1.7: Operating systems

Q 1.7-1) How do I know if Allegro CL will run on my operating system version?
Q 1.7-2) What is the best question to ask of Franz Inc as to my particular operating system and Allegro CL?

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Q 1.7-1) How do I know if Allegro CL will run on my operating system version?

A 1.7-1) Our policy of support of Allegro CL on specific operating system versions is as follows:

• For each verion release of Allegro CL, we compose a list of current operating system levels on which we have tested and on which we know will work. This list is located in installation.htm in the section Installation sizes and supported Operating System versions.
• Because Allegro CL runs on so many different operating systems, and because some of these operating systems have almost infinite combinatorial possibilities, including patches and/or user-modification, we do not attempt to certify Allegro CL on specific operating system versions. Instead, we rely on the tendency of the operating system vendors to maintain upward compatibility, and we usually build on the lowest operating system version for which we have listed support. As long as the operating system is truly upward compatible, Allegro CL should work on the newer versions, and our advice is to try it out. But we also recommend strongly that you run such tests on a machine that is not part of your production process, in case things don't go well.

Information we have about Allegro CL on operating system versions released after the release of Allegro CL 8.0 is available at https://franz.com/support/osinfo.lhtml.

Q 1.7-2) What is the best question to ask of Franz Inc as to my particular operating system and Allegro CL?

A 1.7-2) If the operating system you are interested in running Allegro CL on is the same lineage and the underlying architecture is the same as one which we have already listed as supporting, the best question to ask us is Have you had any compatibility issues with running Allegro CL on Operating system XYZ? We can answer this question "yes" or "no", which will tell you as the customer whether we have any negative experiences with the operating system version. (The information at https://franz.com/support/osinfo.lhtml may provide the answer.) If the operating system is very new, the answer to this question might more likely be "no", because the assumption is that the new version is compatible, unless and until it proves otherwise. Another question that you might ask, if you know that your operating system is very new, is Do you know of customers who are successfully running Allegro CL on Operating system XYZ?

The fundamental issue with Allegro CL working on a new operating system versions is whether the operating system has any fundamental issues that break Allegro CL. Typically, when the operating system is a natural progression from one which we currently support, we will take specific steps to resolve incompatibilities. Incompatibilities most often occur when an operating system vendor changes the signal-handling interface, usually to be more Posix compliant. The change can break Allegro CL. This has happened in the last several years to Linux, LinuxPPC, FreeBSD, and MacOSX, in that time order.

Next FAQ topic: Architecture-specific problems: 2.1. SPARC

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