From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!DEAN@USC-ECL Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards Title: Is Unix Really This Bad? Article-I.D.: sri-unix.5226 Posted: Mon Feb 28 08:46:53 1983 Received: Tue Mar 1 08:58:26 1983 From: Jeff DeanDate: 10 Jan 1983 1126-PST Comments? --------------- Return-path: GJC@MIT-MC Received: from MIT-MC by USC-ECL; Friday, 7 Jan 83 11:24:48-PST Date: 7 January 1983 14:23-EST From: George J. Carrette Subject: Release of VAX-"New Implementation of LISP" To: DEAN @ USC-ECL cc: BUG-NIL @ MIT-MC In-reply-to: The message of 6 Jan 1983 2105-PST from Jeff Dean Date: 6 Jan 1983 2105-PST From: Jeff Dean To: GJC Re: Release of VAX-"New Implementation of LISP" Do you know anything about NIL for Unix? [Kashtan suggested that if we brought it first up under EUNICE that we could make a unix'able "A.OUT" binary file with minimal hassle.] Our mission has always been to get the highest performance, and most generally useful, LISP-SYSTEM running on the VAX. (Or indeed, on a particular piece of hardware). The Unix implementation on the VAX is an inamicable environment in which to be pursuing such a goal. Furthermore, our users view the LISP-SYSTEM as their system-programming environment, and it is, with dynamic linking, datastructures and primitives well suited to the VAX instruction set, and the integration of compile-time-intent with runtime information, a far superior environment to one conceivable within Unix philosophy, and beyond the scope of Unix system programmers to implement at reasonable cost. The above tirade aside for a moment, we do have the machine resources to construct an inferior performance NIL to run under Unix for those people who cannot afford to run VMS/EUNICE. These could be made available to interested parties. In fact, since NIL is public domain there isn't anything to stop anybody from bringing it up under Unix. -GJC -------