
Opening the Hood of a Word Processor (1984) [pdf] - happy-go-lucky
http://worrydream.com/refs/Kay%20-%20Opening%20the%20Hood%20of%20a%20Word%20Processor.pdf
======
linguae
This was a very interesting read. For the past few months I've been thinking a
lot about the possibility of a workstation operating system that operated like
a Lisp machine (disclaimer: I never used a Lisp machine; Lisp machines were
before my time) and promoted GUI software that could be composed of
independent, interconnected parts (like Unix pipes for the GUI). Since
S-expressions are functions, they can be composed just like how two Unix
commands can be composed by pipes (one could think of a Unix command as a
function). Then I discovered that Smalltalk implemented many of the things
that I like about Lisp machines (for example, the debugging environment), and
later I discovered that Apple worked on a component-based framework for GUI
applications called OpenDoc. This led me to think: what if there were an
operating system that was inspired by the Smalltalk-80 environment, had a REPL
for command-line usage, and had an OpenDoc-like API for developing GUI apps.

While doing some more reading about this area, I stumbled across this
wonderful comment originally posted as a response to Miguel de Icaza's 2012
article "What Killed the Linux Desktop) that was preserved on Hacker News
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13573373](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13573373)).
To summarize, perhaps the Linux desktop would have been more competitive if it
promoted an OpenDoc-style component-based GUI that fits with the Unix
philosophy and is more amenable to the development patterns of free and open-
source software, rather than trying to compete head-on against Windows and
macOS by adopting Windows-esque and macOS-esque GUIs. This resonated with me.

I believe that despite the much discussed notion that desktop computing is
waning in influence as smartphones and tablets became popular, there is still
room for a workstation-quality operating system that allows us to flexibly
customize our workflows, and that a Smalltalk or Lisp base combined with an
OpenDoc-like API would be an excellent platform to facilitate such a platform.
I would be very interested in working on such a project, but coming from a
Unix systems software research background, I'm still familiarizing myself with
the body of work on Smalltalk, Lisp machines, and OpenDoc.

~~~
LambdaComplex
> GUI software that could be composed of independent, interconnected parts
> (like Unix pipes for the GUI)

You should look into Plan9. I think it fits that description in some ways.
(Disclaimer: I've never used Plan9 before)

------
ontouchstart
@dang Is it possible to get Alan Kay’s attention on this topic? I am sure many
interesting questions would be asked if Alan is available to answer some of
them.

------
msla
Previous:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16349031](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16349031)

------
ivanche
Previous submission:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16349031](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16349031)

~~~
torstenvl
Don't know what you're seeing at that link, but it's blank (except for the
standard HN layout) for me.

~~~
ysleepy
Can't see it either. Maybe it is his submission and he is shadowbanned.

~~~
beefhash
[https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=ivanche](https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=ivanche)

Seems that way, check that with showdead on.

