HELP newbie needs guidance on install/build CM!

[De Clarke]

I'm trying to build CM and CMN on a Linux 2.0.18 Pentium.
My interest is in algorithmic composition, so I don't
need the "sound shaping" side of the code, just the
notation and "notation generation" side of the code.

So far I haven't found any manuals or docs that appear to
be for the novice;  they all seem to assume a far greater
degree of familiarity with LISP than mine (zero).  I'm
completely baffled.

As far as I can tell from what I've read so far, I need to

	build and install GCL (I succeeded with GCL 2.2)

	build and install pcl-gcl (failed with 1.1)

	build CMN  (fails due to dependency on pcl-gcl)

	build CM  (haven't even got this far yet)

I have a working GCL.  The Tcl/Tk support seems rather
outdated (I'm using tcl 7.6b) so I skipped it and am running
without the Tk component.  I can type "gcl" and get a 
prompt.  I did get the message "GCL 2.2 build complete"
or words to that effect.

I could not build pcl-gcl, nor is there anything in the
pcl-gcl distribution (that I've found so far) which even
tells me what pcl-gcl is.  There's a cryptic mention in
the CM install guide to the effect that pcl-gcl adds
CLOS, whatever CLOS is.  At any rate, CMN won't build without
sysdefs.o, which it expects to find in the pcl-gcl tree.
pcl-gcl appears to have some facility which at Make time
converts lisp source into C source, but that's about as
much as I can discover so far.

Now, to make matters worse, what I would call the "configure"
and "make" scripts for these kits seem to be written themselves
in LISP, so given my utter ignorance of LISP, they are quite
incomprehensible and I have no idea how to alter them to
customize my installation.  The error messages from the
LISP compiler (?) passes are quite alien and cryptic to me.
The LISP source itself is quite foreign-looking and though
I *think* I've figured out what's a comment marker, etc.,
I have no confidence that I grok the syntax.

So, I come humbly before you to ask

	Has anyone succeeded in building CMN/CM on a Linux
	box?

	If you succeeded and you know how you succeeded, 
	would you be willing to give this newbie a simple
	cookbook for getting through the install?

	Is there a FAQ somewhere that tells me things like
	"what's CLOS" and "how does LISP work"?

	Has anyone got GCL working with a modern Tcl/Tk?

Although I have many years' experience with freeware packages
of all kinds, and have hacked SQL, TeX, sendmail.cf and other
reputedly obscure dialects, I have never seen anything remotely
like these kits.  I need a mentor, or a real beginner's
guide.

Thanking you profusely in advance...

de
.............................................................................
:De Clarke, Software Engineer                     UCO/Lick Observatory, UCSC:
:Mail: de@ucolick.org | "There is no problem in computer science that cannot: 
:Web: www.ucolick.org |  be solved by another level of indirection"  --J.O. :