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   1                       Precompiled Distributions of
   2                            Emacs for Windows
   3
   4                               Version 21.3
   5
   6                              April 22, 2003
   7
   8   This directory contains source and precompiled distributions for GNU
   9   Emacs on Windows NT/2000/XP and Windows 95/98/Me.  This port is a part
  10   of the standard GNU Emacs distribution from the Free Software
  11   Foundation; the precompiled distributions are provided here for
  12   convenience since, unlike Unix, the majority of Windows users do not
  13   have access to a compiler (and, besides, do you really want to compile
  14   Emacs when you don't have to?).
  15
  16   If you have access to the World Wide Web, I would recommend pointing
  17   your favorite web browser to the following document (if you haven't
  18   already):
  19
  20         http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html
  21
  22   The above web document is a far more complete version of this README
  23   file.  If you don't have access to the Web, however, then read on.
  24
  25
  26 * IMPORTANT LEGAL REMINDER
  27
  28   If you want to redistribute any of the precompiled distributions of
  29   Emacs, be careful to check the implications of the GPL.  For instance,
  30   if you put the emacs-21.3-bin-i386.tar.gz file from this directory on
  31   an Internet site, you must arrange to distribute the source files of
  32   the SAME version (i.e. emacs-21.3-src.tar.gz).
  33
  34   Making a link to our copy of the source is NOT sufficient, since we
  35   might upgrade to a new version while you are still distributing the
  36   old binaries.
  37
  38
  39 * Distributions in .tar.gz format
  40
  41   Emacs is distributed primarily as a set of large gzipped tar files
  42   (*.tar.gz).  Because Emacs is quite large and therefore difficult to
  43   download over unreliable connections, it is provided in several
  44   combinations, ranging from the complete source plus executables, to
  45   just the minimal amount needed to run without any source, plus a
  46   couple of optional packages.  Here are the combinations (i386 in the
  47   name indicates a tarball contains executables compiled for
  48   Intel-compatible x86 systems):
  49
  50   + Primary precompiled distribution, including lisp source:
  51
  52       emacs-21.3-fullbin-i386.tar.gz
  53
  54   + Minimal precompiled distribution, which excludes lisp source:
  55
  56       emacs-21.3-bin-i386.tar.gz
  57
  58     You can download emacs-21.3-lisp.tar.gz to get the lisp source, if
  59     you later decide you want it - it is useful for understanding how
  60     packages work, and how they can best be setup or customized.
  61
  62
  63   NB. If you just want to run Emacs, get one of the distributions above.
  64
  65
  66   + Bare executables, only useful if you want to get the complete source
  67     release below, but can't compile Emacs yourself:
  68
  69       emacs-21.3-barebin-i386.tar.gz  (requires emacs-21.3-src.tar.gz)
  70
  71   + Undumped executable, only needed for rebuilding Emacs after changing
  72     certain core lisp files:
  73
  74       emacs-21.3-undumped-i386.tar.gz
  75
  76   + Optional package providing the Library of Emacs Input Methods for
  77     typing non-ascii characters, notably Chinese, Japanese and Korean,
  78     but also including European and other character sets:
  79
  80       emacs-21.3-leim.tar.gz
  81
  82   + The complete official source for Emacs:
  83
  84       emacs-21.3-src.tar.gz
  85
  86   + The complete official source for LEIM:
  87
  88       leim-21.3-src.tar.gz
  89
  90
  91 * Distributions for non-x86 platforms
  92
  93   Distributions for non-x86 platforms are no longer supplied. Older
  94   platforms supported by Windows NT no longer seem to be in demand,
  95   and Emacs is yet to be ported to 64bit Windows platforms. If you are
  96   willing to help port Emacs to 64bit versions of Windows, your
  97   contribution will be welcome on the emacs-devel mailing list.
  98
  99 * Unpacking distributions
 100
 101   Ports of GNU gzip and GNU tar for handling the distribution file
 102   formats can be found in several places that distribute ports of GNU
 103   programs, for example:
 104
 105     Cygwin:   http://www.cygwin.com/
 106     GnuWin32: http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/
 107
 108   Many other popular file compression utilities for Windows are also
 109   able to handle gzipped tar files.
 110
 111   Open a command prompt (MSDOS) window.  Decide on a directory in which
 112   to place Emacs.  Move the distribution to that directory, and then
 113   unpack it as follows.
 114
 115   If you have the gzipped tar version, use gunzip to uncompress the tar
 116   file on the fly, and pipe the output through tar with the "xvf" flags
 117   to extract the files from the tar file:
 118
 119     % gunzip -c some.tar.gz | tar xvf -
 120
 121   You may see messages from tar about not being able to change the
 122   modification time on directories, and from gunzip complaining about a
 123   broken pipe.  These messages are harmless and you can ignore them.  On
 124   Windows NT, unpacking tarballs this way leaves them in compressed
 125   form, taking up less space on disk.  Unfortunately, on Windows 95 and
 126   98, a large temporary file is created, so it is better to use the
 127   djtarnt.exe program, which performs the equivalent operation in one
 128   step:
 129
 130     % djtarnt -x some.tar.gz
 131
 132   You may be prompted to rename or overwrite directories when using
 133   djtarnt: simply type return to continue (this is harmless).
 134
 135   Once you have unpacked a precompiled distribution of Emacs, it should
 136   have the following subdirectories:
 137
 138         bin     etc     info    lisp    site-lisp
 139
 140
 141 * Unpacking with other tools
 142
 143   If you do use other utility programs to unpack the distribution, check
 144   the following to be sure the distribution was not corrupted:
 145
 146   + Be sure to disable the CR/LF translation or the executables will be
 147     unusable.  Older versions of WinZip would enable this translation
 148     by default.  If you are using WinZip, disable it.  (I don't have
 149     WinZip myself, and I do not know the specific commands necessary
 150     to disable it.)
 151
 152   + Check that filenames were not truncated to 8.3.  For example, there
 153     should be a file lisp/abbrevlist.el; if this has been truncated to
 154     abbrevli.el, your distribution has been corrupted while unpacking
 155     and Emacs will not start.
 156
 157   + I've also had reports that some older "gnuwin32" port of tar
 158     corrupts the executables.  Use the latest version from the gnuwin32
 159     site or another port of tar instead.
 160
 161   If you believe you have unpacked the distributions correctly and are
 162   still encountering problems, see the section on Further Information
 163   below.
 164
 165
 166 * Compiling from source
 167
 168   If you would like to compile Emacs from source, download the source
 169   distribution, unpack it in the same manner as a precompiled
 170   distribution, and look in the file nt/INSTALL for detailed
 171   directions.  You can either use the Microsoft compiler included with
 172   Visual C++ 2003 or earlier, or GCC 2.95 or later with MinGW support,
 173   to compile the source.  The port of GCC included in Cygwin is
 174   supported, but check the nt/INSTALL file if you have trouble since
 175   some builds of GNU make aren't supported.
 176
 177
 178 * Further information
 179
 180   If you have access to the World Wide Web, I would recommend pointing
 181   your favorite web browser to following the document (if you haven't
 182   already):
 183
 184         http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html
 185
 186   This document serves as an FAQ and a source for further information
 187   about the Windows port and related software packages.
 188
 189   In addition to the FAQ, there is a mailing list for discussing issues
 190   related to the Windows port of Emacs.  For information about the
 191   list, see this Web page:
 192
 193         http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows
 194
 195   To ask questions on the mailing list, send email to
 196   help-emacs-windows@gnu.org.  (You don't need to subscribe for that.)
 197   To subscribe to the list or unsubscribe from it, fill the form you
 198   find at http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows as
 199   explained there.
 200
 201   Another valuable source of information and help which should not be
 202   overlooked is the various Usenet news groups dedicated to Emacs.
 203   These are particuarly good for help with general issues which aren't
 204   specific to the Windows port of Emacs.  The main news groups to use
 205   for seeking help are:
 206
 207         gnu.emacs.help
 208         comp.emacs
 209
 210   There are also fairly regular postings and announcements of new or
 211   updated Emacs packages on this group:
 212
 213         gnu.emacs.sources
 214
 215   Enjoy!
 216
 217   Jason Rumney
 218   (jasonr@gnu.org)
 219
 220   Most of this README was contributed by former maintainer Andrew Innes
 221   (andrewi@gnu.org)