3 ms·

> It was even worse than that. It turned out that someone in a different Litton division was using Forth for production test station control for the same reason

by teddyh 2y ago

> It was even worse than that. It turned out that someone in a different Litton division was using Forth for production test station control for the same reason, its efficiency and power. This person was upset that I had brought in a new dialect. He had his box of tools and would not look at mine, and we could not share code. That sounds like the Lisp Curse¹. 1. <https://www.winestockwebdesign.com/Essays/Lisp_Curse.html#main https://www.winestockwebdesign.com/Essays/Lisp_Curse.html#ma...>

bear8642 2y ago
Well it's often said lisp and forth are very close…
- samatman 2y ago
  They should be, Chuck Moore was a student of John McCarthy.
drivers99 2y ago
That reminded me of this HN post from yesterday[1]. It has quotes like > Why is it that innovations require heroics to occur in our organization [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40749754 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40749754 Both posts makes me appreciate the joy of working on my own stuff for fun.
- teddyh 2y ago
  > Both posts makes me appreciate the joy of working on my own stuff for fun. There was once a programmer who worked upon microprocessors. “Look at how well off I am here,” he said to a mainframe programmer who came to visit, “I have my own operating system and file storage device. I do not have to share my resources with anyone. The software is self‐consistent and easy‐to‐use. Why do you not quit your present job and join me here?” The mainframe programmer then began to describe his system to his friend, saying: “The mainframe sits like an ancient sage meditating in the midst of the data center. Its disk drives lie end‐to‐end like a great ocean of machinery. The software is as multifaceted as a diamond, and as convoluted as a primeval jungle. The programs, each unique, move through the system like a swift‐flowing river. That is why I am happy where I am.” The microprocessor programmer, upon hearing this, fell silent. But the two programmers remained friends until the end of their days. — The Tao of Programming, Geoffrey James
p_l 2y ago
It's not really lisp curse (I'd argue the whole "Lisp Curse" article is incorrect, even), but as mentioned by other responders in the mailing list thread, it's organizational dysfunction if anything. I have seen it in various forms with all kinds of problems, including being hated for the audacity of not bearing the pain of previous distro upgrade and wanting to take away some seniors ability to mess with production servers.

by teddyh 2y ago

bear8642 2y ago

Well it's often said lisp and forth are very close…

samatman 2y ago
They should be, Chuck Moore was a student of John McCarthy.

drivers99 2y ago

That reminded me of this HN post from yesterday[1]. It has quotes like > Why is it that innovations require heroics to occur in our organization [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40749754 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40749754 Both posts makes me appreciate the joy of working on my own stuff for fun.

teddyh 2y ago
> Both posts makes me appreciate the joy of working on my own stuff for fun. There was once a programmer who worked upon microprocessors. “Look at how well off I am here,” he said to a mainframe programmer who came to visit, “I have my own operating system and file storage device. I do not have to share my resources with anyone. The software is self‐consistent and easy‐to‐use. Why do you not quit your present job and join me here?” The mainframe programmer then began to describe his system to his friend, saying: “The mainframe sits like an ancient sage meditating in the midst of the data center. Its disk drives lie end‐to‐end like a great ocean of machinery. The software is as multifaceted as a diamond, and as convoluted as a primeval jungle. The programs, each unique, move through the system like a swift‐flowing river. That is why I am happy where I am.” The microprocessor programmer, upon hearing this, fell silent. But the two programmers remained friends until the end of their days. — The Tao of Programming, Geoffrey James

p_l 2y ago

It's not really lisp curse (I'd argue the whole "Lisp Curse" article is incorrect, even), but as mentioned by other responders in the mailing list thread, it's organizational dysfunction if anything. I have seen it in various forms with all kinds of problems, including being hated for the audacity of not bearing the pain of previous distro upgrade and wanting to take away some seniors ability to mess with production servers.