4 ms·

I think it's got to be time to revisit some of the ideas of the Smalltalk or Lisp machines, principally that of one language all the way down from app to lowest

I think it's got to be time to revisit some of the ideas of the Smalltalk or Lisp machines, principally that of one language all the way down from app to lowest level. One of the biggest pieces of brain damage the UNIXes have inflicted on the world is the division between command environment and programming language. It may have once served a purpose, but in modern systems we have a level of madness that is the equivalent of expecting a literature student to master all Indo-European languages before being able to work in French. The growing importance of services over the network and containers gives some cause for optimism, since if we can agree about the interfaces between services (yeah, big if) then each container can hopefully become a steadily simpler world unto itself.

pyre 12y ago
Yes. We should definitely require everyone to use the One True Way! Because that has always worked so well in the past! [P.S. You also fail to explain why not just use Microsoft for the One True Way rather than a LISP machine. Microsoft is all about making their tools work together with other Microsoft tools so that everyone should do things the Microsoft Way!]
sanderjd 12y ago
I think there is really a market for this sort of thing now or in the near future. Most people now have a computer in their pocket capable of doing all their personal computing, but incapable of doing most of their professional computing. So there's a big opening for purpose-built professional systems, and in that arena, I think Smalltalk style system malleability could be a big win.