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From: marick@ccvaxa.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: Questions on Common Lisp
Message-ID: <13400010@ccvaxa>
Date: Sun, 29-Sep-85 20:38:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: ccvaxa.13400010
Posted: Sun Sep 29 20:38:00 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 1-Oct-85 03:28:35 EDT
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Nf-From: ccvaxa.UUCP!marick    Sep 29 19:38:00 1985


From uiucdcs!ihnp4!uw-beaver!tektronix!upvax!bobbyd Sat Sep 28 02:09:03 1985
Subject: Re: Questions on Common Lisp

Could you please mention to the net that the CMU SPICE implementation of
Common Lisp was developed on the Perq?  I mean, as far as I can tell that
was the first implementation on a workstation at all, well before the other
vendors.  In fact the Perq SPICE documentation says that most Lispers at CMU
prefer the Perq Common Lisp (or Spice Lisp, or Perq Lisp, running under the
Accent operating system) to the Vax!  Also, Perq Lisp has many features that
the others don't:  access to the Accent kernel calls, graphics via the
Sapphire window manager, and Hemlock (ITS style EMACS) built-in to the Lisp
image.  As it stands now, Lisp is the fastest language on the Perq (I do
believe), as they are still in the process of developing new microcode for
Pascal, C, SubAda, and maybe revitalizing their Fortran 77.  Through the
Accent kernel's IPC facilities, Perq Lisp programs can be distributed
throughout a multi-workstation environment via Ethernet.  Transparently.
And Matchmaker, a program that generates client/server code so different
languages can pass messages through subroutine calls is written in Lisp.

CMU is very much on the net, so I'm sure they can provide more details about
their own projects.  I say the Perq is underpublicized, which is strange
since it was the first REAL commercially available workstation, the first
with RasterOp hardware, and one of the early workstations to use Ethernet.
They even offered an interface to the Canon laser printer before anyone
else.  Ah, but they didn't bring up Unix on it...

Well, the flames of an old Perq fanatic are hard to extinguish.  Our site is
hopelessly brain damaged, and I can't post directly to the net.  In fact, it
is quite dubious that I can even get e-mail through anymore.  All I get back
is "Site unknown" messages.  A true bummer.

Chris Lamb,
Uncontrollable Perq Fanatic
...!tektronix!teklds!upvax!bobbyd