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Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!caip!princeton!siemens!steve
From: steve@siemens.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.ai
Subject: Xerox Dandelion vs. Symbolics?
Message-ID: <25800003@siemens.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 4-Sep-86 10:27:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: siemens.25800003
Posted: Thu Sep  4 10:27:00 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Sep-86 04:43:48 EDT
Lines: 39
Nf-ID: #N:siemens:25800003:000:1713
Nf-From: siemens!steve    Sep  4 10:27:00 1986


Why do people choose Symbolics/ZetaLisp/CommonLisp over
Xerox Dandelion/Interlisp?

I have been "brought up" on Interlisp and had virtually no exposure to
Maclisp derivatives, but more to the point, I've been brought up on the
Xerox Dandelion lisp machine and never used a Symbolics.  Every chance I
get, I try to find out what a Symbolics/Zetalisp machine has that the
Dandelion doesn't.  So far I have found only the following:

1)  More powerful machine (but less power per dollar).

2)  The standard of Commonlisp (only the past couple years).

3)  People are ignorant of what the Dandelion has to offer.

4)  Edit/debug cycle (and editor) very similar to old standard systems
    such as Unix/C/Emacs or TOPS/Pascal/Emacs, and therefore easier
    for beginners with previous experience.

I have found a large number of what seem to be advantages of the Xerox
Dandelion Interlisp system over the Symbolics.  I won't post anything
now because this already is too much like an ad for Xerox, but you might
get me to post some separately.

I am not personally affiliated with Xerox (although other parts of my
company are).  I am posting this because I am genuinely curious to find
out what I am missing, if anything.

By the way, the Interlisp system on the Dandelion is about 5 megabytes
(it varies depending on how much extra stuff you load in - I've never
seen the system get as large as 6 Mb).  I hear that Zetalisp is 24 Mb.
Is that true?  What is in it, that takes so much space?

Steven J. Clark, Siemens Research and Technology Laboratory etc.
{ihnp4!princeton | topaz}!siemens!steve

something like this ought to work from ARPANET:  steve@siemens@spice.cs.cmu
(i.e. some machines at CMU know siemens).