From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Thorsten Jolitz Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: [FYI] The Lisp Machine is back Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 19:20:20 +0200 Message-ID: <87d2ara5nv.fsf@gmail.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1411147272 31164 80.91.229.3 (19 Sep 2014 17:21:12 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 17:21:12 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Fri Sep 19 19:21:06 2014 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1XV1rm-0006c1-Lk for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 19:21:06 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:59584 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XV1rm-0008Oy-8t for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 13:21:06 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:49319) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XV1rV-0008OD-Pi for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 13:20:55 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XV1rO-00059w-Q5 for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 13:20:49 -0400 Original-Received: from plane.gmane.org ([80.91.229.3]:49222) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XV1rO-000537-I2 for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 13:20:42 -0400 Original-Received: from list by plane.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1XV1rG-0006QY-RI for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 19:20:34 +0200 Original-Received: from e178189109.adsl.alicedsl.de ([85.178.189.109]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 19:20:34 +0200 Original-Received: from tjolitz by e178189109.adsl.alicedsl.de with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 19:20:34 +0200 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ Original-Lines: 55 Original-X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: e178189109.adsl.alicedsl.de User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.3 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:tmIDDjHxZUTogsPm64gZX7QRyjQ= X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: Genre and OS details not recognized. X-Received-From: 80.91.229.3 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:100030 Archived-At: Hi List, Emacs success as an editor or rather an OS is sometimes explained by its (at least superficial) similaritiy to a LispMachine [fn:1]: ,---- | Emacs as a LispMachine | | Some people have started to refer to Emacs as a LispMachine. It is | not strictly a LispMachine because, clearly, it is a software | program and not a physical computer, but as that line starts to blur | it seems like a useful epithet for Emacs because these days Emacs | look more and more like an operating system. `---- Today a modern 64bit LispMachine, based on one of the most exciting Lisp dialects around, has been announced [fn:2]: ,---- | PilMCU is an implementation of 64-bit PicoLisp directly in hardware. A | truly minimalistic system. PicoLisp is both the machine language and the | operating system: | | * Memory management is trivial, just the Lisp heap and the stack | * The built-in database is extended to hold a "file system" | * One SSD per database file for mass storage | * "Processes" run as tasks and coroutines | * Events (timing and interrupts) via a 'wait' instruction | * Complex I/O protocols are delegated to peripheral chips | | The final hardware can be very lightweight. Low transistor count and | power consumption. No overhead for an OS. It is conceivable for a later | stage to put many interconnected CPUs on a single chip. | | At present, we have it running in the Verilog simulator, and in an | emulator (adaption of the PicoLisp 'emu' architecture). [...] | | We imagine something in the line of an "Embedded Lisp Machine" or a | "Lisp Machine Kit". Perhaps for home brewing, educational institutions | and/or robotics research? `---- I thought this might be interesting for Emacs hackers and user too. * Footnotes [fn:1] http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/LispMachine [fn:2] http://www.mail-archive.com/picolisp@software-lab.de/msg04823.html -- cheers, Thorsten