--- gforth/README 1995/01/21 17:26:43 1.3 +++ gforth/README 1998/12/26 15:41:25 1.32 @@ -1,23 +1,93 @@ -This is the current state (alpha) of gforth. This is not a -distribution for the general public, since it is not yet mature -enough. There is no warranty of any kind; this program is -distributed under the GNU General Public license (see COPYING). - -You will probably find a Linux binary included in the package and the -configuration set up for Linux. If you want to install it on another -system, read INSTALL and I wish you good luck (Mail us if you have -problems). - -To start the system just say `gforth'. This gives you a pretty barren -system. `gforth startup.fs' gives you most ANSI wordsets. If you miss -a word, just grep for it in *.fs. - -If you want to work on gforth, mail me an encrypted UNIX password -(i.e., what you find in /etc/passwd). Tasks to be done can be found in -ToDo; but if you would like to do something not mentioned there, it's -ok, too. In any case, we would like to hear what you are doing. The -most important tasks IMO are the missing ANS Forth words (musts before -the alpha release), the documentation, adding readline and the foreign -language interface for C. +Gforth is a fast and portable implementation of the ANS Forth +language. It works nicely with the Emacs editor, offers some nice +features such as input completion and history and a powerful locals +facility, and it even has (the beginnings of) a manual. Gforth employs +traditional implementation techniques: its inner innerpreter is +indirect or direct threaded. Gforth is distributed under the GNU +General Public license (see COPYING). + +Gforth runs under Unix, Win95, OS/2, and DOS and should not be hard to +port to other systems supported by GCC. This version has been tested +successfully on the following platforms: + +i586-pc-linux-gnulibc1 (libc5) +i686-pc-linux-gnu (libc6) +alphaev56-unknown-linux-gnulibc1 +alpha-dec-osf4.0b +mips-sgi-irix6.2 +mips-dec-ultrix4.3 +sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4 +sparc-sun-solaris2.5.1 +powerpc-unknown-linux-gnu +hppa1.1-hp-hpux10.20 +i386-pc-cygwin32 (CygWin32 b18, Win95) +i386-pc-djgpp (DGJPP 2.0, MS-DOS 7.0 under Win95) +i386-pc-os2 (OS/2 3.0, EMX 0.9c) + +Read INSTALL for installation instructions, or INSTALL.DOS for DOS, Windows +95, and OS/2. Mail bug-gforth@gnu.ai.mit.edu if you have problems. To start +the system, just say `gforth' (after installing it). + +You can find new versions of Gforth at prep.ai.mit.edu and its mirrors +or at + +http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/forth/gforth/ +or +ftp://ftp.complang.tuwien.ac.at/pub/forth/gforth/ + +The latter site contains binary distributions of Gforth for some +popular platforms. + +If you want to work on Gforth, mail me. Tasks to be done can be found +in ToDo; but if you would like to do something not mentioned there, +it's ok, too. In any case, we would like to hear what you are +doing. The most important tasks IMO are the missing ANS Forth words, +the documentation and the foreign language interface for C. + +On popular request, here are the meanings of unusual file extensions: + +*.fs Forth stream source file (include with "include " from within + gforth, or start with "gforth ...") +*.fi Forth image files (start with "gforth -i ") +*.fb Forth blocks file (load with "use 1 load") +*.i C include files +*.ds documenation source +*TAGS etags files + +A number of Forth source files are included in this package that are +not necessary for building Gforth. Not all of them are mentioned in +the rest of the documentation, so here's a short overview: + +Add-ons: +code.fs random.fs more.fs ansi.fs colorize.fs +oof.fs oofsampl.fs objects.fs + +Utilities: +ans-report.fs etags.fs glosgen.fs filedump.fs + +Games: +tt.fs sokoban.fs + +Test programs (for testing Forth systems): +test/*.fs + +Benchmarks: +bubble.fs siev.fs matrix.fs fib.fs + +ANS Forth implementations of Gforth extensions: +compat/*.fs other.fs + +For discussions about Gforth, use the Usenet newsgroup +comp.lang.forth. If you prefer not to post on Usenet, there is also a +mailing list: GForth@ChaosSolutions.com. To subscribe, send a mail to +Mdaemon@ChaosSolutions.com with: + +subscribe GForth + +as the first and only line within the message body. Send bug reports +to bug-gforth@gnu.ai.mit.edu (whether you post them or not). + - anton +anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at +http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/home.html