LING/CSE 472 Software

As of 3/29, the assignments aren't fully settled yet, but in all likelihood, we will be using Python, the LKB grammar development environment, xfst and the SRI language modeling toolkit. All of these are installed on the machines in the Linguistics Treehouse for our use. You are not required to install them on your personal computer. However, since folks sometimes want to, here is some info:

• Python: First check whether you already have Python on the machine you are considering installing it on. On a linux/unix machine (including Macs running OS X), type "which python" at the command prompt. If you don't have it, you can get it here. Note: Several versions of Python are installed on Patas. However, unless a particular version is referred to in the command, "python" will invoke Python 2.4.3. Therefore, you need to make sure that your work is compatible with Python 2.4.3 or that you are specifically calling another version in any programs or scripts. If you want to do more Python programming, you probably should use an editor which understands Python syntax and will indent things properly for you. Emacs is one, and it is available on Patas. You can get emacs for Windows (for free) here. If you use a Mac and would like a more user friendly version of emacs you might look at the free software here. Finally, here is a reference guide to Python.
• LKB: The easiest way for Mac and Windows to get and use the LKB is to install VirtualBox and get the Knoppix+LKB VirtualBox appliance. If you've already got a linux machine, you can follow these installation instructions. If you want to use the LKB with emacs (can be handy), follow the directions from Linguistics 567, Lab 1, under "LKB: Getting started".
• xfst: xfst is not freely available. All copies of Beesley & Karttunen's 2003 book come with a single-user license. It is installed on patas for your use.
• SRILM: The SRI Language Modeling toolkit is installed on Patas (the Linguistics Department's server). Source code can be downloaded here. The executables can be built on a Unix system or on a Windows system equipped with the Cygwin porting layer.