Since its origins in 1992, Inform has always been an open source project, meaning that anyone interested is welcome to examine the source code from which the Inform software is generated. This makes it easy to experiment with porting Inform to new computers, and also to try out fixes for any bugs or problems which turn up. The software remains under copyright, so you can't simply take it, put your own name on the front and start selling it: but any reasonable request to adapt or use it is likely to be sympathetically considered. To get much done with the Library, you'll need to be a fairly experienced Inform designer, though the Grammar definitions are more or less legible even for newcomers. The compiler's source code is written in ANSI C, and is accompanied by a Technical Manual which documents its main data structures and algorithms. Note that source code for interpreters, or for the front-ends used in various ports of the compiler (such as the fancy front panel on the Mac OS 9 version) are not part of the main source code, and so are not archived here. In some cases they are available nevertheless from the if-archive: this is a matter to take up with the writers concerned.
Open Source
Inform is Open Source
Last updated 27 February 2004.
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This page was originally managed by Graham Nelson (graham@gnelson.demon.co.uk) assisted by C Knight.