3 easy questions

["M. Thomas" <thommark@access.digex.net>]

First, my thanks to the developers of CLISP for a very useful Lisp
system for DOS.  I have three minor questions, though:

1.  The documented installation procedure (in the README file) had 2
disadvantages for me:

    -- it prompted me for permission to overwrite many Lisp
       function/macro definitions.  I had to type "continue" repeatedly
       at the "Break>" prompts;

    -- the changes I made to *default-time-zone* and *default-dst-check*
       (in defs1.lsp) didn't take effect; I think the semantics of the
       Lisp macro "defvar" precludes redefining a defvar'd variable with
       another defvar.

Therefore I installed CLISP by executing the following batch file (which
has only 2 executable lines):

----BEGIN clispbld.bat
@rem  This is how I built lispinit.mem:
@rem
@rem     1. Unzipped the CLISP distribution into current directory, then
@rem        deleted all files except for lisp.exe, *.fas, and those
@rem        *.lsp corresponding to the *.fas.
@rem
@rem     2. Edited config.lsp to change short-site-name, long-site-name,
@rem        and *editor*.
@rem
@rem     3. Edited defs1.lsp to change *default-time-zone* and
@rem        *default-dst-check*.
@rem
@rem     4. Recompiled config.lsp and defs1.lsp:

lisp -i init.fas -c config defs1

@rem     5. Loaded the *.fas files and saved the resulting memory image:

lisp -i init.fas -x(saveinitmem)
----END   clispbld.bat

Execution of this file appears to install CLISP correctly.  Is this
indeed the case, or could there be some subtle disadvantage to this
procedure?

2.  The latest DOS version of CLISP, clisp-english.zip, appears to have
been compiled with  GCC 2.4.5, whereas the earlier January version of
CLISP appears to have been compiled with GCC 2.5.7.  Why is this?

    > (lisp-implementation-version)
    "January 1994"
    > (software-version)
    "GNU C 2.4.5"   ;; instead of "GNU C 2.5.7" for earlier January version

3. Which versions of the CLtL2 macros LOOP and SERIES are most compatible
with CLISP?  From where can these be ftp'd?

Thanks.


Mark A. Thomas
thommark@access.digex.net