# 14oct23 Software Lab. Alexander Burger


         PicoLisp Installation
         =====================


PicoLisp needs a POSIX compatible system and the LLVM infrastructure. It
supports two installation strategies: Local and Global.

For a global installation, allowing system-wide access to the executable and
library/documentation files, you can either install it from a ready-made
distribution, or set some symbolic links to one of the local installation
directories as described below.

Note that you are still free to have local installations along with a global
installation, and invoke them explicitly as desired.


      Local Installation
      ------------------

The following instructions work on Debian Linux. They should be similar on other
systems.

1. Install required packages

   $ sudo apt install binutils make clang llvm libreadline-dev libffi-dev libssl-dev pkg-config

2. Unpack the tarball

   $ wget https://software-lab.de/pil21.tgz
   $ tar xfz pil21.tgz

3. Change the directory

   $ cd pil21

4. Compile the PicoLisp interpreter

   $ (cd src; make)


      Global Installation
      -------------------

The recommended way for a global installation is to use a picolisp package from
the OS distribution.

If that is not available, you can (as root) create symbolic links from /usr/lib
and /usr/bin to a local installation directory:

   # ln -s /<path>/pil21 /usr/lib/picolisp
   # ln -s /usr/lib/picolisp/bin/picolisp /usr/bin
   # ln -s /usr/lib/picolisp/bin/pil /usr/bin

For additional access to the man pages, utilities and bash completion:

   # ln -s /<path>/pil21/man/man1/picolisp.1 /usr/share/man/man1
   # ln -s /<path>/pil21/man/man1/pil.1 /usr/share/man/man1
   # ln -s /<path>/pil21 /usr/share/picolisp
   # ln -s /<path>/pil21/lib/bash_completion /usr/share/bash-completion/completions/pil


      Invocation
      ----------

In a global installation, the 'pil' command should be used. You can either start
in plain or in debug mode. The difference is that for debug mode the command is
followed by single plus ('+') sign. The '+' must be the very last argument on
the command line.

   $ pil       # Plain mode
   :

   $ pil +     # Debug mode
   :

In both cases, the colon ':' is PicoLisp's prompt. You may enter some Lisp
expression,

   : (+ 1 2 3)
   -> 6

To exit the interpreter, enter

   : (bye)

or just type Ctrl-D.


For a local invocation, specify a path name, e.g.

   $ ./pil     # Plain mode
   :

   $ ./pil +   # Debug mode
   :

or

   $ /home/app/pil  # Invoking a local installation from some other directory

Note that 'pil' can also serve as a template for your own stand-alone scripts.


      Documentation
      -------------

For further information, please look at "doc/index.html". There you find the
PicoLisp Reference Manual ("doc/ref.html"), the PicoLisp tutorial
("doc/tut.html"), and the frequently asked questions ("doc/faq.html").

As always, the most accurate and complete documentation is the source code ;-)

Any feedback is welcome!
Hope you enjoy :-)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Alexander Burger
   Software Lab. / 7fach GmbH
   Bahnhofstr. 24a, D-86462 Langweid
   abu@software-lab.de, https://www.software-lab.de, +49 8230 5060