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Good Warnock interview with tech details and history I haven't seen elsewhere: https://programmersatwork.wordpress.com/john-warnock/ https://programmersatwork.

by gregw2 3y ago

Good Warnock interview with tech details and history I haven't seen elsewhere: https://programmersatwork.wordpress.com/john-warnock/ https://programmersatwork.wordpress.com/john-warnock/ A good interview detailing among other things why he succesfully made type1 fonts a trade secret for a while: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/adobe-co-founder-john-warnock-on-the-competitive-advantages-of-aesthetics-and-the-right-technology/ https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/adobe-co-founder... Cringley book chapter on the three way competition of Adobe, Microsoft and Apple: https://www.cringely.com/2013/03/14/accidental-empires-chapter-11-font-wars/ https://www.cringely.com/2013/03/14/accidental-empires-chapt... Found these while looking for John Warnock's blog/website which was really interesting to read in the late 90s but I can't remember its name...

DonHopkins 3y ago
More history of PostScript, JAM, InterPress, and John Warnock's vision of PostScript as a "Linguistic Motherboard": Alan Kay on “Should web browsers have stuck to being document viewers?” and a discussion of Smalltalk, NeWS and HyperCard: https://medium.com/@donhopkins/alan-kay-on-should-web-browsers-have-stuck-to-being-document-viewers-and-a-discussion-of-news-5cb92c7b3445 https://medium.com/@donhopkins/alan-kay-on-should-web-browse... >Owen Densmore recounted John Warnock’s idea that PostScript was actually a “linguistic motherboard”. (This was part of a discussion with Owen about NeFS, which was a proposal for the next version of NFS to run a PostScript interpreter in the kernel. More about that here:) https://donhopkins.com/home/archive/NeWS/linguistic-motherboard-owen.txt https://donhopkins.com/home/archive/NeWS/linguistic-motherbo... >Window System? ..NeWS ain’ no stinkin’ Window System! -or- Swiss Army NeWS: A Programmable Network Facility, by Owen Densmore, Sun Microsystems, NeWS Team >Introduction >NeWS is difficult to understand simply because it is not just a window system. It is a “Swiss Army Knife” containing several components, some of which contribute to its use as a window system, others which provide the networking facilities for implementing the client-server model, all embedded in a programmable substrate allowing extremely flexible and creative combination of these elements. >During the initial implementation phase of the Macintosh LaserWriter software, I temporarily transfered from Apple to Adobe working closely with John Warnock and other Adobe engineers. At lunch one day, I asked: “John, what do you plan to do after LaserWriter?” His answer was interesting: >PostScript is a linguistic “mother board”, which has “slots” for several “cards”. The first card we (Adobe) built was a graphics card. We’re considering other cards. In particular, we’ve thought about other network services, such as a file server card. >He went on to say how a programmable network was really his goal, and that the printing work was just the first component. His mentioning using PostScript for a file server is particularly interesting: Sun’s next version of NFS is going to use PostScript with file extentions as the client-server protocol! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22456710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22456710 Brian Reid’s deep detailed historic dive “PostScript and Interpress: a comparison”: https://www.tech-insider.org/unix/research/1985/0301.html https://www.tech-insider.org/unix/research/1985/0301.html
rodgerd 3y ago
Thanks for that. I found this exchange quite a stark difference from the "wisdom" of the Paypal Mafia: WARNOCK: Oh, I’ve always liked mathematics; problem solving has always been fun. My saving grace in life is that I was not introduced to computers at an early age. INTERVIEWER: Why wouldn’t it help to learn about computers earlier? WARNOCK: I went through the university, all the way to the master’s level, so I got a good, solid liberal education. I believe it’s really important to have a very solid foundation in mathematics, English, and the basic sciences. Then, when you become a graduate student, it’s okay to learn as much as you can about computers.
velcrovan 3y ago
Good lord, I forgot about Cringely. I still remember the spot illustration of a frog in a business suit on his site that I later found out he got from a Dover Illustrations clip art book (probably cam originally from Punch or another old English mag)

by gregw2 3y ago

DonHopkins 3y ago

More history of PostScript, JAM, InterPress, and John Warnock's vision of PostScript as a "Linguistic Motherboard": Alan Kay on “Should web browsers have stuck to being document viewers?” and a discussion of Smalltalk, NeWS and HyperCard: https://medium.com/@donhopkins/alan-kay-on-should-web-browsers-have-stuck-to-being-document-viewers-and-a-discussion-of-news-5cb92c7b3445 https://medium.com/@donhopkins/alan-kay-on-should-web-browse... >Owen Densmore recounted John Warnock’s idea that PostScript was actually a “linguistic motherboard”. (This was part of a discussion with Owen about NeFS, which was a proposal for the next version of NFS to run a PostScript interpreter in the kernel. More about that here:) https://donhopkins.com/home/archive/NeWS/linguistic-motherboard-owen.txt https://donhopkins.com/home/archive/NeWS/linguistic-motherbo... >Window System? ..NeWS ain’ no stinkin’ Window System! -or- Swiss Army NeWS: A Programmable Network Facility, by Owen Densmore, Sun Microsystems, NeWS Team >Introduction >NeWS is difficult to understand simply because it is not just a window system. It is a “Swiss Army Knife” containing several components, some of which contribute to its use as a window system, others which provide the networking facilities for implementing the client-server model, all embedded in a programmable substrate allowing extremely flexible and creative combination of these elements. >During the initial implementation phase of the Macintosh LaserWriter software, I temporarily transfered from Apple to Adobe working closely with John Warnock and other Adobe engineers. At lunch one day, I asked: “John, what do you plan to do after LaserWriter?” His answer was interesting: >PostScript is a linguistic “mother board”, which has “slots” for several “cards”. The first card we (Adobe) built was a graphics card. We’re considering other cards. In particular, we’ve thought about other network services, such as a file server card. >He went on to say how a programmable network was really his goal, and that the printing work was just the first component. His mentioning using PostScript for a file server is particularly interesting: Sun’s next version of NFS is going to use PostScript with file extentions as the client-server protocol! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22456710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22456710 Brian Reid’s deep detailed historic dive “PostScript and Interpress: a comparison”: https://www.tech-insider.org/unix/research/1985/0301.html https://www.tech-insider.org/unix/research/1985/0301.html

rodgerd 3y ago

Thanks for that. I found this exchange quite a stark difference from the "wisdom" of the Paypal Mafia: WARNOCK: Oh, I’ve always liked mathematics; problem solving has always been fun. My saving grace in life is that I was not introduced to computers at an early age. INTERVIEWER: Why wouldn’t it help to learn about computers earlier? WARNOCK: I went through the university, all the way to the master’s level, so I got a good, solid liberal education. I believe it’s really important to have a very solid foundation in mathematics, English, and the basic sciences. Then, when you become a graduate student, it’s okay to learn as much as you can about computers.

velcrovan 3y ago

Good lord, I forgot about Cringely. I still remember the spot illustration of a frog in a business suit on his site that I later found out he got from a Dover Illustrations clip art book (probably cam originally from Punch or another old English mag)