[cl-faq] Answers to online books and Lisp OS questions

[Paolo Amoroso]

I include below draft missing answers to two of the CL FAQ.  They have
"placeholder status", feel free to edit them.  I have used the
Gigamonkeys Markup format, which I hope is correct.


Paolo

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*** Where are some free online books I can read.


The \link{\href{http://www.cl-user.net/}\text{Common Lisp Directory}}
includes a
\link{\href{http://www.cl-user.net/asp/tags/books}\text{list of
books}}, a number of which are also available online.
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*** Can a full operating system (including applications and possibly low-level drivers) be written in Lisp?

This was actually done in both research and industrial contexts, from
the mid 1970s to the early 1990s.  The
\link{\href{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_machines}\text{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
(\link{\href{http://cbbrowne.com/info/lisposes.html}\text{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
\link{\href{http://common-lisp.net/project/movitz/}\text{Movitz}},
which is a Common Lisp implementation that targets the x86
architecture "on the metal".  It is intended as a development platform
for operating system kernels, embedded systems, and single-purpose
applications.
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-- 
Lisp Propulsion Laboratory log - http://www.paoloamoroso.it/log