This is the README for akcl.1.615.pcl.N.b.tar.gz [Download] [Browse] [Up]
First, a disclaimer. I am the author of none of this software, just a happy user. I simply built the latest akcl-1-615 (Apr 92) with the newest pcl patches into an executable image, along with a set of appropriate doc-information files for the convenience of the NeXT community (and of course myself). I have tested this image by loading and running some medium-complex lisp-pcl files I have been using lately and they ran without any problems. However, I did not fully test the system (as if I could :-) so your mileage may vary. This software has 4 parts. The first is the KCL public domain lisp software, first built in 1986, by T. Yuasa and M. Hagiya (working under R. Nakajima) at the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University. The second are the AKCL updates to KCL, maintained by William Schelter, Mathematics Department, University of Texas at Austin. (wfs@cli.com or wfs@rascal.ics.utexas.edu). The third is the NeXT port of AKCL done by Noritake Yonezawa, yonezawa@lsi.tmg.nec.co.jp. The fourth is pcl (a portable version of the CLOS object-oriented system in lisp), the Mayday 90 version, with the most recent kcl patches. As an aside, I want to thank directly all the people involved, especially those mentioned above, for providing to the computing community a free version of a complex piece of software(s). It is an outstanding example of cooperative effort among a set of computer folk, providing software of high quality for no cost (not commercial, not shareware, FREE, because they wanted to. Great concept!). AKCL is a free version of common lisp (up to the CLTL-I standard of Guy Steele, 1984), that is regularly updated. The image contained in this file is the 1-615 version from April of 1992. AKCL uses KCl which, while free, requires you to send in a license noting that you are using it. PCL is the latest stabled version, May 1990, of the portable CLOS object oriented language for lisp. Note that there is a new version as of March 92, but it still beta as it is trying to comply with the new Metaobject protocol. I have built this version but had some problems on testing and so did not include it. See the kcl.faq in the readmes/ directory for more information on AKCL. See faq-6-92-5 in the comp.lang.lisp.faq for more information on pcl. If you wish to do the deed yourself, the sources for kcl,akcl,NeXT-akcl are at rascal.ics.utexas.edu:pub/akcl-XX.tar.Z. The AKCL.README file and the NeXT-1-615.README file in the readmes/ directory describe how to go about doing the build. It is fairly painless though it takes just under 2 hours to complete. The sources for pcl are at parcftp.xerox.com in the pcl/ directory (tarfile-rev-4b). The patches for kcl are both at rascal (as a separted set of files to include in the distrubtion) and as a diff file at xerox. I used the files from rascal. So what is contained in this tar file: a) The file saved_pcl. When I released this initially a few days ago I had tested the image fairly throughly, then stripped the image as was suggested in the doc and sent it out. Well, stripping the image caused a number of problems and so the present image is unstripped. It is approximately 7.4 Megs big (whew). b) The kcl/doc/ and akcl/doc/ directories, containing the original doc files for both akcl and kcl. Note that there are links between the two directories so modify the directory structure with caution. The akcl/doc/ directory also contains the emacs files for interacting with lisp and getting online help, very useful. c) The comp.lang.lisp.faq/ directory contains the latest faq for comp.lang.lisp. In particular the 5th faq describes the difference between pcl and CLOS. The other faq's are informative as well so I included them for those not fully in-the-know, such as myself. d) The readmes/ directory contains the AKCL.REAMDE, NeXT-akcl-1-615.README, and the latest kcl.faq file. e) The bin/ directory contains a simple shell script to start the saved_pcl image. Note that it expects that saved_pcl is in /usr/local/lisp/akcl, so to make things as simple as possible you should unpack the tarfile into /usr/local/lisp/. However, the shell script is EXTREMELY simple and can be easily changed. f) The pcl/ directory which contains all the pcl notes as well as information on the kcl patches done to pcl. All in all the files occupy just over 9 meg when unpacked which, though large, is much smaller than the 30 Meg occupied by building the whole thing. If there are any questions I can answer please ask, but remember I am just a happy user. Enjoy! >>>bill punch<<< Michigan State University Computer Science Dept. punch@cps.msu.edu
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Netfuture.ch.