stevens@hsi.UUCP (12/09/83)
Yes, Kitt Peak National Observatory does distribute a public domain Forth system. You have your choice of PDP-11 or VAX-11. The PDP-11 runs under UNIX (V7), RSX-11M or stand-alone. The VAX runs under VMS or Berkeley UNIX. Yes, the VAX version was originally written under VMS and then ported to UNIX (unfortunately I had a VMS VAX before a UNIX VAX - had the hardware been in the other order, I probably would have done things differently). Both the PDP and VAX versions are written in DEC Macro. A combination of editor scripts and lex programs convert it to UNIX assembler. The systems are very fast. The version is NOT FIG-Forth and NOT Forth-79 but far better (of course, :-) ). They include complete floating point and built in file systems. An 80-page manual is available too. Contact: ... ! ihnp4 ! kpno ! compsup ... ! decvax ! kpno ! compsup (the Computer Support Group at Kitt Peak) for distribution details. Richard Stevens Health Systems International, New Haven, CT { decvax | hao | seismo | sdcsvax } ! kpno ! hsi ! stevens ihnp4 ! hsi ! stevens