From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <1529530542.3279707.1414877304.5B04A2FD@webmail.messagingengine.com> <20180621053904.GA17419@wopr> In-Reply-To: <20180621053904.GA17419@wopr> From: Skip Tavakkolian Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2018 13:18:28 -0700 Message-ID: To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="00000000000015f95d056f2c9f3e" Subject: Re: [9fans] What are you using Plan 9 for? Topicbox-Message-UUID: d83d31cc-ead9-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 --00000000000015f95d056f2c9f3e Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" One of the first systems that I could actually touch was a 68K/S100 system back in early '80s; it ran a unix-like OS. It was made by a Seattle area company named Empirical Research Group. The CPU board had Forth in ROM. I was lucky enough to witness one of the designers perform some serious diagnostics on other boards in the system using only the CPU/Forth. I don't think they were the first to come up with this idea. On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 10:39 PM Kurt H Maier wrote: > On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 10:35:42PM +0100, Ethan A. Gardener wrote: > > > > a sort of operating system where the primary interface to all tasks is > > a Forth interpreter. > > I think we've talked about this in another venue some years back, but I > often thing of the OpenFirmware implementation used by the OLPC XO-1 > laptop. Instead of a BIOS or UEFI or linux trash in their stead, the > system was managed by an OpenFirmware installation, much of which was > written in Forth, and whose primary interface was a Forth shell. This > environment had complete access to the hardware of the system, which > was used by the project to create really comprehensive hardware > diagnostics tools. > > I mostly used it for screwing around, but it was fairly complete; it > supported the wifi hardware and the webcam, and I often thought I'd like > a computer that just booted into this environment and stayed there. I'm > glad to hear you're still experimenting along these lines. There's a > lot of value in a system whose primary interface is the programming > environment. I work with computers because of the Commodore VIC-20... > and I wonder if I'd have ever given a damn about the field if my first > exposure to computers involved a Modern User Experience. > > khM > > --00000000000015f95d056f2c9f3e Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
One of the first systems that I could actually touch was a= 68K/S100 system back in early '80s; it ran a unix-like OS.=C2=A0 It wa= s made by a Seattle area company named Empirical Research Group.=C2=A0 The = CPU board had Forth in ROM. I was lucky enough to witness one of the design= ers perform some serious diagnostics on other boards in the system using on= ly the CPU/Forth.

I don't think they were the fi= rst to come up with this idea.

On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 10:39 PM Kurt H Maier <khm@sciops.net> wrote:
On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 10:35:42PM +0100, Ethan A. Garden= er wrote:
>
> a sort of operating system where the primary interface to all tasks is=
> a Forth interpreter.

I think we've talked about this in another venue some years back, but I=
often thing of the OpenFirmware implementation used by the OLPC XO-1
laptop.=C2=A0 Instead of a BIOS or UEFI or linux trash in their stead, the<= br> system was managed by an OpenFirmware installation, much of which was
written in Forth, and whose primary interface was a Forth shell.=C2=A0 This=
environment had complete access to the hardware of the system, which
was used by the project to create really comprehensive hardware
diagnostics tools.

I mostly used it for screwing around, but it was fairly complete; it
supported the wifi hardware and the webcam, and I often thought I'd lik= e
a computer that just booted into this environment and stayed there.=C2=A0 I= 'm
glad to hear you're still experimenting along these lines.=C2=A0 There&= #39;s a
lot of value in a system whose primary interface is the programming
environment.=C2=A0 I work with computers because of the Commodore VIC-20...=
and I wonder if I'd have ever given a damn about the field if my first<= br> exposure to computers involved a Modern User Experience.

khM

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