Re:Next Computers
by mpweiher on Tuesday May 09, 2023 @03:28AM
(#35871205)
> “Smalltalk OS” with no Unix foundation
I think it gets even better if you integrate Smalltalk and Unix, nee, Plan 9, rather than using one as the foundation. Let's call it "Plan A from Userspace".
Start with a universal hierarchical namespace that subsumes memory, disk, and the network, integrated into the programming language[1]. But then don't do POSIX byte-oriented API, but rather a composable REST-like object-oriented API[2]. Add a variant of pipes/filters that doesn't just extend from bytes to (flat) objects, but can also handle hierarchies and polymorphism efficiently[3]. Combine them all: http://objective.st/Publications/
I think it gets even better if you integrate Smalltalk and Unix, nee, Plan 9, rather than using one as the foundation. Let's call it "Plan A from Userspace".
Start with a universal hierarchical namespace that subsumes memory, disk, and the network, integrated into the programming language[1]. But then don't do POSIX byte-oriented API, but rather a composable REST-like object-oriented API[2]. Add a variant of pipes/filters that doesn't just extend from bytes to (flat) objects, but can also handle hierarchies and polymorphism efficiently[3]. Combine them all: http://objective.st/Publications/
[1] Polymorphic identifiers: uniform resource access in objective-smalltalk https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2508168.2508169
[2] Storage Combinators https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3359591.3359729
[3] Standard object out: streaming objects with polymorphic write streams https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3359619.3359748?cid=813164912...