JWMANLY@AMHERST.BITNET (John W Manly) (06/03/88)
Hi, all. Our BITNET/INTERNET link has been acting very strange lately. Every
time I send a message, the LAST message appears on INFO-VAX, but the one
I just sent remains in limbo until I send another the next. Very strange.
Anyway, I am interesting in getting a VAX/VMS implementation of EMACS.
What sorts of different implementations are available, and what kind of
PD versions are people using on their VAXen? As usual, I will summarize
to the list in a few weeks.
PHONE: (413)-542-2526 - John W. Manly
BITNET: JWMANLY@AMHERST System Manager
Amherst CollegeA.Eric@GSB-WHY.STANFORD.EDU (Eric M. Berg) (06/11/88)
I think many people are using GNU Emacs from the Free Software Foundation.
It's technically very impressive, even though the VMS implementation doesn't
support some of the features of the Unix versions, mostly 'cause no one has
done the work yet.
Here's some (possible outdated) information about obtaining it:
Getting GNU Software, 10 Apr 1987
Copyright (C) 1986, 1987 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute
verbatim copies of this document provided that the
copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved.
* GNU and the Free Software Foundation
Project GNU is organized as part of the Free Software Foundation, Inc.
The Free Sofware Foundation has the following goals:
1) to create GNU as a full development/operating system.
2) to distribute GNU and other useful software with source code and
permission to copy and redistribute.
Further information on the rationale for GNU is in file
/u2/emacs/etc/GNU. (All files referred to are on the Internet host
prep.ai.mit.edu (aka mit-prep.arpa).)
Information on GNU Internet mailing lists can be found in file
/u2/emacs/etc/MAILINGLISTS.
* How To Get The Software
The easiest way to get a copy of the distribution is from someone else
who has it. You need not ask for permission to do so, or tell any one
else; just copy it. The second easiest is to ftp it over the ARPANET.
The third easiest way is to uucp it. Ftp and uucp information is in
file /u2/emacs/etc/FTP.
If you cannot get a copy any of these ways, you can order one from the
Free Software Foundation. See file /u2/emacs/etc/DISTRIB.
* Available Software
** GNU Emacs
The GNU Emacs distribution includes:
- manual source in TeX format.
- an enhanced regex (regular expression) library.
See file /u2/emacs/etc/MACHINES for the status of porting Emacs to
various machines and operating systems.
** C Scheme - a block structured dialect of LISP.
The Free Software Foundation distributes C Scheme for the MIT Scheme
Project. Problems with the C Scheme distribution and it's ftp
distribution should be referred to: <bug-cscheme@prep.ai.mit.edu>.
There are two general mailing lists: <scheme@mc.lcs.mit.edu> and
<info-cscheme@prep.ai.mit.edu>. Requests to join either list to:
<info-cscheme-request@prep.ai.mit.edu> or
<scheme-request@mc.lcs.mit.edu>.
The C Scheme distribution should work on 32-bit machines under VMS,
BSD 4.1 & 4.2, ATT systems 3 and 5, HPUX, and TRIX. Some
conditionalization may have to be done for other machines and
operating systems.
For further information on Scheme refer to: "Structure and
Interpretation of Computer Programs", by Harold Abelson and Gerald J.
Sussman with Julie Sussman, The MIT Press & McGraw-Hill Book Company,
1985; and, the "Revised^3 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme",
MIT Artificial Intelligence Memo 848a. The later may be obtained by
sending a check for $6.00 (as of Nov. 86) per copy (U.S. funds)
payable to (prepayment is required):
Publications, Room NE43-818
MIT Artifical Intelligence Laboratory
545 Technology Square
Cambridge, MA 02139
It is also available as: Jonathan Rees and William Clinger, editors,
"Revised^3 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme." SIGPLAN Notices
21(12), December 1986.
** Other GNU Software
A fuller list of available software is in the file /u2/emacs/etc/DISTRIB.
* No Warranties
We distribute software in the hope that it will be useful, but without
any warranty. No author or distributor of this software accepts
responsibility to anyone for the consequences of using it or for
whether it serves any particular purpose or works at all, unless he
says so in writing.
* If You Like The Software
If you like the software developed and distributed by the Free
Software Foundation, please express your satisfaction with a donation.
Your donations will help to support the foundation and make our future
efforts successful, including a complete development and operating
system, called GNU (Gnu's Not Un*x), which will run Un*x user
programs. For more information on GNU and the Foundation, contact us
at Internet address <gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu> or the foundation's US Mail
address found in file /u2/emacs/etc/DISTRIB.
**********
GNU Emacs availability information, 10 April 1987
Copyright (C) 1986, 1987 Richard M. Stallman
Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute
verbatim copies of this document provided that the
copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved.
GNU Emacs is legally owned by the Free Software Foundation, but we
regard the foundation actually as its custodian on behalf of the
public, since all software ought to be the common property of mankind.
The foundation permits everyone to have and run copies of GNU Emacs,
at no charge, and to redistribute copies under certain conditions
which are designed to make sure that that all modified versions of GNU
Emacs remain as free as the versions we distribute. These conditions
are stated in the document "GNU Emacs General Public License", a copy
of which is required to be distributed with every copy of GNU Emacs.
It is usually in a file named COPYING in the same directory as this
file.
If you do not know anyone to get a copy of GNU Emacs from, you can
order a tape from the Free Software Foundation. We distribute Emacs
version 18 on 1600bpi industry standard mag tape in tar format. We
will also ship it on 1/4" cartridge tapes in tar format and on 1600bpi
magtape in VMS interchange format. We also distribute nicely typeset
copies of the Emacs manual. See the order form at the end of this
file.
If you have Internet access, you can copy the latest Emacs
distribution from host prep.ai.mit.edu. There are several ways to do
this; see the file `FTP' in the same directory as this file for more
information. Even better, get the latest version of the file from
`/u2/emacs/etc/FTP' on prep.ai.mit.edu for the most current
arrangements. It may also be possible to copy Emacs via uucp; the
file `FTP' contains information on that too.
Emacs has been run on both Berkeley Unix and System V Unix, on a
variety of types of cpu. It also works on VMS and on Apollo
computers, though with some deficiencies that reflect problems in
these operating systems. See the file MACHINES in this directory for
a full list of machines that GNU Emacs has been tested on, with
machine-specific installation notes and warnings.
Note that there is significant variation between Unix systems
supposedly running the same version of Unix; it is possible that what
works in GNU Emacs for me does not work on your system due to such an
incompatibility. Since I must avoid reading Unix source code, I
cannot even guess what such problems may exist.
GNU Emacs is distributed with no warranty (see the General Public
License for full details), and neither I nor the Free Software
Foundation promises any kind of support or assistance to users. The
foundation keeps a list of people who are willing to offer support and
assistance for hire. We will list anyone who agrees never to ask
customers to keep secret anything they are told or given as part of
the support. It is usually in a file named SERVICE in the same
directory as this file.
However, I plan to continue to improve GNU Emacs and keep it reliable,
so please send me any complaints and suggestions you have. I will
probably fix anything that is clearly (to me) a malfunction. I may
make an improvement if I consider it worth the effort, but you should
not be surprised if I don't think I can spare time for it. I hope to
keep Emacs stable now, and avoid putting much time into it, so I can
work on other parts of the GNU system.
If you are on the Internet, report bugs to
bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu; on Usenet, use the address
...!ucbvax!bug-gnu-emacs%prep.ai.mit.edu. Otherwise, phone the
foundation at +1 617 876-3296, or write to the address listed below.
If you are a computer manufacturer, I encourage you to ship a copy of
GNU Emacs with every computer you deliver. The same copying
permission terms apply to computer manufacturers as to everyone else.
You should consider making a donation to help support the GNU project;
if you estimate what it would cost to distribute some commercial
product and divide it by five, that is a good amount.
If you like GNU Emacs, please express your satisfaction with a
donation: send me or the Foundation what you feel Emacs has been worth
to you. If you are glad that I developed GNU Emacs and distribute it
as freeware, rather than following the obstructive and antisocial
practices typical of software developers, reward me for doing so!
Your donations will help to support the development of more useful
software to be distributed on the same basis as GNU Emacs. Eventually
we will have a complete imitation of the Unix operating system, called
GNU (Gnu's Not Unix), which will run Unix user programs. For more
information on GNU, see the file GNU in this directory.
Richard M Stallman
Chief GNUisance,
President of the Free Software Foundation
Free Software Foundation Order Form
10 April 1987
All software and publications are distributed with permission to
copy and redistribute.
Quantity Price Item
________ $150 GNU Emacs source code, on a 1600bpi industry standard
mag tape in tar format. The tape also contains:
* GDB (the GNU source-level C debugger)
* MIT Scheme (a dialect of Lisp)
* hack (a rogue-like game)
* bison (a free, compatible replacement for yacc)
* The X window system (a window system for bitmap
displays written at MIT) (version 10r4)
* GNU Chess (a chess playing program with an interface to X).
-------- $175 Same data as above on a DC300XL 1/4" cartridge tape.
________ $150 GNU Emacs only, on a 1600bpi industry standard mag
tape in VMS backup format.
________ $15 GNU Emacs manual (~300 pages). These manuals are phototypeset
and offset printed, with illustrated covers, a GBC plastic ring
binding that stays open flat, and a tear-out reference card.
Thus, a 1600 bpi tape and one Emacs manual come to $165.
________ $10 GDB Manual (~55 pages, side stapled.)
________ $10 Texinfo Manual (~30 pages, side stapled. Texinfo is GNU's
structured documentation system, included with GNU Emacs
This manual describes how to write Texinfo documents).
________ $60 Box of six GNU Emacs manuals.
________ $1 One GNU Emacs reference card.
________ $5 Ten GNU Emacs reference cards.
Prices are subject to change without notice.
________ Massachusetts residents please add 5% sales tax to all prices.
________ Shipping outside North America is normally by surface mail.
For air mail delivery, please add $15 per tape or manual,
$1 for an individual reference card, or
50 cents per card in quantity ten or more.
________ Optional tax deductable donation.
________ Total paid
Orders are filled upon receipt of check or money order. We do not have
the staff to handle the billing of unpaid orders. Please help keep
our lives simple by including your payment with your order.
Make checks payable to Free Software Foundation. Mail orders to:
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1000 Mass Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138
All software from the Free Software Foundation is provided on an "as
is" basis, with no warranty of any kind.
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