Let's begin SchemeOS

[Rainer Joswig]

At 12:04 Uhr +0100 23.03.1998, Rodrigo Ventura wrote:

>        Let me now answer how this new paradigm can answer your
>questions:
>        * There is a fsync() syscall to assure all cached data is
>saved. In the same fashion, a sync-like function could exist to assure
>that all objects are saved on disk;
>        * Explicit drive specification could be attained as
>needed. Otherwise, let the system organize itself. Wouldn't it be
>great, to have several disks and letting the system take care of
>distributing them?
>        * Any object can be bounded to a symbol (actually, the symbol
>is bound to that object);
>        * Hierarchy of objects is crucial for LispOS. The old package
>system must be improved.
>
>        Regards,

How an OS with persistent objects and without files can be seen
from the (now defunct) Newton OS.

- basic storage mediums are memory cards.
- you can use more than one memory card plus internal memory.
- cards are being formatted to carry a bunch of soups.
- a soup has a name.
- soups on different storage locations with the same soup name
  will be merged.
- you can store frames in those soups.
- you can move data from on storage location to another within
  the same merged soup.
- data put in the soup will be automatically indexed and compressed.
- you can build any kind of access mechanisms (by date, name,
  content, hierarchical, etc.) on top of that.
- you can remove and soups to a running system.

This all fits very well into an elegant architecture
(frames, ...).
I'm not sure if a Lisp OS should use it as a primary
method for storing data, but atleast it is a possibility.

Rainer Joswig


Rainer Joswig, Lavielle EDV Systemberatung GmbH & Co, Lotharstrasse 2b, D22041
Hamburg, Tel: +49 40 658088, Fax: +49 40 65808-202,
Email: joswig@lavielle.com , WWW: http://www.lavielle.com/~joswig/