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annotate README @ 26620:82865ccb62c2 stable rc-5-0-90

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bump version for first 5.1 release candidate * configure.ac (AC_INIT): Set version to 5.0.90. (OCTAVE_PATCH_VERSION): Now 90. (OCTAVE_RELEASE_DATE): Set to 2019-01-24.
author John W. Eaton <jwe@octave.org>
date Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:22:18 +0000
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1 GNU Octave -- a high-level language for numerical computations
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2 ==============================================================
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3
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4 Copyright (C) 1996-2019 John W. Eaton
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5
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6 Overview
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7 --------
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8
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9 GNU Octave is a high-level interpreted language, primarily intended
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10 for numerical computations. It provides capabilities for the
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11 numerical solution of linear and nonlinear problems, and for
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12 performing other numerical experiments. It also provides extensive
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13 graphics capabilities for data visualization and manipulation. GNU
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14 Octave is normally used through its interactive interface (CLI and
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15 GUI), but it can also be used to write non-interactive programs.
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16 The GNU Octave language is quite similar to Matlab so that most
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17 programs are easily portable.
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18
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19 GNU Octave is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
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20 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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21 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
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22 (at your option) any later version.
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23
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24 GNU Octave is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
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25 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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26 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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27 GNU General Public License for more details.
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28
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29 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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30 along with Octave; see the file COPYING. If not, see
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31 <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
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32
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33 Availability
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34 ------------
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35
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36 The latest released version of Octave is always available from
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37 <https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/> and many mirror sites around the
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38 world. You may also find links to binary distributions at
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39 <https://www.octave.org/download.html>. The current development
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40 sources may be found under the Source Code tab on
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41 [Savannah](https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/octave/).
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42
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43 Installation
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44 ------------
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45
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46 Octave requires approximately 475 MB of disk storage to unpack and
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47 compile from source (significantly more, 3.8 GB, if you compile with
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48 debugging symbols). Once installed, Octave requires approximately
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49 75 MB of disk space (again, considerably more, 415 MB, if you don't
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50 build shared libraries or the binaries and libraries include
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51 debugging symbols).
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52
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53 To compile Octave, you will need a recent version of:
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54
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55 - [GNU Make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/)
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56 - [GNU G++](https://gcc.gnu.org/) or another C++11 compiler
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57 - [GNU Fortran](https://gcc.gnu.org/fortran/), another Fortran 77
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58 compiler, or [f2c](http://www.netlib.org/f2c/)
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59
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60 Octave's Makefiles use features of GNU Make that are not present in
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61 other versions of make. If you use `f2c`, you will need a script
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62 like `fort77` that works like a normal Fortran compiler by combining
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63 `f2c` with your C compiler in a single script.
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64
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65 See the notes in the files `INSTALL.OCTAVE` and the system-specific
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66 `README` files in the `etc` directory of the Octave source
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67 distribution for more detailed installation instructions.
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68
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69 Bugs and Patches
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70 ----------------
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71
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72 The file `BUGS` explains the recommended procedure for reporting bugs
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73 on the [bug tracker](https://bugs.octave.org) or contributing patches.
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74
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75 Documentation
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76 -------------
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77
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78 * [Octave's manual](https://www.octave.org/doc/interpreter/) is a
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79 comprehensive user guide covering introductive and more advanced
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80 topics.
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81 * [Octave's wiki](https://wiki.octave.org) is a user community page,
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82 covering various topics and answering
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83 [FAQ](https://wiki.octave.org/FAQ).
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84 * [Octave's Doxygen](https://www.octave.org/doxygen/) documentation
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85 explains the C++ class libraries.
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86
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87 Partially, the up-to-dateness of the documentation is lagging a bit
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88 behind the development of the software. If you notice omissions or
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89 inconsistencies, please report them at our bug tracker. Specific
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90 suggestions for ways to improve Octave and its documentation are
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91 always welcome. Reports with patches are even more welcome.
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92
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93 Additional Information
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94 ----------------------
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95
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96 Up to date information about Octave is available on the WWW at
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97 <https://www.octave.org>, or ask for help via email
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98 <help@octave.org>.