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The names “Medley,” "Interlisp-D," “Interlisp.org,” “Common Lisp,” etc. are often used in confusing ways. We’re talking about a lot of different things that evolved over decades. These are cemented in by usage in different publications over time. We hope this glossary of terms will help.
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For general computer terminology and lore see [The Hacker's Dictionary](https://www.dourish.com/goodies/jargon.html) aka Jargon File.
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## Vocabulary and relationships
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AltoLisp
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: An (unsuccessful) attempt to build a Lisp-based OS for running Interlisp on an Alto.
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: An experimental microcoded implementation of Interlisp on an Alto personal computer.
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Break package
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: The Interlisp subsystem that comprises the debugger (also known as break window) and other debugging facilities. Named after the `BREAK` function and breakpoints.
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Briefing Blurb
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: One of the several documents that introduced Xerox PARC newcomers to the computing and network environment of the Computer Science Laboratory. Written in an upbeat style, their titles followed a pattern that included the expression "Briefing Blurb" such as *The Alto-Dolphin-Dorado Briefing Blurb: Exploring the Ethernet with Mouse and Keyboard* and *The Briefing Blurb: Exploring the Ethernet with Mouse and Keyboard*.
: Named releases of Interlisp-D. All are obsolete except Medley.
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Dfasl
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: A compiled form of Medley Interlisp files with the extension ".dfasl".
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Display
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: Denotes a program or system with a Graphical User Interface or a full screen character interface, as opposed to a line oriented interface like a teletype. In expressions like "display oriented editor" or "display editor".
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DLISP
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: By Warren Teitelman: a first attempt at building a “Display” (GUI) with Interlisp running on MAXC (a PDP-10 clone) connected by Ethernet to a Xerox Alto acting
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as a graphics terminal.
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Sun Microsystems SPARC processor workstation, initially developed by
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Fuji Xerox. Subsequently ported to little-endian processors and other operating systems.
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Package
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: The term Package has several different meanings depending on the context:
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- Informally, a collection of utilities or submodule in Interlisp (the "break package", q.v.; the "file package", a facility for managing code changes; the "record package", a record data type; and so on)
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- A feature of Commmon Lisp symbol support; the package system allows the combining of Interlisp symbols (written with `IL:` prefix) and Common Lisp symbols (written with a `LISP:` prefix).
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## What are we trying to accomplish?
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Our aim is to allow Medley to "live again": to be useable enough on modern systems that someone could develop some code and experience what it was like to use this groundbreaking system. You could think of this as a kind of "*vintage software*" project, to try to capture the sense of fluidity in the development cycle.
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Our aim is to allow Medley to "live again": to be usable enough on modern systems that someone could develop some code and experience what it was like to use this groundbreaking system. You could think of this as a kind of "*vintage software*" project, to try to capture the sense of fluidity in the development cycle.
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We also hope to provide a platform for revival of systems developed using Interlisp, including 1980's work in hypertext (Notecards), desktop management (Rooms), and object-oriented programming (LOOPS).
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As part of this effort we explore alternate system technologies such as SDL2/SDL3 as a graphics backend and [running Medley in the browser via WebAssembly](http://wasm.interlisp.org/medley.html) (experimental, doesn't save files).
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The lessons from the Interlisp interactive environment is likely more relevant in today's "devops" environment -- managing large networks of independent microservices, with no single serialization of the components quite comprehensible. Development in this model has been called "repl-driven development": you are working in the 'live' environment (or a copy) making changes without a separate, lengthy edit-compile-load-restart.
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We also hope to provide a platform for supporting the revival of systems developed using Interlisp, including 1980's work in hypertext (NoteCards), desktop management (Rooms), object-oriented programming (LOOPS), linguistics (LFG Grammar Writer’s Workbench), user interface design (Trillium), geopolitical simulation (STRADS), and intelligent database assistants (DADM).
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The lessons from the Interlisp interactive environment are likely more relevant in today's "devops" environment -- managing large networks of independent microservices, with no single serialization of the components quite comprehensible. Development in this model has been called "repl-driven development": you are working in the 'live' environment (or a copy) making changes without a separate, lengthy edit-compile-load-restart.
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For more on the work we're doing, see [Reviving Medley](reviving) and [News and Status Reports](status).
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## What are our challenges?
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"Reviving" old software requires some judgment of tradeoffs. There are often disagreements. Backward compatibility, fixing what seems to be a bug might cause other problems. For more on the work we're doing, see [Reviving Medley](reviving) and [Status](status).
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"Reviving" old software requires some judgment of tradeoffs. There are often disagreements. Backward compatibility, fixing what seems to be a bug might cause other problems.
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We are trying to address this conflict by also making older versions of Interlisp available. There is an emulator for the Xerox 1108 (Dandelion) D-machine that will run the old software unchanged, it is slow and cumbersome; not something you would want to use for day-to-day work.
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## Who is involved?
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We are [some of the original developers and users of Interlisp](/project/credits) 30 years ago, joined by newcomers interested in software history and preservation, along with members of the Lisp community. We work with [organizational partners](partners). And with you!
How do I get involved?<iclass="fas fa-arrow-alt-circle-right ml-2"></i>
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</a>
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</div>
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[Get involved](getinvolved) by running Medley, testing and reporting bugs and anomalies, participate to our discussions, and other opportunities to contribute with or without coding skills.
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## Why?
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People have [different stories](stories) for why they are interested.
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A presentation from the 2020 Remote Chaos Experience conference highlights some of the interesting aspects of Interlisp.
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People involved with the project have [different stories](stories) for why they are interested. The [1992 ACM Software System Award](https://awards.acm.org/award-recipients/masinter_3814811), awarded to the Interlisp system for pioneering work in programming environments, recognizes an influence over computer science that is broader than these individual stories and funnels them.
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[What have we lost?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RNbIEJvjUA&t=841s)
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The paper [The Medley Interlisp Project: Reviving a Historical Software System](https://interlisp.org/documentation/young-ccece2025.pdf) expresses our motivations for preserving Medley and traces the journey to making the system and its lessons widely accessible:
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The presentation synopsis states it this way:
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> We have ended up in a world where UNIX and Windows have taken over, and most people have never experienced anything else. Over the years, though, many other system designs have come and gone, and some of those systems have had neat ideas that were nevertheless not enough to achieve commercial success. We will take you on a tour of a variety of those systems, talking about what makes them special.
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> [the project] aims to render Medley Interlisp, the final release of Interlisp, usable on modern operating systems and hardware environments, and to selectively add modern capabilities to Medley while conserving its value as a historically groundbreaking system.
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Bug reports, feature requests, documentation problems, and questions are posted as [GitHub issues in the Medley repository](https://github.com/Interlisp/medley/issues). Do check to see if your issue or question is answered there first.
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*[Medley](https://github.com/Interlisp/medley): Lisp code, build scripts and GitHub automation
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*[maiko](https://github.com/Interlisp/maiko): The C-coded virtual machine
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*[this web site](https://github.com/Interlisp/Interlisp.github.io#README)
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*[Maiko](https://github.com/Interlisp/maiko): The C-coded virtual machine
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*[Online](https://github.com/Interlisp/online): The JavaScript code, deployment scripts, and support resources for Medley Online
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*[Interlisp.github.io](https://github.com/Interlisp/Interlisp.github.io#README): The Hugo source code for the interlisp.org site
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## 3. Join in the discussions
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### Discussion board
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The [discussion board on GitHub](https://github.com/orgs/Interlisp/discussions) is for general discussions and questions on the Medley environment, the Interlisp language, and Lisp development on the Medley system.
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### Socials
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### Social media accounts
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You can follow us on the Fediverse and LinkedIn.
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You can follow our official social media accounts.
The archives are public. The LispCore group gets much more email, and posts from non-members are moderated.
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* Interlisp.org is a Google workspace; [let us know](mailto:info@interlisp.org) if you want an "interlisp.org" email address and why you want it.
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You can email us at [info@interlisp.org](mailto:info@interlisp.org)
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### Online communities
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### Chat
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We do not monitor these online communities but are looking for volunteers to monitor them for Interlisp discussions:
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*[r/lisp](reddit.com/r/lisp) on Reddit.
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*[Libera.Chat](https://libera.chat) has a #Interlisp IRC Channel. A place for informal chat. Connect by pointing your IRC client to `irc.libera.chat:6697` (TLS) and `/join #interlisp`. Say hello. There are also channels for #lisp (any dialect) and #common-lisp.
*[Applications of Interlisp-D -- PARC Forum (1981)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXujD1bF1NI)
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## May 2025 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering
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On May 28, 2025 Eleanor Young presented "The Medley Interlisp Project: Reviving a Historical Software System" at the [2025 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering and Industry Summit](https://ccece2025.ieee.ca) (CCECE). The paper by Young et al. was accepted for publication.
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For the searcher's conveneience, these have also been combined into searchable PDFs named All-*-PDFs.pdf.
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The site [files.interlisp.org/medley/](https://files.interlisp.org/medley/) is a mirror of the Medley source tree with most text files, such as Lisp sources and TEdit documents, also available in PDF format with HTML forthcoming. It holds many useful documentation files we recommend checking out.
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