[comp.object] Public Domain Oberon

templ@inf.ethz.ch (Josef Templ) (05/15/91)

Public Domain Oberon

Oberon - the successor of Modula-2 - is both a programming language and an
operating system designed by N.Wirth and J.Gutknecht at ETH Zurich. It is 
available as public domain software from ETH. Currently there are 
implementations for Apple Macintosh II, Digital Equipment DECstation, and 
Sun SPARCStation. Implementations for IBM PC (OS2) and IBM RS6000 are under 
development. The following lists some characteristics of the Oberon system and 
describes how to get it.

Language
  - Strong type checking
  - Modules with type checked interfaces and separate compilation
  - Type extension
  - Support for run-time type tests
  - Compatibility between all numeric types (mixed expressions)
  - String operations

Compiler
  - Generates native code; no separate linking necessary
  - Speed: more than 1000 lines per second on a SPARCStation1

System
  - Single-process multitasking
  - Automatic garbage collection
  - Commands: procedures that can be called like programs
  - Linking loader
  - Dynamic loading (adding modules to a running program)
  - Tiling window system
  - Text as built-in abstract data type
  - Tools for text and graphics editing

Literature
  The primary source about the Oberon System, describing the standard module 
  library and how to use the system is the book
    M.Reiser: The Oberon System. User Guide and Programmer's Manual.
    Addison Wesley, 1991, ISBN 0-201-54422-9

  Other literature about the Oberon language, about implementation aspects of 
  the system, and about the Oberon System on Macintosh and SparcStation:
  - N.Wirth: From Modula to Oberon and The Programming Language Oberon.
    Software - Practice & Experience, 18, 7 (July 1988)
  - N.Wirth, J.Gutknecht: The Oberon System.
    Software - Practice & Experience, 19, 9 (Sept.1989), 10-18
  - M.Franz: MacOberon Reference Manual, Report 142, ETH Zurich,
    Departement Informatik, 1990
  - J.Templ: SPARC-Oberon - User's Guide and Implementation. Report 133, 
    ETH Zurich, Departement Informatik, 1990

  Books about the Oberon language and the Oberon project (including main parts
  of the implementation in source form) are in preparation.

How to get Oberon
Oberon can be obtained via anonymous internet file transfer ftp (at no charge) 
or on floppy disks (send 20 Swiss Francs or 20 US Dollars to the address below 
and specify the desired version of Oberon). If you obtain Oberon via ftp, 
documentation is included in machine-readable form. If you order it on floppy 
disks, the basic documentation is included in paper.
  Hostname: neptune.inf.ethz.ch
  Internet Address: 129.132.101.33
  Login Name: anonymous
  Password: <your e-mail address>
  Directory: Oberon (there are subdirectories named MacII, SPARC and DECstation)

For any further questions please contact
  ETH Zuerich, Institut fuer Computersysteme (Secretary)
  CH-8092 Zuerich
  Tel.: +41-1-254 7311
  Fax: +41-1-262 3973
  Electronic Mail: goerlitz@inf.ethz.ch

- Josef Templ, ETH Zurich

fine@sctc.com (Todd Fine) (05/16/91)

templ@inf.ethz.ch (Josef Templ) writes:
>Public Domain Oberon

>Oberon - the successor of Modula-2 - is both a programming language and an
>operating system designed by N.Wirth and J.Gutknecht at ETH Zurich. It is 
>available as public domain software from ETH. Currently there are 
>implementations for Apple Macintosh II, Digital Equipment DECstation, and 
>Sun SPARCStation. Implementations for IBM PC (OS2) and IBM RS6000 are under 
>development. The following lists some characteristics of the Oberon system and 
>describes how to get it.

Are there restrictions on the types of Macintosh this will run on?  I
have a II-si and have had the following problems:

1.  When I start it up, it is difficult to read the text on the
screen.  Some of the letters are unreadable.  Possibly I need to
install some other font.

2.  Somehow I managed to either run or compile a program (I forget
which).  I got a message telling me I could not do what I wanted to do
without a floating point processor.

Of course, I suppose I could try to read the documentation that came
with the system, but that would be too easy :-)

I'd appreciate any responses be made through e-mail.  I will not be
reading news for a little bit and would hate to miss a response due to
it being marked expired.

Todd Fine
fine@sctc.com