rc - a shell ============ I maintain the **rc** shell. This is a reimplementation for Unix, by Byron Rakitzis, of the Plan 9 shell. **rc** offers much the same capabilities as a traditional Bourne shell, but with a much cleaner syntax. Downloads --------- The latest release is ``rc-1.7.1``. * source code, gzipped tar: `rc-1.7.1.tar.gz`_ * source code, tar: `rc-1.7.1.tar`_ * i386 RPM: `rc-1.7.1-1.i386.rpm`_ * source RPM: `rc-1.7.1-1.src.rpm`_ .. _rc-1.7.1.tar.gz: /software/download/rc/rc-1.7.1.tar.gz .. _rc-1.7.1.tar: /software/download/rc/rc-1.7.1.tar .. _rc-1.7.1-1.i386.rpm: /software/download/rc/rc-1.7.1-1.i386.rpm .. _rc-1.7.1-1.src.rpm: /software/download/rc/rc-1.7.1-1.src.rpm (At one time, **rc** releases were also available from the University of Toronto `FTP server`_, but that doesn't seem to be true anymore. The link is maintained here till I can get some definite information.) .. _ftp server: ftp://ftp.sys.utoronto.ca/pub/rc/ Tom Duff's papers ----------------- The author of the original **rc**, Tom Duff, presented a paper about it to the UKUUG (United Kingdom Unix Users' Group). He has kindly given permission for us to reproduce the `PostScript version of this paper`_. An `updated HTML version`_ is also available. .. _postscript version of this paper: /software/download/rc/plan9.ps .. _updated html version: /software/article/rc-duff Mailing list ------------ The rc mailing list was rc@hawkwind.utcs.utoronto.ca but this seems to be defunct at present. I hope to create a new **rc** and **es** community around this web site. (Subscription requests should be sent to rc-request@hawkwind.utcs.utoronto.ca.) Libraries for command line editing ---------------------------------- **rc** can be linked against a number of libraries which provide Emacs style command line editing and history. * GNU *readline* is available from the FSF `master archive`_ and its many mirrors. * A lightweight alternative is *editline*. The latest version is `editline-1.5`_. * Another alternative is *vrl*. The current version is `vrl-1.3.3`_. .. _master archive: ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/gnu/readline/ .. _editline-1.5: /software/download/rc/editline-1.5.tar.gz .. _vrl-1.3.3: /software/download/rc/vrl-1.3.3.tgz Associated packages ------------------- **rc** uses a set of printing routines originally written by Paul Haahr. Scott Schwartz has developed this as a separate package which is available from comp.sources.unix v29i017. There are a number of other programs which, like **rc**, implementations of Plan 9 tools for Unix + X windows: (Many of these links are now out of date. Watch this space!) * `sam`_, probably the world's finest editor, by `Rob Pike`_; * `wily`_, a reimplementation of the Plan 9 *acme* (a minimalist "integrated development environment") by Gary Capell; * `9term`_, an X windows terminal emulator by James Matthew Farrow; * `9wm`_, an X window manager by David Hogan; * `9menu`_ (allows you to create X menus from the shell, where each menu item will run a command: it meshes well with 9wm). `Plan 9 itself`_, including Duff's original rc, is now available (and there's a rather splendid easy-to-install port of all this to Unix, but I don't have the link handy right now: watch this space!) .. _rob pike: http://www.cs.bell-labs.com/who/rob/ .. _sam: http://netlib.bell-labs.com/netlib/research/ .. _wily: http://www.cs.yorku.ca/~oz/wily/ .. _9term: http://www.cs.usyd.edu.au/~matty/9term .. _9wm: http://sources.isc.org/X/window-managers/9wm-1.1.txt .. _9menu: ftp://ftp.freefriends.org/arnold/Source/9menu.shar.gz .. _plan 9 itself: http://www.cs.bell-labs.com/plan9dist/ Patches ------- The notion of software configuration via patches seems really pretty quaint in the 21st century. Still, this particular patch has been following **rc** around for a long time. I think I'm desperately unlikely to make it a compile-time or run-time option any-time soon, so if you really want this behaviour, here it is. * The `ctrl-D patch`_ prevents an interactive **rc** from exiting when it sees end of file on standard input, achieving much the same effect as setting the special variable ``IGNOREEOF`` in **bash**, or ``ignoreeof`` in **tcsh** .. _ctrl-d patch: /software/download/rc/ctrl-d.patch Notes ----- I've started making `notes`_ as I hack on **rc**. Anyone who is, or would like to be, familiar with the internals of **rc** is encouraged to look at them. .. _notes: /software/article/rc-notes (Although my notes are currently in a flat file, they really should consitute a blog. Did blogs exist in 2001? I can't remember. But even if so, I didn't have an easy way to create one. At some point, this document will be converted into a real blog; or possible just merged into my own blog.) Something else... ----------------- Searching on AltaVista (anyone remember it?) for "rc shell", I came across this page, which seems to be about something else... .. _this page: http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_submitted/recipes/73.html Tim Goodwin