Requirements
============

OpenAxiom currenly requires a Lisp system for its runtime support.
OpenAxiom is known to build with the GNU Common Lisp (GCL versions 2.6.7
or 2.6.8), Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL version 1.0.22 or higher,
except 1.0.29), CLisp (version 2.44.x or higher), and ECL (version
higher than 11.1.1), Clozure CL (version 1.3 or higher).  So, if you
already have any of the above mentioned Lisp systems, your are good to
go.  Otherwise, you would need to install any of the Lisp environment
mentioned above -- SBCL is the default Lisp system used by OpenAxiom
developers. 

Note that a functional Lisp system (e.g. SBCL, GCL, CLisp, ECL, or
Clozure CL) is needed only to build OpenAxiom.  They are not needed
once the system is installed. 

Finally, you would need a C++ compiler.  It is also recommended
that you install X11 development headers and libraries, especially
Xpm, and QT development headers and libraries.  Windows (MingW/MSYS) 
users do not need X11 components, but they would need a functional
QT SDK (version 4.6 or higher.)

Ah, one more note:  OpenAxiom requires GNU Make.

1. Lisp prerequisite
   -----------------

If you are missing a Lisp system, you need to get one.

2. Building OpenAxiom
   ------------------

It is assumed you have already downloaded open-axiom source tarball,
e.g. open-axiom-1.5.0.tar.bz2.  

2.a. Decompress the OpenAxiom source tarball

      tar jfxv open-axiom-1.5.0.tar.bz2

2.b. Configure OpenAxiom

It is highly recommended that you build OpenAxiom in a directory
different from the one that contains its sources.  For example, you
may create a directory sibling to open-axiom-1.5.0 and build the
system from there:

      mkdir oa-build
      cd oa-build
      ../open-axiom-1.5.0/configure

It is possible to tell configure where to put the final OpenAxiom
executables.  By default, when you just type in configure like above,
it will configure the system with prefix /usr/local.  You can instead
say where you want it to be installed, let's say /banana/space.  You
would then have typed

     ../open-axiom-1.5.0/configure --prefix=/banana/space


If you want to compile OpenAxiom with a specific Lisp system then you
should supply the option 

         --with-lisp=<your-lisp>

where <your-lisp> stands for the executable name of the Lisp of your
choice.  For example, you might want to add

         --with-lisp=sbcl

to the configuration line if you plan to use the SBCL system; or you
can specify 

         --with-lisp=ecl

if you want to use the ECL system.

Note also that OpenAxiom can coexist with other flavours of AXIOM.

2.c. Make the system

Just type

       make

or

       make 2>&1 | tee build.log

if you would like to inspect the build messages later on -- but most
users probably don't.

2.d.  Have some coffee

2.e.  Have more coffee

It can take from 20min to more than 2 hours to build, depending on the
compute power of the build machine and the base Lisp system.

3. Installing OpenAxiom   
   --------------------

Once the build (step 2.) has gone successfully, you may optionally try
to regress-test the system -- it can take hours.

3.a. [optional]

       make check 2>&1 | tee tests.log

3.b. The system is ready to install

If you configured the system to install in a place that needs special
privilege, e.g. /usr/local that requires administrator write, please
make sure that you've gained the adequate privileges.  Then, type:

      make install

3.c. The system is ready for use

After step 3.b., your should have a script called `open-axiom', in
/usr/local/bin or /banana/space/bin or /whichever/prefix/you/used/bin,
ready for use.  

4.  Enjoy
    -----

We would like to hear from you.  Send us comments and suggestions at

           open-axiom-help@lists.sf.net


About Make
==========

OpenAxiom build system requires GNU Make.  It might theoretically be
possible to cram the Makefiles so that they can work with a large set 
of Make programs.  However, doing so will not be cost effective.  GNU 
Make has been ported to virtually any system current OpenAxiom can build
one.  Consequently, the GNU Make requirement is not a stringent
requirement.  It just reflects reality.

So, if you're using a system where "make" is not GNU Make, then try
"gmake" instead. 

Gabriel Dos Reis