path: root/doc/install.texi

@node Installation, The REPL, Introduction, Top
@chapter Installation

@menu
* Must needs::
* Setting it up::
* Friends::
@end menu

@node Must needs, Setting it up, Installation, Installation
@section Must needs

@cindex supported versions
@cindex versions supported
If Geiser came with any guarantees, you'd break all of them by not using
GNU Emacs 23.2 (or better, if there actually @i{is} anything better) and
at least one of the supported schemes, which right now are
@uref{http://www.racket-lang.org, Racket} 5.0.1 (or better) and the
latest and greatest @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/guile, Guile} 1.9
directly compiled from a recent checkout of
@uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/guile/repository.html, its Git
@i{master} branch}. Since Geiser supports multiple REPLs, having both
of them will just add to the fun.

@cindex use the source, Luke
You'll also need Geiser itself. Until version 0.1 is out (which will
happen shortly after i finish writing a decent manual), your best bet is
grabbing Geiser from its Git repository over at
@uref{http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/geiser.git/, Savannah}, either
with the following incantation:
@example
git clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/geiser.git
@end example
@noindent or, if you happen to live under a firewall, with the alternative:
@example
git clone http://git.sv.gnu.org/r/geiser.git
@end example
@noindent
If you don't want to install Git, you can instead grab a tarball from
Geiser's @uref{http://gitorious.org/geiser/mainline/commits/master,
Gitorious mirror}, where you'll find a
@uref{http://gitorious.org/geiser/mainline/archive-tarball/master, link}
generating said tarball for you. Either way, you'll now be in possession
of a copy of Geiser's libre code. I'll follow you into its directory and
the next section.

@node Setting it up, Friends, Must needs, Installation
@section Setting it up

Geiser is ready to be used out of the box without much more ado. For the
sake of concreteness, let's assume you put its source in the directory
@file{~/lisp/geiser}. All you need to do is to add the following
line to your Emacs initialisation file (be it @file{~/.emacs} or any of
its moral equivalents):
@example
(load-file "~/lisp/geiser/elisp/geiser.el")
@end example
@noindent
or simply evaluate that form inside Emacs (you wouldn't kill a friend
just to start using Geiser, would you?). That's it: you're ready to
@ref{quick-start,,go}. If you obtained the Geiser source tree from a
release tarball, you can even continue to read this fine manual inside
Emacs by opening @file{doc/geiser.info} using @kbd{C-u C-h i}.

@cindex byte-compilation
What? You still here? I promise the above is all that's needed to start
using Geiser. But, in case you are missing your @t{configure/make all
install} routine, by all means, you can go through those motions to byte
compile and install Geiser too. That is, you enter the source directory
and (since we grabbed the development tree) run the customary
@i{autogen} script:
@example
$ cd ~/lisp/geiser
$ ./autogen.sh
@end example
@noindent
I recommend that you compile Geiser in a separate directory:
@example
$ mkdir build && cd build
$ ../configure
<some drivel here>
$ make all
<more of the above>
@end example
Now you have two options: loading the byte-compiled Geiser from the
@file{elisp} subdirectory, or installing it system-wide. To load the
bytecode from here, add this line to your initialisation file:
@example
(load "~/lisp/geiser/build/elisp/geiser-load")
@end example
and eval that form or (gasp!) restart Emacs and you're done. Yes, that's
@code{load} and @file{geiser-load} instead of @code{load-file} and
@file{geiser.el}.

If you prefer a system-wide installation, just type:
@example
$ sudo make install
@end example
With the above spell, Geiser will be compiled and installed in a safe
place inside Emacs load path. To load it into Emacs you'll need,
@i{instead} of the @code{load-file} form above, the following line in
your initialisation file:
@example
(require 'geiser-install)
@end example
@noindent
Please note that we're requiring @code{geiser-install}, and @i{not}
@code{geiser}, and that there's no @code{load-file} to be seen this
time. There are some ways of fine-tuning this process, mainly by
providing additional arguments in the call to @t{configure}: you'll find
those gory details in the file called @file{INSTALL}, right at the root
of the source tree. The installation will also take care of placing this
manual, in Info format, where Emacs can find it, so you can continue to
learn about Geiser inside its natural habitat. See you there and into
the next chapter!

@node Friends,  , Setting it up, Installation
@section Friends

Although Geiser does not need them, it plays well with (and is enhanced
by) the following Emacs packages:

@cindex paredit
@cindex company
@cindex quack
@itemize @bullet
@item @uref{http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ParEdit, Paredit}.
@anchor{paredit}
Regardless of whether you use Geiser or not, you shouldn't be coding
in any Lisp dialect without the aid of Taylor Campbell's structured
editing mode.
@item @uref{http://nschum.de/src/emacs/company-mode/, Company}.
Nikolaj Schumacher's @code{company-mode} provides a generic front-end
for completion engines (such as Geiser's). Very nice if you like that
kind of thing: judge by yourself with the help of
@uref{http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stU0lSRERIR1pYRFVdXVlRVFFV/company_mode_for_gnu_emacs,
this screencast}.
@item @uref{http://www.neilvandyke.org/quack/, Quack}.
You can still use the many goodies provided by Neil van Dyke's
@code{quack-mode}, since most of them are not (yet) available in Geiser.
The only caveat might be a conflict between Quack's and Geiser's default
key bindings, which i'm sure you'll manage to tackle just fine. It's
also probably a good idea to require @code{quack} @i{after} loading
@file{geiser.el} (or requiring a compiled version).
@end itemize
You just need to install and setup them as usual, for every package's
definition of usual. Geiser will notice their presence and react
accordingly.

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