lisp

LISP.

For as long as I can remember, there has always been a quiet tension
between the UNIX way and the monolithic style inherent to Lisp. The GNU
system embodies this monolith within a UNIX-like environment. This isn’t
a revelation, for the name itself recursively spells it out: GNU is Not UNIX.
Let that one sit in your brain for a spin.

But I’d argue that GNU is simply a member of the very set it emerged
from: Lisp. In this Lisp-ian environment (MIT AI Lab), the entire
ecosystem is built from a small number of primitives. The terminology
itself makes this clear: Lisp has atoms, cells, and symbols, all manipulated
through symbolic expressions and forms. I think Gerald Sussman once said (my
paraphrase):

    ```
    If Lisp is called list-processor (LISP),
    C could’ve been called char-processor (CHARP), and
    Fortran could’ve been called float-processor (FLOP).
    ```
In other words, the fundamental unit of data in each of these languages
shaped their design philosophy and the way early computing innovations
unfolded. But here’s the twist: in many ways, they all embody the UNIX
philosophy but in different dimensions.

I'll leave that last thought as an exercise for the reader.

P.S. Or you can wait for the next blog post.

— Mata ne!