This repository is a rehosting of the source files for version 1.97FC of Words. The original can be found here. It is open source. Quoting from wordsdoc.htm:
This is a free program, which means it is proper to copy it and pass it on to your friends. Consider it a developmental item for which there is no charge. However, just for form, it is Copyrighted (c). Permission is hereby freely given for any and all use of program and data. You can sell it as your own, but at least tell me.
and later in the same document:
Licence
All parts of the WORDS system, source code and data files, are made freely available to anyone who wishes to use them, for whatever purpose.
William Whitaker passed away in late 2010. Here is his obituary. I had no connection to him. I'm just a long time user of this great piece of software, who doesn't want to see it disappear now that he is no longer around to maintain it. So I am putting these source files up on Github in part to ensure that they will still be available if and when his website goes down. I suppose I also hope that someone might be interested in taking up the project and continuing to maintain it, and figure that putting the source on Github is one way to try to encourage that.
In addition to the source, I've included three binary builds of words: copies of the DOS and Windows binaries provided by Whitaker on his own site, and a universal binary for OS X that I built myself, that works with Lion.
Words is written in Ada. I was able to compile a the source on a Mac by downloading and installing GNAT GPL Edition 2011. Instructions for building words (and a lot of detailed information about what it does) can be found in wordsdoc.htm. That file is also include with the source posted here. First, you'll want to run:
gnatmake -O3 words
gnatmake makedict
gnatmake makestem
gnatmake ewdsefil
gnatmake makeinfl
This produces four executables: words, makedict, makestem, ewdsefil, and makeinfl. You then need to run
makedict DICTLINE.GEN
makestem STEMLIST.GEN
ewdsefil EWDSLIST.GEN
makeinfl INFLECTS.LAT
This generates five new files,
DICTFILE.GEN
STEMFILE.GEN
INDXFILE.GEN
EWDSFILE.GEN
INFLECTS.SEC
To run, words needs to be executed from a directory containing those five files along with
ADDONS.LAT
UNIQUES.LAT