Hello, Rupert,
RH> A short while ago I read a posting, I think it was to this news
RH> group, from a chap who was inquiring about the availability of a
RH> Shareware version of Lisp.
RH> So if anyone knows of anything along these
RH> lines please either e-mail me or post something to this board.
The best shareware implementation of LISP that I've used is called CLISP. It's
a German product, and can be FTP'd from: ma2s2.mathematik.uni-karlsruhe.de
[129.13.115.2], in directory /pub/lisp/clisp. The author (or at least one of
them) is Bruno Haible (<······@ma2s2.mathematik.uni-karlsruhe.de>). It requires
MS-DOS running on at least a 386SX with 2 megabytes of RAM. The shareware fee
(actually, it's phrased in the documentation as 'gift') is $25. It is a fairly
complete implementation of Common LISP. Also, unlike the other products I
describe here, it can compile as well as interpret.
If you need Common LISP but don't have as powerful hardware, there are two
commercial implementations that you can use: NanoLISP and Star Sapphire LISP.
Both are, I believe, American products; each costs around $100. I've used Nano,
but not Star Sapphire. It's not as complete, powerful, or efficient as CLISP
(although it does have most Common LISP features). It only requires 640K of
RAM, and I think it'll run even on an 8088. Star Sapphire is supposedly more
complete than NanoLISP, and will use extended and/or expanded memory to increase
efficiency. However, I have a strong impression that NanoLISP is better
supported. I called both companies when trying to decide which to get; I ended
up talking to the author of NanoLISP almost immediately, and she was very
helpful. For Star Sapphire, I couldn't speak to anyone knowledgable for a few
days, as I remember. So, I bought NanoLISP. It's available from Microcomputer
Systems Consultants in Santa Barbara, California, USA. I'm afraid I don't have
a full address or phone number handy.
If you don't need much (or any) Common LISP compatability, there's a free
implementation called XLISP which is around.
I hope this helps.
Bruce