Brian's Arrow System

[Tril]

On Mon, 24 May 1999, Ken Evitt wrote:

> Is the Arrow System meant to be a framework for the TUNES operating
> system/language or is that what it is meant to be?

Here is the direct answer to your question that ends up probably making
less sense than the other answer:

No and yes.  No because there is no single framework for tunes, therefore
Arrow won't be "THE" framework.  Yes because there are many frameworks,
and Arrow will be one of them.  TUNES is the connection between the many
frameworks, and it is also inside all of them. (don't blame me, it's the
language's fault!)

Here is the answer I wrote that avoids the question but probably answers
the question you meant to ask instead, "What is the road map for the
progress of tunes?"

The Arrow System is definitely expressible enough to include the entire
TUNES system.  However, Brian has some goals above and beyond the
requirements of TUNES, which Arrow is intended to address.  I think TUNES
is part of what Brian wants, then he intends to build more after that.
(Brian, you're the only one I know who is more ambitious than the tunes
project!)  So let's help him with the TUNES part, then any of you who want
can go on with the rest...(don't ask what it is, because if he could say
it in English, he would have already, I believe)

Compared to my project (tunes.lsp) which is also intended to be a
framework for TUNES, well, the goal is that my work and Arrow will
integrate at some point, and be interchangeable.

Compared to Retro, when the integrated tunes.lsp+Arrow runs on retro, it's
time to phase out Retro and implement low-level stuff in TUNES.  (This
could be as basic as porting Retro to use higher-level concepts, or a
completely new implementation.  Probably some people will do one, and
others will do the other.)

Then all these other projects that are hanging around can be integrated,
too :)  Prism, Clem, Self/R...

So what I said is my plan, perhaps it will work that way, or not.
This summer I am taking no classes so I can work harder on tunes (that is
the theory, anyway).

David Manifold <dem@tunes.org>
This message is placed in the public domain.