Why LispOS?

[Rodrigo Ventura]

>>>>> "Chris" == Chris Bitmead <chrisb@Ans.Com.Au> writes:

    Chris> Rodrigo Ventura wrote:

    >> Going to the point: if you eliminate the UNIX API, what is
    >> left? You ask what functionality am I worried to lose? Simply the
    >> possibility to access any UNIX device by the means of the syscalls
    >> API. 

    Chris> I guess the point is, why are you so concerned about accessing
    Chris> UNIX devices?

        That is the same to ask "why do you want to access the
filesystem" or "why do you want to allocate memory" or "why do you
want to know the exact position of the mouse" or "why do you want to
print a file to a printer" or "why do you want to display graphics"
and so on and so on. In few words: it's the very reason of existence
of computers -- to access the exterior. One cannot compute in a vacuum!

    >> I concede that Xlib can be simple after reading tons and tons
    >> of docs. And after several months without thinking about Xlib, is it
    >> possible to get back to it easly? Although I confess my ignorance on
    >> Xlib internals.

    Chris> If your aim is to draw a line or a circle on the screen, then it
    Chris> is simple. But is a low level abstraction. Quite a good one
    Chris> really, but a low level one nevertheless.

        Oh, no doubt about that. I love X design. It's really well
designed. Although it seems very complex to me. I guess that it is
inevitable at that point. The level of competence is too high --
Xserver on one machine and the client in another one.

        Regards,

-- 
--

*** Rodrigo Martins de Matos Ventura, alias <Yoda>
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***   Instituto de Sistemas e Robotica, Polo de Lisboa
***    Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal
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