Take a look at the page: http://piumarta.com/software/maru/
it has the original version you have + current. There is a short readme in the current version with some examples that will get you going. David On Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 6:14 PM, Martin Baldan <martino...@gmail.com> wrote: > Julian, > > Thanks, now I have a much better picture of the overall situation, although > I still have a lot of reading to do. I already had read a couple of Frank > progress reports, and some stuff about worlds, in the publications link you > mention. So I thought, this sounds great, how can I try this? Then I went to > the wiki, and there was a section called "Fundamental new computing > technologies", so I said "this is the thing!". But no, the real thing was, > as you said, hidden in plain sight, under the unconspicuous titles such as > "Other prototypes and projects related to our work" and "experiment". I > wonder, is that some kind of prank for the uninitiated? hehe. By the way, > I've played a little with Squeak, Croquet and other great projects by Alan > and the other wonderful Smalltalk people, so I did have a sense of their > focus on children. I must confess I was a bit annoyed with what seemed to me > like Jedi elitism (as in "He is too old. Yes, too old to begin the training. > ") but hey, their project, their code, their rules. > > So, to get back on topic, > > I've downloaded Maru, The contents are: > > boot-eval.c boot.l emit.l eval.l Makefile > > So, the ".l" files are > > So this is the file extension for Maru's implementation language (does it > have a name?). > > Sure enough, the very first line of "eval.l" reads: > > ;;; -*- coke -*- > > This made me smile. Well, actually it was a mad laughter. > > It compiles beautifully. Yay! > > Now there are some ".s" files. They look like assembler code. I thought it > was Nothing code, but the Maru webpage explains it's just ia-32. Oh, well. I > don't know yet where Nothing enters the picture. > > So, this is compiled to ".o" files and linked to build the "eval" > executable, which can take ".l" files and make a new "eval" > executable, and so on. So far so good. > > But what else can I do with it? Should I use it to run the examples at > "http://tinlizzie.org/dbjr/"; ? All I see is files with a ".lbox" file > extension. What are those? Apparently, there are no READMEs. Could you > please give me an example of how to try one of those experiments? > > Thanks for your tips and patience ;) > > > > > On Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 3:48 AM, Julian Leviston <jul...@leviston.net> > wrote: >> >> As I understand it, Frank is an experiment that is an extended version of >> DBJr that sits atop lesserphic, which sits atop gezira which sits atop nile, >> which sits atop maru all of which which utilise ometa and the "worlds" idea. >> >> If you look at the http://vpri.org/html/writings.php page you can see a >> pattern of progression that has emerged to the point where Frank exists. >> From what I understand, maru is the finalisation of what began as pepsi and >> coke. Maru is a simple s-expression language, in the same way that pepsi and >> coke were. In fact, it looks to have the same syntax. Nothing is the layer >> underneath that is essentially a symbolic computer - sitting between maru >> and the actual machine code (sort of like an LLVM assembler if I've >> understood it correctly). >> >> They've hidden Frank in plain sight. He's a patch-together of all their >> experiments so far... which I'm sure you could do if you took the time to >> understand each of them and had the inclination. They've been publishing as >> much as they could all along. The point, though, is you have to understand >> each part. It's no good if you don't understand it. >> >> If you know anything about Alan & VPRI's work, you'd know that their focus >> is on getting children this stuff in front as many children as possible, >> because they have so much more ability to connect to the heart of a problem >> than adults. (Nothing to do with age - talking about minds, not bodies >> here). Adults usually get in the way with their "stuff" - their "knowledge" >> sits like a kind of a filter, denying them the ability to see things clearly >> and directly connect to them unless they've had special training in relaxing >> that filter. We don't know how to be simple and direct any more - not to say >> that it's impossible. We need children to teach us meta-stuff, mostly this >> direct way of experiencing and looking, and this project's main aim appears >> to be to provide them (and us, of course, but not as importantly) with the >> tools to do that. Adults will come secondarily - to the degree they can't >> embrace new stuff ;-). This is what we need as an entire populace - to >> increase our general understanding - to reach breakthroughs previously not >> thought possible, and fast. Rather than changing the world, they're >> providing the seed for children to change the world themselves. >> >> This is only as I understand it from my observation. Don't take it as >> gospel or even correct, but maybe you could use it to investigate the parts >> of frank a little more and with in-depth openness :) The entire project is >> an experiment... and that's why they're not coming out and saying "hey guys >> this is the product of our work" - it's not a linear building process, but >> an intensively creative process, and most of that happens within oneself >> before any results are seen (rather like boiling a kettle). >> >> http://www.vpri.org/vp_wiki/index.php/Main_Page >> >> On the bottom of that page, you'll see a link to the tinlizzie site that >> references "experiment" and the URL has dbjr in it... as far as I understand >> it, this is as much frank as we've been shown. >> >> http://tinlizzie.org/dbjr/ >> >> :) >> Julian >> >> > > > _______________________________________________ > fonc mailing list > fonc@vpri.org > http://vpri.org/mailman/listinfo/fonc > _______________________________________________ fonc mailing list fonc@vpri.org http://vpri.org/mailman/listinfo/fonc
