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Installing E stl-0.8.9k on Linux

E can be installed on Linux from the binary distribution, compiled for the 386 architecture and a glibc-supporting version of Linux (this includes RedHat 6.1, which is what we're using). If you need E for a different Unix/Linux configuration, you should build E from source instead.

There are two ways of installing E: A personal installation, and a root installation.

Personal Installation

A personal installation requires no privileges, and different users can play with separate installations without conflict. E scripts begin with "#!/usr/bin/env e" so that they are independent of the precise location of the "e" executable. But it must be on your path for env to find it. The personal install script places the "e" executable in your "~/bin" directory. If the "~/bin" directory doesn't yet exists, the script asks permission to create it. If there's already an "e" file there, it asks for permission to overwrite it. It's up to you to ensure that your "~/bin" directory is on your PATH.

When E runs, it leaves behind debugging information in a trace directory. For the personal install, this directory is "~/.etrace". If this doesn't already exist, the personal install script asks for permission to create it.

To do a personal install, create the directory where you wish E to be installed, and unpack the binary distribution there:

$ mkdir ehome
$ cd ehome

# download stl-E-linux-i386-glibc-0.8.9k.tar.gz to here
$ tar xzf stl-E-linux-i386-glibc-0.8.9k.tar.gz

Among the files that appear, you want to run personal-install.sh

$ ./personal-install.sh
It asks to create files and directories as described
above. You need to say "y".

Starting E
Installed at <file:/home/markm/ehome> on Java 1.3.0

(We seem to be headless.)
Welcome to E stl-0.8.9k

You will see the last two lines if you are installing E in a text-only situation unable to render a Swing-based GUI (such as a telnet session). If you are in a GUI-enabled environment (typically an E terminal), you should instead see a windows such as

This box is produced by an E program using Swing, so you should now be able to run your own E programs:

$ e
? 2 + 3
# value: 5

? #<Ctrl-D>

That last line indicates that you can exit the E command line interpreter by typing the Control-D character, as with many other Unix programs.

You should now proceed to the E Tutorial.

Root Installation

A root installation requires root privilege in order to install E in a canonical shared location. A root installation installs the shared E files in "/usr/local/e" and places a copy of the "e" command at "/usr/local/bin/e" so that E commands can be run directly as executable commands.

To do a root install, create a working directory and unpack the binary distribution there:

$ mkdir efoo
$ cd efoo
# download stl-E-linux-i386-glibc-0.8.9k.tar.gz to here
$ tar xzf stl-E-linux-i386-glibc-0.8.9k.tar.gz

Among the files that appear, you want to run root-install.sh as root

$ su - root
Password:
# ./root-install.sh
Starting E
Installed at <file:/usr/local/e>

(We seem to be headless.)
Welcome to E stl-0.8.9k
# //<ctrl-D>

$ e
? 2 + 3
# value: 5

? #<Ctrl-D>

Above, the "We seem to be headless" is printed out is you run the installer from a character terminal (or its moral equivalent) rather than an X terminal. If you install from an X terminal, the welcome message should be in the form of a swing monologue box with an Ok button.

You should now proceed to the E Tutorial.