Unix Installation - MIT/GNU Scheme 7.7.90+
Description: MIT/GNU Scheme 7.7.90+

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### 1.1 Unix Installation

We will use as an example the installation for GNU/Linux. The installation for other unix systems is similar.

MIT/GNU Scheme is distributed as a compressed `tar' file. The tar file contains two directories, called `bin` and `lib`. The `bin` directory contains two executable files, `scheme` and `bchscheme`. The `lib` directory contains one subdirectory, `lib/mit-scheme`, that Scheme uses while it is executing.

The goal of the installation is to put the executable files in a directory where they will be executed as commands, and to put the library files in some convenient place where Scheme can find them.

There are two ways to install this software: the conventional way in `/usr/local`, and the alternative way, in locations of your choice. We encourage you to install this software in `/usr/local` if possible.

To install the software in `/usr/local`, execute the following commands, substituting for version the version of Scheme you wish to install, or the date of the snapshot if you are installing a snapshot, and for platform the platform you are on, such as ``ix86-gnu-linux`' or ``ix86-apple-darwin`':

         cd /usr/local
         rm -f bin/scheme bin/bchscheme
         rm -rf lib/mit-scheme
         gzip -cd mit-scheme-version-platform.tar.gz | tar xvf -

After executing these commands, the executable files will be in `/usr/local/bin`, and the library files will be in `/usr/local/lib/mit-scheme`. No further configuration is required.

To install the files in directories of your choice:

- First unpack the distribution:

                mkdir temp
                cd temp
                gzip -cd mit-scheme-version-platform.tar.gz | tar xvf -

- Next, move the contents of the `bin` directory to somewhere convenient that is on your execution path. For example, if you had a directory `~/bin` on your path, you would do this:

                mv bin/* ~/bin/.

- Next, move or copy the `lib/mit-scheme` directory somewhere convenient. For example, you could move it to your home directory:

                mv lib/mit-scheme ~/.

  Note that if you have unpacked the distribution on a different drive than the one you plan to store the `mit-scheme` directory on, you must use the command `cp -pr` rather than `mv`.

- Next, you must tell Scheme where to find the `mit-scheme` directory. This can be done in one of two ways. The first way is to bind the environment variable `MITSCHEME_LIBRARY_PATH` to the full path to the directory, e.g. in `bash` you would do

                export MITSCHEME_LIBRARY_PATH=~/mit-scheme

  You should put this environment-variable binding in one of your shell init files, e.g. for `bash` it might go in the `.bashrc` file.

  The second way is to use a command-line argument when invoking Scheme, e.g.

                scheme --library ~/mit-scheme

- You should now be able to run MIT/GNU Scheme. See Running Scheme, for more information.