From: prechelt@i41s14.ira.uka.de (Lutz Prechelt)
Newsgroups: sci.math.stat,comp.sources.wanted
Subject: SUMMARY: Availability of BLSS
Date: 2 Sep 1992 10:56:26 GMT
Organization: University of Karlsruhe, FRG
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: i41s14.ira.uka.de


A few days ago I posted a request about information on where and how to
get the BLSS statistics package, developed at Berkeley.

Basically, I received the following two answers:

-----

From: Thomas Permutt <tpermutt@medinfo.ab.umd.edu>

Mail to blss@stat.berkeley.edu will get you in touch with the authors.

-----

From: clint@leland.stanford.edu

I suspect that it is not free.  Here is an address listed in a catalog:
BLSS Project
367 Evans Hall
Berkeley, CA  94720
(James Blakly)
You might try blakly or jblakly @stat.berkeley.edu  for his email address.

-----

I emailed blss@stat.berkeley.edu and got the following information (excerpt):


	     BLSS -- The BerkeLey Interactive Statistical System

Our addresses and phone number are:

	BLSS Project
	Department of Statistics
	University of California
	Berkeley CA  94720

	phone:  510-642-5258
	fax:    510-642-7892	(but e-mail is preferable to fax)

  E-mail for administrative questions (ordering, licensing, etc.):
	blsa@stat.berkeley.edu	(INTERNET)
	blsa@ucbstat.bitnet	(BITNET)
	ucbvax!stat!blsa	(UUCP)

  E-mail for technical questions:
	blss@stat.berkeley.edu	(INTERNET)
	blss@ucbstat.bitnet	(BITNET)
	ucbvax!stat!blss	(UUCP)

  (If unsure, you can e-mail to either address and it will be forwarded)

WHAT IS BLSS?
  BLSS (pronounced "bliss") is a flexible, command-driven, interactive
  statistics software system designed specifically for UNIX.  It is under
  continuing development by the Berkeley Department of Statistics for both
  educational use and general purpose statistical analysis.  BLSS serves a
  broad range of users, from novice to advanced.  At Berkeley it is used by
  nearly two thousand students a year in courses at all levels--from large
  introductory courses to specialized grad courses--in the natural sciences,
  the social sciences, and in the Stat Department itself.

  BLSS provides standard statistical routines (descriptive statistics, plots,
  multiple regression, analysis of variance, frequency distributions,
  cross-tabulation, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, nonparametric
  methods, probability functions, random number generation, EDA routines,
  etc.); a selection of advanced techniques (including ARMA time series
  models, spectral analysis, and estimation of optimal transforms); matrix
  manipulation facilities; and a library of datasets for use in examples.

  Productivity and convenience features include the ability to abbreviate
  commands (using strings and aliases), customize output, customize your
  environment, review, edit, and repeat commands in your history, and use BLSS
  in batch mode.  Programming features include the ability to write macros
  (command scripts), write your own commands that call external C and Fortran
  routines, and interface with UNIX at both the command and subroutine levels.
  Instructional features include a number of specialized interactive commands
  (such as coin-tossing, confidence interval simulations, elementary
  illustration of the central limit theorem) and the ability to customize the
  environment on a per-class basis.

  BLSS Release 4.1 was reviewed in American Statistician, May 1991, Vol 45,
  No. 2, page 146.

DISTRIBUTION
  BLSS software development is partially supported by the University of
  California.  The remainder of our support is derived from revenue generated
  by distributing the software.

PRICING
  The single-CPU price, prepaid, is $395 for 680x0-based and 80386-based
  systems and $495 for other systems.  Site licenses are available at
  attractive rates.  For example, the add-on right-to-use for up to five CPUs
  costs $595.  Site license fees vary approximately with the logarithm of the
  number of CPUs licensed.  Discounts are available for government agencies and
  academic institutions.  For academic institutions, campus-wide site licenses
  are available which cover an unlimited number of machines.  The fees in this
  case are based on campus enrollment.  Prices in all cases include domestic
  postage and handling as well as documentation.

EVALUATION
  We offer two ways for prospective customers to evaluate BLSS.
  (1) A 3-month trial version of the software for any one of the CPU types
      we support (see below) together with full documentation, is available for
      $75.  Of this fee, $50 will be credited towards your first BLSS order.
  (2) User documentation (book plus addenda) is available from us at $30/set.
  Both prices include domestic postage and handling.

SUPPORTED CPU TYPES
  BLSS currently provides direct support for the following CPU types:

	Apollo DN3000 series (includes DN3000, DN3500, DN4000, DN4500)
	Apple Macintosh II running A/UX
	AT&T 3B2 running System V
	DEC RISC (DECstation or DECsystem) running ULTRIX
	DEC VAX running 4.3BSD
	DEC VAX, MicroVAX, or VAXstation running ULTRIX
	Encore Multimax running UMAX 4.3
	Hewlett-Packard 9000/7xx, 9000/8xx running HP-UX
	IBM PS/2 running AIX PS/2
	IBM RISC System/6000 running AIX
	IBM RT running AIX RT or IBM 4.3
	Intergraph CLIX 3.1
	MIPS running RISC/os (and compatibles from other vendors)
	NeXT running Mach 2.x
	SPARC running SunOS 4.X (includes Sun-4, Solbourne, and others)
	Sun-3 running SunOS 3.X or 4.X
	System V/386 Release 3.2 (includes ESIX, ISC, SCO, and others)
	XENIX 2.x

  Direct support means we have direct access to such a CPU, and we distribute
  binaries for those systems.  It is possible to recompile BLSS for other UNIX
  systems as well.  Depending on user demand, additional systems may be
  directly supported in the future.

SOURCE CODE
  BLSS source code is available at an additional fee.  To compile it requires
  the following UNIX language utilities and program maintenance commands (or
  equivalents): ar, cc, f77, grep, lex, ld, make, ratfor, sed, yacc.

DOCUMENTATION
  User documentation is published as a book.  Publication information is:

	BLSS: The Berkeley Interactive Statistical System
	D. Mark Abrahams & Fran Rizzardi, 1988
	W. W. Norton Inc., 500 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10110, 212-354-5500
	412 + xx pages, $21.95, paperback, ISBN 0-393-95586-9

  Interested faculty may obtain free examination copies of the book by
  contacting W. W. Norton and asking for Laurie Garner in the Free-Copy
  Department.

  Because BLSS is under continuing development, some features postdate the
  book.  Such features are documented in the "BLSS Reference Manual Addenda",
  which is available from the BLSS Project and is included with the software
  (or whenever you obtain documentation directly from us).

  On-line documentation is provided for all commands and library datasets.

SUPPORT
  Consulting is available by telephone and electronic mail for both software
  installation and use.  The consultants will assume that you have already read
  the appropriate documentation (or else they will direct you to it).  Bug
  reports are welcome.  Although UC policy prevents us from making promises
  about bug fixes, we can state our track record.  In the past, the majority of
  bugs reported have been fixed, and the correction posted to the reporting
  site, within _one week_.

ORDERING
 To obtain BLSS, or more information about it, send us your postal address and
 we will send you a packet with more information, price lists, and order forms.


-- 
Lutz Prechelt   (email: prechelt@ira.uka.de)            | Whenever you 
Institut fuer Programmstrukturen und Datenorganisation  | complicate things,
Universitaet Karlsruhe;  D-7500 Karlsruhe 1;  Germany   | they get
(Voice: ++49/721/608-4317, FAX: ++49/721/694092)        | less simple.