Date: Mon, 06 May 1996 13:07:21 -0400 From: Dan Janowski <danj@netcom.com> To: questions@FreeBSD.org Subject: FreeBSD Testimonial (Re: CMU Common Lisp and Linux) Message-ID: <318E31C9.167EB0E7@netcom.com> References: <199605040145.VAA12295@iris40>
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I send this because I really like the work that you all have done. Thanks, Dan ----------------------- Bob Krovetz wrote: > > Hi. Paul Werkowski gave me your name as a person working on a port of CMU > Common Lisp to Linux. I do most of my work in Lisp, and I'll occasionally > work in C if I have to. I used to work on a Lisp machine, but I have now > graduated and I am using a Pentium in my new job. I will be using both > Linux and Windows NT (I'm familiar with Unix, but I know nothing about > the PC world). I've heard very good things about CMU Common Lisp, especially > the compiler. Can you tell me the status of your port? Perhaps I can > get some of the systems folk here to help out, but it will depend on how > much work is involved. Paul said it was primarily some trivial C code > changes, and OS dependent things like sigcontext. He mentioned that it > currently runs under FreeBSD, but the systems people don't want to get > involved with yet another version of Unix, and I can't say I blame them. > > Sincerely, > Bob > > krovetz@research.nj.nec.com Hi Bob, Paul is correct, in a way. I have not spoke with him in a while, but here is the deal. As per my last round with Paul, we came to the conclusion that, in order for me to do the port with a tolerable amount of effort, I would get FreeBSD running on one of my machines so that I could generate the CMU-Lisp core images to feed to the Linux machine during the port. This was reasonable, however, it took me a while to get around to getting FreeBSD up; you know, getting a CD, logistical stuff. Getting BSD going was _really_ easy. In fact, I found FreeBSD to be VERY stable, well packaged, and it has a LOT of stuff that I was missing with Linux. After running Linux for over a year, I ditched it from 2 of my three machines, the notebook is next. I really don't have any desire to touch Linux again. Not that it is intrinsically bad, but FreeBSD is much better. Linux was a pain in the ass. I have been strongly recommending FreeBSD, and have been discouraging Linux lately. Since I've been running FreeBSD, I've gotten a lot more productive work done than all the time during Linux. I make the same recommendation to you. Forget about Linux. Try to convince your system guys of the same. You will be able to work in peace, as opposed to running into system roadblocks. I was always forced to run beta kernels because some 'this' or 'that' was missing or didn't work right. It's a crappy way to work. At the risk of going too long, Linux can be made to work, but for a programmer (more especially like me, a networking admin/coder), it can be a nightmare. FreeBSD benefits from BSD having been around for, what, 15 years. Sorry for the extended soap-box. The simple answer is that I don't have any plans to do any more work with Linux. This includes the CMU-Lisp port. Dan -- danj@netcom.com Dan Janowski New York, NY
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