iraf.net

Stefan, we're pleased you are interested in an IRAF port to the 386 machines.
No, we do not have such a port at present, but we are definitely interested
in UNIX machines containing this chip, and in theory it should not be too
difficult to port IRAF as long as the UNIX is sound, AND the machine has a
good, well-tested Fortran compiler. IRAF is a large system (over 800,000
lines of code equivalent) and often the quality of the Fortran compiler is
critical to the success of a port.At this point all we can do is request some more information, to go into our
files on the subject. For instance, how much disk and memory would you
envision in your application? Would it be used primarily for data reductions,
vector graphics, image display, instrument control or all of these? Operate
in an integrated network environment or standalone? Would the 386 box you
choose have an industry standard display interface (i.e. XWindows)?As for a PC-class port, this has been discussed from time to time, but
generally it is felt the machines are too limited in memory and other
resources to make a worthwhile IRAF system. With relatively inexpensive
systems such as Sun's 386 and equivalents beginning to appear on the market,
it is probably not worth the effort to port to a PC in what could end up
being a troublesome and time-consuming job.Regards, Steve Rooke
rooke@noao.arizona.edu