[S6] ================================================ AMAST Links 02 01

                       SPIN Verifiers Newsletter

  The _full version_ of this announcement is available at
URL: http://www.cs.utwente.nl/data/amast/links/v02/i01/full/SPINs.txt

  There are close to 1,100 sites where the SPIN verification software 
is now installed.  This is a nice enough number to start supporting
SPIN users a little more actively.  This first issue of the SPIN 
News mailing goes only to a select number of people (approx 140) 
that have in the last few months asked about the verifier
and its applications, and a few honorary recipients. The next issue 
will only go to those who ack this mail (see pt 1. below).
  The main reason for these mailings is to have a channel
to send out brief reminders whenever an update of the
SPIN software takes place - bug fixes, extensions, or
major improvements such as the switch to Version 2.0.
  Two other types of items can also be included in such mailings: 
answers to frequently asked questions from SPIN users about modeling,
complexity control, algorithms etc., and announcements or question 
from people who would like to get in touch with other SPIN users.
  The new SPIN Version 2.0, available from January 1 1995 on,
includes a significantly richer specification language,
as well as an implementation of a partial order reduction
technique that preserves all safety and liveness properties,
and that is compatible with all existing verification modes
supported by SPIN.  With the reduction, problem sizes of yet
another order of magnitude larger may have come within reach
of formal verification techniques.
  SPIN Version 2.0 can be retrieved in source form
together with some documentation and with a graphical interface 
called xspin - freely via _anonymous ftp_ at
URL: ftp://netlib.att.com/netlib/spin
  The full version of this announcements contains a short
description of some current SPIN projects.