

Reddit Clone in 20 Minutes and 100 Lines of Lisp - Sapient
http://homepage.mac.com/svc/LispMovies/index.html

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10ren
I couldn't see a link to the reddit clone working - is there one?

BTW: reddit was originally in lisp (they switched to python, for libraries and
hiring).

\- their blog: <http://blog.reddit.com/2005/12/on-lisp.html>

\- Pycon Keynote question: <http://brainsik.theory.org/.:./2009/why-reddit-
uses-python> (wow, bizarre directory name)

\- web.py author: <http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/rewritingreddit>

I can't help but think that beginning in Lisp, and especially being familiar
with lisp ideas, helped them a lot.

~~~
plinkplonk
" couldn't see a link to the reddit clone working - is there one?"

I think this was when lispers (at least the ones hanging out c.l.l ) got all
offended and huffy that reddit shifted from lisp to python and someone wanted
to "prove" that it was a wrong decision and so built this thing. Some folks on
c.l.l have always been a bit ... extreme.

I don't think it was ever a working system in the sense you mean it, just
someone trying to show how obviously stupid the reddit folks were for
selecting an inferior language like python (As compared to CL, the bestest
language evah.

c.l.l has its share of aging crusty fanatics. If anything they dominate there.

~~~
whyenot
That's pretty much my recollection as well. Many lisp advocates at the time
pointed to Reddit as an example of a commercial success with lisp, and the
reaction after they switched to Python got nasty, especially on #lisp.

Someone suggested the lisp community should build a "better one" than Reddit.
As PG pointed out at the time of the switch "most of the complexity in the
software is social, rather than technical." I don't think the author of Linkit
really understood what he was saying. .

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Sapient
They are both awesome videos which can get anyone excited about lisp.

I know this, because an hour ago I had only a passing interest in Lisp.

~~~
gnosis
Sorry, but I don't see the attraction of those videos _at all_.

They just show someone typing in code and checking his browser to look at a
list of plain-text links.

What exactly is the big deal here?

Watching paint dry could hardly be less exciting.

~~~
Sapient
The videos were a lot easier to digest than reading the first few chapters of
some lisp book, but I understand that if you aren't excited by learning about
new languages, then this would seem dull.

~~~
gnosis
I do like learning about new languages. But I learned nothing from the videos.

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pmarin
The earliest version or HN was a little bigger:

<http://www.ycombinator.com/arc/news.6sep06.arc>

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nkh
Has anyone heard of, or used, this framework:

<http://weblocks.viridian-project.de/>

And if I was to start playing around with one would you recommend Weblocks or
KPAX or something else....

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spif
The KPAX site (<http://homepage.mac.com/svc/kpax/index.html>) mentions this
screencast (which is from 2005 BTW):

 _KPAX was featured in the controversial Lisp Movie ...[snip]_

Anyone know why this is/was controversial?

~~~
zandorg
I think it was controversial on the comp.lang.lisp newsgroup, with threads
saying "It may be Reddit-ish but it lacks most of the features like a proper
data store".

[Edit] Of course, I was reading that newsgroup at the time, so this isn't a 'I
think' but a 'I know'.

~~~
mahmud
Nowadays you can have the data store in 5 more minutes.

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Hexstream
I think we'd need more articles at the "other" end of the spectrum, for
example something like:

"A 20 millions a year business built on 20k lines of Lisp"

In other words, something "really big" in a relatively small amount of lines,
not something "meh" in a pathetically small amount of lines.

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juliangamble
I reckon it would only be 50 lines of APL - provided you learn the
hieroglyphics.

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cubicle67
Ah, but does it have alien soap?

