Maintaining Portable Programs

Abstract

Maintaining portable programs can become tricky when changes are made both by the donor and by installers. We consider simple solutions appropriate in modest portable programming projects, and then more elaborate schemes devised for the management of changes to large portable software systems. Most of these systems are controlled by the donors of the software, although we mention one example in which a major installer of a number of systems has introduced his own text management system. Finally these ideas are related to the concept of an abstract program of which all installed versions are different realisations.