It's crazy how advanced the graphics software on Symbolics LISP machines were in the 1980's before SGI kind of took over that space.
It's crazy how advanced the graphics software on Symbolics LISP machines were in the 1980's before SGI kind of took over that space.
@screwlisp Thought you would be interested in this.
On the ex-Symbolics employees mailing list somebody posted a link to a "history of the Lisp machine".
https://youtu.be/sV7C6Ezl35A?si=S4uh4-JXKC2_7lOR
It's kind of long and so I didn't watch the whole thing, but just skipped around a little bit. Somebody else who did watch it said,
'Fascinating exposition. Given his mispronunciations of "CADR" and "Macsyma", it's clear that he wasn't in the room where it happened, nor spoke to anyone who was. But I can't quarrel with his research or cause-and-effect analysis of both the industry as a whole and Symbolics in particular.'
The document preparation system of Symbolics Lisp Machines consisted of two main hypertext tools, the Concordia authoring environment and the Document Examiner documentation browser and delivery interface. These papers describe the tools.
Supporting Document Development with Concordia
https://archive.org/details/smbx-concordia-paper-1988
Document Examiner: delivery interface for hypertext documents
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/317426.317448
You know how and can do it with a chisel, but what you're presented with is a monster CNC machine to just make a simple square. (It is why I like "retro" computing, #LispMachine #LispM -- I can hack without having to spend several months on just using tools to do shit I know how to do).
The only thing #UNIX did right was to make Emacs the standard editor, (ed) #LispM #LispMachine.
In #Lisp, and on #LispMachine a program is a function. Lisp and #LispM follow the #UNIX philosophy better than UNIX.
reddit/r/lisp be like "barely any software emulators yet" for the CADR / Lambda / Ivory ... #LispMachine #LispM
Shades of Lisp Machines.
@oantolin Emacs predates Lisp Machines. Emacs is an editor, nothing more or less. It is not a Lisp environment, or a Lisp implementation.
And yes, it is about Lisp, an extensible language. Emacs is special, but it is for other reasons.
#GNU #Emacs is a far shot from #LispM #LispMachine, and ZWEI is a far shot from #GNU #Emacs.
#GNU #Emacs is not a #LispMachine #LispM. If you think that .. you're lost your editor.
@keyboards Control is in the wrong place. Not meta? Super? Hyper? Screen is ok… #LispM #LispMachine
Android #Emacs 31.0.50 / Termux screencast, running Phel #lisp #PHP web application in localhost for development: https://nc.contabo-storage-1.lti.la/s/JzRSfFo6L6GADkt #unix #lispmachine
"The mix-in revolution: How an ice cream innovator in Somerville influenced Lisp pioneers at the MIT AI Lab—and made a lasting mark on programming."
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/25/1111238/the-mix-in-revolution/
The Bitmap Font editor in #symbolics Genera, a #lispmachine
@screwtape That was a serious question, with a hint of "this has been done before".
(fc-file "foo.f") ;; foo.f defines FOO function.
(foo)
This is how Fortran, Prolog, C etc got implemented on the .... #LispMachine .. this is where it got unserious. =)
@ksaj @praetor
There is also GNU CLISP, which is not GNU Common Lisp.
But .. if you want a #LispMachine .. why not just use one and not a sorry excuse? https://tumbleweed.nu/lm-3/
#LispMachine just got support for the new Trident T-2400 and T-4800 hard drives.
They are 8, respectively 16 times bigger than a standard Trident T-300. Get them free just by multiplying your cylinder and head values.
#LispM Revolution Gone Wild.
(yes, that is bigger than what the Hurd supports)