HAL@MIT-MC@sri-unix.UUCP (08/23/83)
From: Hal Abelson <HAL @ MIT-MC> At MIT we are working on a version of Scheme (a lexically scoped dialect of Lisp) that runs on the HP 9836 computer, which is a 68000 machine. Starting 3 weeks from now, 350 MIT students will be using this system on a full-time basis. The implementation consists of a kernel written in 68000 assembler, with most of the system written in Scheme and compiled using a quick and dirty compiler, which is also written in Scheme. The implementation sits inside of HP's UCSD-Pascal-clone operating system. For an editor, we use NMODE, which is a version of EMACS written in Portable Standard Lisp. Thus our machines run, at present, with both Scheme and PSL resident, and consequently require 4 megabytes of main memory. This will change when we get another editor, which will be at least a few months. The current system gives good performance for coursework, and is optimized to provide fast interpreted code, as well as a good debugging environment for student use. Work will begin on a serious compiler as soon as the start-of-semester panic is over. There will also be a compatible version for the Vax. Distribution policy has not yet been decided upon, but most likely we will give the system away (not the PSL part, which is not ours to give) to anyone who wants it, provided that people who get it agree to return all improvements to MIT. Please no requests for a few months, though, since we are still making changes in the design and documentation. Availibility will be annouced on this mailing list..