# 23jan26 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 (for e.g. MacOS see src/Makefile.macos).

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
