X-Git-Url: https://pintos-os.org/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=pspp-builds.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=README;h=02e81d77e9525093cc3252d38903717b6252b9eb;hp=38ac7efd2a737a1a5c58bffcebdff399087bb87e;hb=163b1639eab9b48eab64752205d75f951547b5c7;hpb=432127c49eda51dd2e632b0e1a55b0922e06444c diff --git a/README b/README index 38ac7efd..02e81d77 100644 --- a/README +++ b/README @@ -1,19 +1,90 @@ PSPP is a program for statistical analysis of sampled data. It -interprets commands in the SPSS language and produces tabular output -in ASCII or PostScript format. +is a free replacement for the proprietary program SPSS. PSPP development is ongoing. It already supports a large subset of -SPSS's transformation language. Its statistical procedure support is -currently limited, but growing. +SPSS's syntax. Its statistical procedure support is currently +limited, but growing. At your option, PSPP will produce statistical +reports in ASCII, PostScript, or HTML formats. + +Instructions for PSPP installation are in INSTALL, including a list of +prerequisite packages and other PSPP-specific information. Full +documentation on PSPP's language will be installed along with the +programs. -Source code for the latest development release of PSPP is available at -ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/pspp - For information on differences from previous versions, please see file -NEWS. Full documentation on PSPP's language can be found in the doc/ -directory. +NEWS. -Questions and comments regarding PSPP can be sent to pspp-dev@gnu.org. -PSPP bug reports may be sent to bug-gnu-pspp@gnu.org or filed in the -bug-tracking system at http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=pspp -according to your preference. +Source code for the latest release of PSPP is available at +ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/pspp/. Older versions may be obtained from +ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/pspp/. Development sources are available +at http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/pspp + +The following miscellaneous notes apply to this release: + + * On a few operating systems, such as OpenBSD, some of the + tests may fail with messages similar to: 'Warning: cannot + create a convertor for "646" to "UTF-8"'. These test + failures may safely be ignored. + +Questions and comments about using PSPP may be sent to pspp-users@gnu.org. +Bug reports may be filed at http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=pspp +or emailed to bug-gnu-pspp@gnu.org. We prefer the web-based system +because it makes it more difficult for us to lose track of bugs, but we +are happy to hear from users through any means. + +The long term goals for PSPP are ambitious. We wish to provide the +following support to users: + + * All of the SPSS transformation language. PSPP already + supports a large subset of it. + + * All the statistical procedures that someone is willing to + implement, whether they exist in SPSS or not. + + * Compatibility with SPSS syntax, including compatibility with + known bugs and warts, where it makes sense. We also provide + an "enhanced" mode in certain cases where PSPP can output + better results that may surprise SPSS users. + + * Friendly textual and graphical interfaces. This release + includes the first version of PSPPIRE, the PSPP graphical + user interface. + + * Attractive output, including graphs, in a variety of human- + and machine-readable formats. PSPP currently produces + output in ASCII, PostScript, and HTML formats. We will + enhance PSPP's output formatting in the future. + + * Good documentation. Currently the PSPP manual describes its + language completely, but we would like to add information on + how to select statistical procedures and interpret their + results. + + * Efficient support for very large data sets. For procedures + where it is practical, we wish to efficiently support data + sets many times larger than physical memory. The framework + for this feature is already in place. It has not been tuned + or extensively tested, however initial experience has given + impressive results. + +Over the long term, we also wish to provide support to developers who +wish to extend PSPP with new statistical procedures, by supplying the +following: + + * Easy-to-use support for parsing language syntax. Currently, + parsing is done by writing "recursive descent" code by hand, + with some support for automated parsing of the most common + constructs. We wish to improve the situation by supplying a + more complete and flexible parser generator. + + * Easy-to-use support for producing attractive output. + Currently, output is done by writing code to explicitly fill + in table cells with data. We should be able to supply a + more convenient interface that also allows for providing + machine-readable output. + + * Eventually, a plug-in interface for procedures. Over the + short term, the interface between the PSPP core and + statistical procedures is evolving quickly enough that a + plug-in model does not make sense. Over the long term, it + may make sense to introduce plug-ins.