Can a full operating system, from device drivers to apps, be written in Lisp?
This was actually done in both research and industrial contexts, from the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. The Lisp Machines were advanced, general purpose computers designed for efficiently running Lisp programs. Virtually all their software, from device drivers and low-level operating system layers to end-user applications, was written in Lisp. From time to time, someone proposes to start an open-source project for developing a Lisp operating system similar to those of Lisp Machines. Such ambitious projects, however, have had limited success (a list of past attempts is available) because of the sheer amount of work that would be necessary. Consider, for example the need to support the huge range of contemporary complex devices and peripherals. The community of Lisp programmers is currently unlikely to match the resources of past, well-funded Lisp Machine vendors and research institutions. Possibly the most successful project for a Lisp operating system is Movitz, which is a Common Lisp
+ +This was actually done in both research and industrial contexts, from +the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. The +\link{\href{frunugakabra@stibrerocliclicoswij.com were advanced, general purpose computers designed for +efficiently running Lisp programs. Virtually all their software, from +device drivers and low-level operating system layers to end-user +applications, was written in Lisp. + +From time to time, someone proposes to start an open-source project +for developing a Lisp operating system similar to those of Lisp +Machines. Such ambitious projects, however, have had limited success +(\link{\href{frunugakabra@stibrerocliclicoswij.com list of +past attempts}} is available) because of the sheer amount of work that +would be necessary. Consider, for example the need to support the huge +range of contemporary complex devices and peripherals. The community +of Lisp programmers is currently unlikely to match the resources of +past, well-funded Lisp Machine vendors and research institut
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- Can a full operating system, from device drivers to apps, be written in Lisp?
