cph@ZURICH.AI.MIT.EDU (Chris Hanson) (07/27/89)
MIT Scheme release 7 is now available for beta test. This release contains many notable changes: * Liar, the native code compiler, is supported for 68020 and Vax computers. Rough performance measurements indicate that it produces code that is competitive with Orbit and Lucid Common Lisp (although there's still some work left to beat them consistently). High-quality debugging support is standard -- the debugger provides nearly the same information for compiled and interpreted code. * Edwin, the Emacs-like text editor, is supported under curses and X version 11. Unlike the stripped-down version supplied with TI PC-Scheme, this is a fully-extensible editor with most of the GNU Emacs features. Due to performance considerations it is likely to be useful only on machines that have compiler support. * A reference manual, written in Texinfo, is supplied. The manual is still incomplete but even so documents a substantial part of the system. Because it is written in Texinfo, it can be either printed or browsed on-line with the Edwin (or GNU Emacs) info subsystem. * Two-dimensional line and point graphics support for X version 11 is standard. Color, border, size, and position controls are provided. Because this is a beta test, users should expect the installation to be less than completely smooth. Although we have done extensive debugging here at MIT, you should expect bugs as well. We solicit your bug reports, criticisms, and any other comments about the release. A few important things are still missing, including: (1) detailed documentation for using the compiler and editor, and (2) a compatibility mode for S&ICP classes. We hope to remedy these, and many other defects, by the end of August when the full release will occur. We've tested installation on the following machines, and would greatly appreciate any efforts that you could make getting things running on any other machines: HP 9000 series 300 and 800 running HP-UX Sun3 running SunOS Vax running Ultrix DS3100 running Ultrix This release may be obtained by anonymous ftp to "zurich.ai.mit.edu" (internet address 18.26.0.176), from the directory "pub/scheme-7.0/". See the README file in that directory for further directions. Because a number of people have had trouble using ftp to that machine, we plan to distribute from a second host. When we have an alternate host, it will be announced. We will not be mailing tapes of this release until the beta test has finished and the full release is out; however if you show up at MIT with a 9-track magtape we'll be happy to put the software on it. As usual, report bugs to bug-cscheme@zurich.ai.mit.edu If you receive this message from another source, and would like to be included on the MIT Scheme mailing list, please send a request to info-cscheme-request@zurich.ai.mit.edu
cph@ZURICH.AI.MIT.EDU (Chris Hanson) (07/27/89)
The secondary host for distribution of Scheme Release 7 is the host "prep.ai.mit.edu" (internet address 18.71.0.38). Use anonymous ftp and look in the directory "pub/gnu/scheme-7.0/". At present, due to space restrictions, this secondary site carries only the minimum required installation files. None of the optional files for source, documentation, etc. will fit there. If feasible, we will make the rest of the distribution available there in the future.