The xemacs-20.3-*.tar.gz files contain executables for XEmacs 20.3. To use them, you will also need the files in either xemacs-20.3-common-nomule.tar.gz (for nonMule kits), or xemacs-20.3-common-mule.tar.gz (for Mule kits) which are the architecture-independent parts of the installation tree (the `lisp', `etc', and `info' directories.) HOW TO INSTALL ============== Simply cd to the directory in which you wish to install xemacs, and then unpack the architecture independent tar file, followed by the architecture-dependent files for those architectures you use. cd /usr/local/ # or wherever you install 3rd-party software gzip -dc xemacs-20.3-common-nomule.tar.gz | tar -pxf - gzip -dc xemacs-20.3-i386-pc-bsdi2.0.tar.gz | tar -pxf - Replace `/usr/local/' with what you like, but it probably ought not have `xemacs' or a version number in it - that directory is expected to be the common prefix for installed software, and xemacs-specific subdirectories of it will be created. The directories are arranged in such a way that multiple versions of xemacs can peaceably coexist under the same `/usr/local/' tree. After unpacking, you will have a directory structure like: ./bin/i386-pc-bsdi2.0/xemacs-20.3* executable ./lib/xemacs-20.3/lisp/ lisp library ./lib/xemacs-20.3/etc/ data directory ./lib/xemacs-20.3/info/ documentation ./lib/xemacs-20.3/i386-pc-bsdi2.0/ utility programs ./lib/xemacs/lock/ lock directory ./lib/xemacs/site-lisp/ local lisp code For the executable to work, the directory layout must look pretty much like this; the executable looks for "sibling" directories at run-time to figure out where its lisp library is. These constraints on the local directory layout are necessary to avoid having to hardcode pathnames into the executables, or require that environment variables be set before running the executable. You will probably want to create a link such as the following: $LOCAL/bin/xemacs -> ./bin/sparc-sun-solaris2.4/xemacs-20.3 It is possible to do a multi-architecture in such a way that the executables for the various architectures are on different partitions; in that case you must install some symbolic links so that the directory structure appears as above from the clients. For example, assume that $LOCAL refers to a directory which is mounted only on machines of the same type; and $SHARED refers to a directory which is shared among all machines. You could set up the directory hierarchy like this: $LOCAL/bin/xemacs-20.3* $LOCAL/lib/xemacs-20.3/sparc-sun-solaris2.4/ $LOCAL/lib/xemacs-20.3/lisp@ -> $SHARED/xemacs-20.3/lisp/ $LOCAL/lib/xemacs-20.3/etc@ -> $SHARED/xemacs-20.3/etc/ $LOCAL/lib/xemacs-20.3/info@ -> $SHARED/xemacs-20.3/info/ $LOCAL/lib/xemacs@ -> $SHARED/xemacs/ $SHARED/xemacs-20.3/lisp/ $SHARED/xemacs-20.3/etc/ $SHARED/xemacs-20.3/info/ $SHARED/xemacs/lock/ $SHARED/xemacs/site-lisp/ That is, the various $SHARED directories contain only the architecture-independent files, but still look like normal installation trees, since the architecture-independent directories have been replaced with symbolic links to the single $COMMON tree.