `/pub/gnu/emacs/demacs' (Europe).
  1300. * Freemacs, an Extensible Editor for MS-DOS
  1301. Russ Nelson, `nelson@crynwr.com', has written a small programmable editor
  1302. that is somewhat compatible with GNU Emacs and will run on most MS-DOS
  1303. systems, including 8088 machines. It is so compatible that Freemacs users
  1304. can use the `GNU Emacs Manual' as a reference for it.
  1305. Anonymous FTP it from `emacs16a.zip' (under `PD1:<MSDOS.FREEMACS>') from
  1306. `wsmr-simtel20.army.mil'; or send $15 (copying fee) to:
  1307. Russ Nelson
  1308. 11 Grant St.
  1309. Potsdam, NY 13676
  1310. USA
  1311. Phone: (315) 268-1925 (Fax: 9201)
  1312. Specify floppy format: `5.25"/360K'; or `3.50"/720K.'
  1313. * GNU Software on MS-DOS
  1314. Russ Nelson has ports for many GNU programs for MS-DOS available on floppy
  1315. disk. Contact him at the above address for more information.
  1316. In addition, contact `info-gnu-msdos-request@sun.soe.clarkson.edu' for
  1317. info on ports of GNU programs to MS-DOS and related mailing lists. More
  1318. information is in `/pub/gnu/MicrosPorts/MSDOS' and `MSDOS.gcc', obtainable
  1319. via anonymous FTP on `prep.ai.mit.edu'.
  1320. Thank GNUs
  1321. **********
  1322. Thanks to all those mentioned above in "GNUs Flashes", "Project GNU Status
  1323. Report", "GNU in Japan", and "GNU Software Available Now".
  1324. Thanks to the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Laboratory for
  1325. Computer Science at MIT for their invaluable assistance of many kinds.
  1326. Thanks to Village Center, Inc., ASCII Corporation, and the Japan Unix Society,
  1327. all of Japan, for their continued donations and support, and thanks to the
  1328. anonymous GNU users in Japan for their gifts.
  1329. Thanks again to the Open Software Foundation for their continued support.
  1330. Thanks to the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
  1331. Thanks to the University of Massachusetts at Boston (especially Rick Martin) for
  1332. allowing Karl Berry and Kathryn Hargreaves to use their computers.
  1333. Thanks to Chris Thyberg and Carnegie-Mellon University for supporting Tom Lord.
  1334. Thanks to Jim Mochel for his help with MS-DOS.
  1335. Thanks to Chet Ramey for his continuing work on improving BASH.
  1336. Thanks to Lucid, Inc. for the loan of an X terminal and for their support of
  1337. Joe Arceneaux.
  1338. Thanks to Carol Botteron for proofreading and other assistance, and to Mieko
  1339. and Nobuyuki Hikichi for their invaluable help raising both funds and
  1340. consciousness in Japan.
  1341. Thanks to Cygnus Support for continuing to improve various programs and
  1342. assisting the GNU Project in other ways.
  1343. Thanks go out to all those who have either lent or donated machines, including
  1344. Hewlett-Packard for two 80486 computers, and six 68030 and four Spectrum
  1345. workstations; Brewster Kahle of Thinking Machines Corp. for the Sun-4/110;
  1346. Doug Blewett of AT&T Bell Labs for two Convergent Miniframes; CMU's Mach
  1347. Project for the Sun-3/60; Intel Corp. for their 386 machine; NeXT for their
  1348. workstation; the MIT Media Laboratory for the Hewlett-Packard 68020; SONY Corp.
  1349. and Software Research Associates, Inc., both of Tokyo, for three SONY News
  1350. workstations; IBM Corp. for an RS/6000 computer; the MIT Laboratory of Computer
  1351. Science for the DEC MicroVAX; the Open Software Foundation for the Compaq 386;
  1352. Delta Microsystems for an Exabyte tape drive; an anonymous donor for 5 IBM RT
  1353. computers; Liant Software Corp. for five VT100s; Jerry Peek for a 386 machine;
  1354. NCD Corporation for an X terminal; and Interleaf, Inc., Veronika Caslavsky,
  1355. Paul English, Cindy Woolworth, and Lisa Bergen for the loan of a scanner.
  1356. Thanks to all those who have contributed ports and extensions, as well as those
  1357. who have contributed other source code, documentation, and good bug reports.
  1358. Thanks to those who sent money and offered help. Thanks also to those who
  1359. support us by ordering manuals and distribution tapes.
  1360. The creation of this bulletin is our way of thanking all who have expressed
  1361. interest in what we are doing.
  1362. Free Software Foundation Order Form
  1363. ***********************************
  1364. This order form is effective 1 July 1992 - 31 January 1993
  1365. Prices and contents may change without notice.
  1366. Please allow six weeks for delivery (though it won't usually take that long).
  1367. All software and publications are distributed with permission to copy and to
  1368. redistribute.
  1369. Texinfo source for each manual is on the appropriate tape. The prices for
  1370. tapes do not include printed manuals.
  1371. All software and documentation from the Free Software Foundation is provided
  1372. on an "as is" basis, with no warranty of any kind.
  1373. QUANTITY PRICE ITEM See "GNU Software Available Now" for a description of
  1374. the contents of the tapes.
  1375. For Unix systems, on 1600 bpi reel-to-reel 9-track 1/2" tape in Unix tar format
  1376. (tape contents described above):
  1377. ________ $200 GNU Emacs Tape
  1378. ________ $200 GNU Languages Tape
  1379. ________ $200 GNU Experimental Tape
  1380. ________ $200 GNU Utilities Tape
  1381. ________ $200 BSD Net2 Tape
  1382. ________ $200 X11R5 Required Tape
  1383. ________ $200 X11R5 Optional Tape
  1384. For Suns and some other Unix Systems, on QIC-24 DC300XLP 1/4 inch
  1385. cartridge tape, Unix tar format (tape contents described above):
  1386. ________ $210 GNU Emacs Tape
  1387. ________ $210 GNU Languages Tape
  1388. ________ $210 GNU Experimental Tape
  1389. ________ $210 GNU Utilities Tape
  1390. ________ $210 BSD Net2 Tape
  1391. ________ $210 X11R5 Required Tape
  1392. ________ $210 X11R5 Optional Tape
  1393. For some Unix Systems, on Exabyte 8mm cartridge tape, Unix tar format
  1394. (tape contents described above):
  1395. ________ $205 GNU Emacs Tape
  1396. ________ $205 GNU Languages Tape
  1397. ________ $205 GNU Experimental Tape
  1398. ________ $205 GNU Utilities Tape
  1399. ________ $205 BSD Net2 Tape
  1400. ________ $205 X11R5 Required Tape
  1401. ________ $205 X11R5 Optional Tape
  1402. For HP Systems, on 16-track DC600HC 1/4 inch cartridge tape, Unix tar format
  1403. (tape contents described above):
  1404. ________ $230 GNU Emacs Tape
  1405. ________ $230 GNU Languages Tape
  1406. ________ $230 GNU Experimental Tape
  1407. ________ $230 GNU Utilities Tape
  1408. ________ $230 BSD Net2 Tape
  1409. ________ $230 X11R5 Required Tape
  1410. ________ $230 X11R5 Optional Tape
  1411. For IBM RS/6000 Systems, on DC600A 1/4 inch cartridge tape Unix tar format
  1412. (tape contents described above) (the GNU Languages Tape is not yet available
  1413. for the RS/6000):
  1414. ________ $215 GNU Emacs Tape, plus executable files of Emacs
  1415. ________ $215 GNU Experimental Tape
  1416. ________ $215 GNU Utilities Tape
  1417. ________ $215 BSD Net2 Tape
  1418. ________ $215 X11R5 Required Tape
  1419. ________ $215 X11R5 Optional Tape
  1420. For VMS systems, on 1600 bpi reel-to-reel 9-track 1/2" tape in VMS BACKUP (aka
  1421. interchange format):
  1422. ________ $195 GNU Emacs source code and binaries. None of the other
  1423. software on the GNU Emacs Tape, described above, is included.
  1424. ________ $195 GNU C compiler source code and binaries. Includes Bison and
  1425. GAS. None of the other software on the GNU Languages Tape,
  1426. described above, is included.
  1427. The following manuals are all bound to lie open, flat on a table:
  1428. ________ $20 GNU Emacs manual, unit price for 1 to 5 copies.
  1429. ~280 pages with a reference card, phototypeset and
  1430. offset printed.
  1431. ________ $13 GNU Emacs manuals, unit price for 6 or more.
  1432. ________ $50 A single GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual, ~600 pages in two
  1433. volumes, offset printed.
  1434. ________ $200 A box of 5 GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manuals.
  1435. ________ $50 Calc Manual, ~590 pages. Calc is an extensible, advanced desk
  1436. calculator and mathematical tool that runs under GNU Emacs.
  1437. ________ $15 GDB Manual, ~170 pages, with a reference card.
  1438. ________ $15 Texinfo Manual, ~220 pages. Texinfo is GNU's structured
  1439. documentation system, included with GNU Emacs. Texinfo is
  1440. used to produce both on-line and printed documents. This
  1441. manual describes how to write Texinfo documents.
  1442. ________ $10 Termcap Manual, ~60 pages. Documents the termcap library and
  1443. GNU's extensions to it. The GNU termcap library is included
  1444. with GNU Emacs.
  1445. ________ $10 Bison Manual, ~100 pages.
  1446. ________ $15 Gawk Manual, ~200 pages.
  1447. ________ $15 Make Manual, ~120 pages.
  1448. The following reference cards:
  1449. ________ $1 One GNU Emacs reference card, without the manual.
  1450. ________ $5 Packet of ten GNU Emacs reference cards.
  1451. ________ $1 One GDB reference card, without the manual.
  1452. ________ $5 Packet of ten GDB reference cards.
  1453. ________ Subtotal
  1454. --------
  1455. ________ In Massachusetts: add 5% sales tax, or give tax exempt number.
  1456. We pay for shipping via UPS ground transportation in the contiguous 48 states
  1457. and Canada.
  1458. ________ In Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico, for shipping:
  1459. - For Emacs Lisp Reference and Emacs Calc manuals, add $5 each,
  1460. or $20 per box. For all other items, add $5 base charge,
  1461. then $1 per item except reference cards.
  1462. ________ If outside of U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, for shipping costs:
  1463. - for tapes or unboxed manuals, please add $15 base
  1464. charge, and then add $15 more for each tape or unboxed
  1465. manual (not reference cards) in the order:
  1466. Shipping cost for tapes and unboxed manuals = $15 + $15 * n;
  1467. - for each box of Emacs Lisp Reference manuals,
  1468. please add $70.
  1469. ________ Optional tax deductible donation.
  1470. ________ Total paid
  1471. --------
  1472. Orders are filled upon receipt of check or money order. We do not have the
  1473. staff to handle the billing of unpaid orders. Please help keep our lives
  1474. simple by including your payment with your order.
  1475. Please make checks payable to: "Free Software Foundation".
  1476. Please mail orders to:
  1477. Free Software Foundation, Inc.
  1478. 675 Massachusetts Avenue
  1479. Cambridge, MA 02139
  1480. USA
  1481. +1 617-876-3296
  1482. This Order Form is EFFECTIVE 1 July 1992 - 31 January 1993
  1483. Name:
  1484. ----------------------------------------------------------------
  1485. Mail Stop/Dept. Name
  1486. -------------------------------------------------
  1487. Organization:
  1488. --------------------------------------------------------
  1489. Street Address:
  1490. ------------------------------------------------------
  1491. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  1492. City / State / Province:
  1493. ---------------------------------------------
  1494. Zip Code / Postal Code / Country:
  1495. ------------------------------------
  1496. In case of a problem with your order, or for overseas customs agents,
  1497. please add your voice telephone number (not your FAX number):
  1498. ----------------------------------------
  1499. For orders outside the US: Orders MUST be paid in US dollars. You are
  1500. responsible for paying all duties, tariffs, and taxes. If you refuse
  1501. to pay the charges, the shipper will return or abandon your order.
  1502. Please write the telephone number that you want custom agents to call
  1503. in the space provided above.
  1504. This Order Form is EFFECTIVE 1 July 1992 - 31 January 1993
  1505. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  1506. -------
  1507. | |
  1508. Free Software Foundation, Inc. | stamp |
  1509. 675 Massachusetts Avenue | |
  1510. Cambridge, MA 02139 | here |
  1511. USA | |
  1512. -------
  1513. ---------------------------------------------------------------------