#symbolics

2025-06-09

@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".

youtu.be/sV7C6Ezl35A?si=S4uh4-

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.'

#symbolics #lispMachine

2025-06-03

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
archive.org/details/smbx-conco

Document Examiner: delivery interface for hypertext documents
dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/317

#LispMachine #symbolics #lisp #retrocomputing

Dr. Chris Rackauckas :julia:chrisrackauckas@fosstodon.org
2025-05-29

Earn money working on open source software #oss! New project just posted: help make wrappers to connect Symbolics.jl to SymPy. $300 bounty. Information for signing up for the #SciML small grants program are contained in the link:

sciml.ai/small_grants/#create_

#julialang #python #symbolics #sympy #ode

vintage screwlisp accountscrewtape@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-03-19

communitymedia.video/w/968LULd #interview with #gopher @someodd #haskell #technology #podcast featuring some #lisp #symbolics #reminiscences

gopher://gopher.someodd.zip
someodd.zip

someodd starting points

Connection was a bit spotty so we talked over each other occasionally. I forgot to boost the show toot, so if you would like to boost here that would be appreciated.

Feedback about the interview and interviews generally are welcome and wanted here.

2025-03-17

@screwtape @ArneBab @mdhughes

This conversation triggered a memory....

Back at #Symbolics the standard methodology was for everyone to periodically run the Load Patches command, until the "Wobblies" built a new "world load" image containing all the latest yummy goodness, at which point people could download that and the process would start over.

There was this constant tension between wanting to Load Patches, or (sys:load-patches), and potentially break your image and have to reboot vs getting behind what the latest source code actually implements.

But you didn't really want to reboot because it took a long time and sometimes was "fraught with peril" because you might end up in the "cold load stream" due to some low-level FEP (something like a BIOS) changes. (Not to mention there was something of a competition to see who's machine had the longest uptime.)

@weekend_editor might remember more details than I do, or can correct me if I got something wrong. 😄

2025-03-05

LOL it's 2025 and I'm learning how to clear a line with VT100 escape codes. Reminds me of how amazed I was to see the bitmapped #Symbolics #LispM console and its mouse interface in 1984.

Yaroslav Khnyginsurabax@mastodon.ie
2025-03-03

"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."

technologyreview.com/2025/02/2

#MIT #Lisp #LispMachine #LispMachines #OOP #ObjectOrientedProgramming #Flavors #Symbolics #ComputingHistory #ComputerHistory

2025-03-01

The Bitmap Font editor in Genera, a

2025-02-27

Hi there, had to move my account to symbolics@mastodon.social .

vintage screwlisp accountscrewtape@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-02-19

@rat @nosrednayduj @kentpitman

archives.anonradio.net/2025021

#interview #lisp #lambdaMOO featuring nosrednA yduJ #harlequin #gensym #symbolics #LOTS #protests sharpsign one hour

thanks everyone!

yduJ adds her favourite MOO object is #6656 Time Display [Department of Numerology]

2025-02-07

@a_cubed @cstross

Back in the 1980s, when my then-office-mate was developing the Japanese product for the Symbolics lisp machine, we had an electronic version of this.

It was a big pad, about 50cm x 50cm, with a stylus to pick out individual characters. This was for kanji; the hiragana and katakana were handled separately.

To watch him use it was amazing... and slow.

#lispm
#lispmachine
#genera
#symbolics

2024-11-17

#lisp #commonlisp #lispworks #symbolics #lispmachine

Made the KR frame system from the UIMS Garnet for two Common Lisp implementations work: LispWorks 8 and Portable Genera. I used this version: github.com/ury-marshak/kr

Typical problem porting code:: the initial value for structure slots is undefined in CL. The code assumes NIL.

Attached a screenshot of the KR examples in Portable Genera, a Virtual Lisp Machine on an Apple Mac mini with M4 Pro.

2024-10-17

Refurb weekend: the Symbolics MacIvory Lisp machine I have hated

Author: ClassicHasClass
Original: oldvcr.blogspot.com/2024/10/re

#lisp #LispM #symbolics

GripNewsGripNews
2024-10-13

🌗 古董電腦研究:修復週末:我曾厭惡的Symbolics MacIvory Lisp機器
➤ Lisp機器的起源與發展故事
oldvcr.blogspot.com/2024/10/re
每位收藏家都有一部機器,他們投入了大量時間和金錢,否則早已拋棄。作者的第一部Lisp機器是Symbolics MacIvory III。Lisp機器是為Lisp編程語言設計的工作站,具有獨特功能和介面。作者面臨硬盤問題和系統凍結,因此進行了修復。Symbolics是Lisp機器製造商的其中一家,起源於人工智慧實驗室的分裂。1979年的重要產品是CADRs。故事涉及到合作、分裂、商業化過程。
+ 很有趣的一篇文章,闡述了古董電腦的風采和歷史。
+ 這篇文章讓我對Lisp機器的歷史和背景有了更深入的瞭解,很引人入勝。

2024-10-09

@surabax 👆 What I find interesting in this Symbolics Genera retrospective by David Moon is the discussion of the origins and motivations behind the lack of kernel protection in the Lisp Machine environment and, more generally, in Lisp. These features emerged from social dynamics and values like the opennes of hacker culture as much as from engineering design decisions.

#lisp #symbolics #LispMachine

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