Subject: Comp.lang.oberon FAQ (monthly) 1/3 Newsgroups: comp.lang.oberon,comp.answers,news.answers From: mikeg@psg.com (Mike Gallo) Date: Fri, 10 Jun 1994 20:47:04 GMT Archive-name: Oberon-FAQ/general Last-modified: 1994 June 7 (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *) Many FAQ lists, including this one, are available by anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu in the /pub/usenet/news-answers directory. Although I have aimed for accuracy, there is no guarantee that the information in this document is error-free. Neither the FAQ maintainer nor anyone else associated with this document assume any liability for the content or use of this document. If you find any errors, please report them to the address listed below. Thanks to all who have contributed! Further additions, corrections, and suggestions are welcome. mikeg@psg.com (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *) Comp.lang.oberon Frequently Asked Questions Miscellany Copyright 1994 Michael Gallo (c) 1994 Michael Gallo This is one of three documents that attempt to answer some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Oberon. This text concerns some general topics on the subject of Oberon, while the other two are specifically about Oberon the language and Oberon the operating system. WHAT IS COMP.LANG.OBERON? The Comp.lang.oberon newsgroup is a forum for discussing Oberon, both the programming language and the operating system, and any related issues. Although not strictly accurate, this newsgroup is part of the Comp.lang.* hierarchy because it began as a spin-off of Comp.lang.modula2. For those without regular Usenet access, ETH Zrich has generously made Comp.lang.oberon available as a mailing list. Articles can now be sent or received via normal Internet e-mail to or from oberon-news@inf.ethz.ch. To get more information about the mailing list, send the message "help" to listproc@inf.ethz.ch. To subscribe to the mailing list, send the message "subscribe oberon-news@inf.ethz.ch " to listproc@inf.ethz.ch. Some members of ETH Zrich's Institute for Computer Systems do read and participate in this newsgroup, but Comp.lang.oberon is in no way officially related to ETH Zrich. Official correspondence, bug reports, &c. should be addressed to: Institute for Computer Systems ETH Zentrum CH-8092 Zuerich E-mail: Oberon@inf.ethz.ch E-Fax: +41 1 2519678 Comp.lang.oberon owes its existence to the efforts of the late Christian Schaepper. WHAT IS OBERON? >From "The Oberon Guide" Oberon is simultaneously the name of a project and of its outcome. The project was started by Niklaus Wirth and [Jrg Gutknecht] late in 1985 with the goal of developing a modern and portable operating system for personal workstations. Its results are an implementation of the system for the Ceres computer and a programming language. The development of the language Oberon needs perhaps a short justification. It became quite inevitable because the type-system of available languages turned out to be too restrictive to express the desired data model in a natural and safe way. Easy introductions to both aspects of the Oberon project can be found in back issues of BYTE magazine. The operating system is overviewed in "Oberon: A Glimpse at the Future", volume 18 number 6 (May 1993). The Oberon language is examined in "Oberon", volume 16 number 3 (March 1991). Both articles are by BYTE's European correspondant, Dick Pountain. OBERON RESOURCES The original project was launched and carried out by N. Wirth and J. Gutknecht for the Ceres workstation. As of this writing, ported versions of the Oberon system are available for the machines listed below (followed by the most recent update). As yet, there are no ports for Linux or OS/2. Oberon v.4 DECstation: Apr 12 11:55 HP700: Jan 10 19:23 MacII: Apr 12 11:05 RS6000: Nov 2 1993 SPARC: Dec 3 1993 SPARC/Solaris2: Nov 26 1993 SiliconGraphics: Apr 12 16:14 Windows: May 18 12:16 System3 DOS: Jun 7 10:28 SPARC: Aug 17 1993 These ports are freely available by anonymous ftp from: ftp.inf.ethz.ch:/Oberon, wuarchive.wustl.edu:/languages/Oberon, and gatekeeper@dec.com:/pub/plan/Oberon Whitney de Vries (whitney@christie.Meakins.McGill.CA) has set up an anonymous ftp server to handle Oberon sources. The machine is gallileo.meakins.mcgill.ca ( 132.206.169.3 ); the directory is /u/ftp/pub/Oberon. Another possible source of information is the Swiss Oberon Users Group (CHOUG) at ETH Zrich (e-mail: oberon-user@inf.ethz.ch). ETH Zrich's technical reports are freely available, but many of the early reports concerning the Oberon project are now out of stock. However, most of these older reports are electronically available in PostScript and/or Oberon text formats from the previously mentioned ftp sites in */Oberon/Docu. Some more recent technical reports that might be of interest to Oberon users are: 102 M. Odersky: Recursive Data Types and Report on the Mona Notation for Algorithms 133 J. Templ: SPARC-Oberon User's Guide 143 N. Wirth: From Modula to Oberon (Revised Edition) 144 J. L. Marais: The GADGETS User Interface Management System 151 C. Szyperski: Write - An Extensible Text Editor for the Oberon System 174 M. Brandis, R. Crelier, M. Franz, J. Templ: The Oberon System Family 203 A. R. Disteli: OBERON for PC on an MS-DOS Base Someone please let me know if and when these titles go out of stock. To order technical reports of the Institut fr Computersysteme, ETH Zrich, contact Mr. Ruettener (e-mail: ruettener@inf.ethz.ch). -- Unix has been feverishly evolving for over 20 years, sort of like bacteria in a cesspool, only less attractive. -- Unix for Dummies