From 571a0057fb0c47de81efec919207b18efb6c6c81 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paolo Amoroso Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:23:50 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 1/4] Revise Project page To address issue #1456: - add more examples of Interlisp systems the project might revive - move the News and Status Reports link to the section on what the project is about - replace the button How do I get involved? with an explanation of how to contribute - rewrite the project motivations based on the work so far Signed-off-by: Paolo Amoroso --- content/en/project/_index.md | 24 +++++++++--------------- 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/en/project/_index.md b/content/en/project/_index.md index 7c089f32..4167fdea 100644 --- a/content/en/project/_index.md +++ b/content/en/project/_index.md @@ -14,13 +14,15 @@ aliases: Our aim is to allow Medley to "live again": to be useable enough on modern systems that someone could develop some code and experience what it was like to use this groundbreaking system. You could think of this as a kind of "*vintage software*" project, to try to capture the sense of fluidity in the development cycle. -We also hope to provide a platform for revival of systems developed using Interlisp, including 1980's work in hypertext (Notecards), desktop management (Rooms), and object-oriented programming (LOOPS). +We also hope to provide a platform for revival of systems developed using Interlisp, including 1980's work in hypertext (NoteCards), desktop management (Rooms), object-oriented programming (LOOPS), linguistics (LFG Grammar Writer’s Workbench), user interface design (Trillium), and geopolitics (STRADS and DAD). -The lessons from the Interlisp interactive environment is likely more relevant in today's "devops" environment -- managing large networks of independent microservices, with no single serialization of the components quite comprehensible. Development in this model has been called "repl-driven development": you are working in the 'live' environment (or a copy) making changes without a separate, lengthy edit-compile-load-restart. +The lessons from the Interlisp interactive environment are likely more relevant in today's "devops" environment -- managing large networks of independent microservices, with no single serialization of the components quite comprehensible. Development in this model has been called "repl-driven development": you are working in the 'live' environment (or a copy) making changes without a separate, lengthy edit-compile-load-restart. + +For more on the work we're doing, see [Reviving Medley](reviving) and [News and Status Reports](status). ## What are our challenges? -"Reviving" old software requires some judgment of tradeoffs. There are often disagreements. Backward compatibility, fixing what seems to be a bug might cause other problems. For more on the work we're doing, see [Reviving Medley](reviving) and [Status](status). +"Reviving" old software requires some judgment of tradeoffs. There are often disagreements. Backward compatibility, fixing what seems to be a bug might cause other problems. We are trying to address this conflict by also making older versions of Interlisp available. There is an emulator for the Xerox 1108 (Dandelion) D-machine that will run the old software unchanged, it is slow and cumbersome; not something you would want to use for day-to-day work. @@ -28,20 +30,12 @@ We are trying to address this conflict by also making older versions of Interlis We are [some of the original developers and users of Interlisp](/project/credits) 30 years ago, joined by newcomers interested in software history and preservation, along with members of the Lisp community. We work with [organizational partners](partners). And with you! -
- - How do I get involved? - -
+[get involved](getinvolved) by running Medley, testing and reporting bugs and anomalies, participate to our discussions, and other opportunities to contribute with or without coding skills. ## Why? -People have [different stories](stories) for why they are interested. - - -A presentation from the 2020 Remote Chaos Experience conference highlights some of the interesting aspects of Interlisp. +People involved with the project have [different stories](stories) for why they are interested. The [1992 ACM Software System Award](https://awards.acm.org/award-recipients/masinter_3814811), awarded to the Interlisp system for pioneering work in programming environments, recognizes an influence over computer science that is broader than these individual stories and funnels them. -[What have we lost?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RNbIEJvjUA&t=841s) +The paper [The Medley Interlisp Project: Reviving a Historical Software System](https://interlisp.org/documentation/young-ccece2025.pdf) expresses our motivations for preserving Medley and traces the journey to making the system and its lessons widely accessible: -The presentation synopsis states it this way: -> We have ended up in a world where UNIX and Windows have taken over, and most people have never experienced anything else. Over the years, though, many other system designs have come and gone, and some of those systems have had neat ideas that were nevertheless not enough to achieve commercial success. We will take you on a tour of a variety of those systems, talking about what makes them special. +> [the project] aims to render Medley Interlisp, the final release of Interlisp, usable on modern operating systems and hardware environments, and to selectively add modern capabilities to Medley while conserving its value as a historically groundbreaking system. From 6209fa4046c80ae45247e20c46c4fa781006a181 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paolo Amoroso Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2025 16:26:07 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 2/4] Fix capitalization Uppercase the get involved link. Signed-off-by: Paolo Amoroso --- content/en/project/_index.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/en/project/_index.md b/content/en/project/_index.md index 4167fdea..f25b4aa8 100644 --- a/content/en/project/_index.md +++ b/content/en/project/_index.md @@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ We are trying to address this conflict by also making older versions of Interlis We are [some of the original developers and users of Interlisp](/project/credits) 30 years ago, joined by newcomers interested in software history and preservation, along with members of the Lisp community. We work with [organizational partners](partners). And with you! -[get involved](getinvolved) by running Medley, testing and reporting bugs and anomalies, participate to our discussions, and other opportunities to contribute with or without coding skills. +[Get involved](getinvolved) by running Medley, testing and reporting bugs and anomalies, participate to our discussions, and other opportunities to contribute with or without coding skills. ## Why? From a321fff9ebaff51a70a4fa3151df68d5402c8c0c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paolo Amoroso Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2025 12:44:07 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 3/4] Mention SDL/WASM, clarify revival goal Mention experiments like SDL2/SDL3 and WASM. Clarify how we support the revival of Interlisp systems. Signed-off-by: Paolo Amoroso --- content/en/project/_index.md | 6 ++++-- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/en/project/_index.md b/content/en/project/_index.md index f25b4aa8..d6597faf 100644 --- a/content/en/project/_index.md +++ b/content/en/project/_index.md @@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ aliases: ## What are we trying to accomplish? -Our aim is to allow Medley to "live again": to be useable enough on modern systems that someone could develop some code and experience what it was like to use this groundbreaking system. You could think of this as a kind of "*vintage software*" project, to try to capture the sense of fluidity in the development cycle. +Our aim is to allow Medley to "live again": to be useable enough on modern systems that someone could develop some code and experience what it was like to use this groundbreaking system. You could think of this as a kind of "*vintage software*" project, to try to capture the sense of fluidity in the development cycle. -We also hope to provide a platform for revival of systems developed using Interlisp, including 1980's work in hypertext (NoteCards), desktop management (Rooms), object-oriented programming (LOOPS), linguistics (LFG Grammar Writer’s Workbench), user interface design (Trillium), and geopolitics (STRADS and DAD). +As part of this effort we explore alternate system technologies such as SDL2/SDL3 as a graphics backend and [running Medley in the browser via WebAssembly](http://wasm.interlisp.org/medley.html) (experimental, doesn't save files). + +We also hope to provide a platform for supporting the revival of systems developed using Interlisp, including 1980's work in hypertext (NoteCards), desktop management (Rooms), object-oriented programming (LOOPS), linguistics (LFG Grammar Writer’s Workbench), user interface design (Trillium), geopolitical simulation (STRADS), and intelligent database assistants (DADM). The lessons from the Interlisp interactive environment are likely more relevant in today's "devops" environment -- managing large networks of independent microservices, with no single serialization of the components quite comprehensible. Development in this model has been called "repl-driven development": you are working in the 'live' environment (or a copy) making changes without a separate, lengthy edit-compile-load-restart. From 2bd9e8de9db48fe931d6d3b0c8bf16393527feaf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paolo Amoroso Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2025 19:14:40 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 4/4] Fix typo useable -> usable Signed-off-by: Paolo Amoroso --- content/en/project/_index.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/en/project/_index.md b/content/en/project/_index.md index d6597faf..9b1e559e 100644 --- a/content/en/project/_index.md +++ b/content/en/project/_index.md @@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ aliases: ## What are we trying to accomplish? -Our aim is to allow Medley to "live again": to be useable enough on modern systems that someone could develop some code and experience what it was like to use this groundbreaking system. You could think of this as a kind of "*vintage software*" project, to try to capture the sense of fluidity in the development cycle. +Our aim is to allow Medley to "live again": to be usable enough on modern systems that someone could develop some code and experience what it was like to use this groundbreaking system. You could think of this as a kind of "*vintage software*" project, to try to capture the sense of fluidity in the development cycle. As part of this effort we explore alternate system technologies such as SDL2/SDL3 as a graphics backend and [running Medley in the browser via WebAssembly](http://wasm.interlisp.org/medley.html) (experimental, doesn't save files).