Re: LYNX-DEV Problems installing Lynx on VAX...

[Foteos Macrides]

"Brian Tillman, x8425" <address@hidden> wrote:
>Jonathan Ah Kit (address@hidden) writes:
>
>>As I have seen Lynx working on what was apparently a VAX on a now-closed
>local freenet, is there a "general" VAX version?
>
>Not sure what you mean, but I use Lynx on my VAX.  Lynx is V2.6 right now,
>but I've been using it since V2.4.  The standard Lynx distribution is what I
>would call a "general" VAX version.  One _does_ need to link it on the system
>on which one intends to run it, however.  Compile it on the system with the
>compiler, copy the .OBJ and .OLB files to the other system and link it there.
>That should give you an executable you can use on the system with no compiler.

        Don't equate "VAX" with "VMS".  VMS is an operating system. A
VAX is hardware.  DEC developed the alpha chip, a RISC processor, which
is used in their AXP systems (for both VMS and OSF) as well as in many
non-DEC Unix systems.  VMS can be used on both VAXen (which have CISC
processors, and are slow compared to RISCs) and AXPen.  We got rid of
all our VAXen and MicroVAXen (and MINCs, PDPs, etc. 8-) and replaced
them with an AXP 2100.

        The core Lynx development, as I was doing it since Lou Montulli's
graduation and release of v2.3 in May 1994, has been on VMS/AXP.  I also
have accounts on Unix boxes where I zip to preserve the case sensitivity
of directory/filenames, and occasionally check out the for-Unix code, but
as of v2.6, two years seemed long enough to expect that the Unix folks
start really carrying the ball with the ifdef'ed for-Unix code, which is
beginning to happen, though not yet well coordinated or with a steady pace
of new development, and regrettably, without keeping it compatible for VMS
as well, except for the mods zip here, which Hiram checks out carefully on
Unix and at intervals adds to the hopefully "production quality" Composite
updates for both Unix and VMS.  I should also note that it's been a *very*
long time since any VMSer besides me has contributed to Lynx.  In my
experience, VMSers are even worse at expecting "an expert" to do it for
them instead of rolling up their sleeves and giving it a shot themselves.

        Lynx 2.6 and the mods or updates compile with the DECC, VAXC,
and Pat Rankin's VMS port of the GNUC compiler's, on both VAXen and AXPen,
with all of the for-VMS TCPIP packages.  However, it isn't tested on
VAXen (since I don't have any, i.e, as in the for-Unix code, there
may be typo's that hopefully will be caught with somebody actually
uses the code).  I can't provide binaries of anything, including Lynx,
from our AXP.  For VMS, it would indeed be better to distribute a 
zip with the .obj's and .olb, since the linker is included with VMS,
and you have less of a version problem.  Also, quite some time ago,
Andy Harper added SOCKETSHR support for Lynx, which I've tried to
keep up.  The SOCKETSHR library is available as a binary, and if
built for that, there should be no problem with variations in TCPIP
packages on different VMS systems.  I.e., it in theory created the
situation in which one VMS binary could be used by all VMSers, though
no one has followed through on that.

                                Fote

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 Foteos Macrides            Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
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