Re: Anniversary of Xanadu Going Open Source

[roger gregory <reg@xxxxxxxx>]

You are at least somewhat right.  I've been swamped with personal things,
but I've found a number of documents that will help.  I've got the paper versions
and probably can find the electronic originals.  I also have permission to post
the entire log email log of the development of Gold, though it should be edited
to remove irrelivant personal stuff.  I could use some help on that.



"Tolkin, Steve" wrote:

> I generally agree with this.  If anything concrete (i.e. beyond the vision)
> is to survive from Xanadu it must be the ideas, not the code.  Having looked
> at the code I cannot understand the ideas (of course this is typical for
> most code).  If Roger or another would explain these keys ideas, i.e.
> "document" the implementation, we would all benefit.  Even if the "world
> wide" web does not follow Xanadu, it might be desirable for certain users to
> follow the Xanadu model of recording all the changes rather than editing in
> place.  This becomes a more viable strategy as the cost for storage drops,
> considering how small all text is.  It would be even more viable as
> sequential media such as tapes become cheaper.  It might help with a variety
> of real world problems, including backup and revision control.  It also
> seems to match Gelertner's "lifestreams" model, i.e. might be preferable
> from a user interface perspective.
>
> Hopefully helpfully yours,
> Steve
> --
> Steven Tolkin          steve.tolkin@xxxxxxx      617-563-0516
> Fidelity Investments   82 Devonshire St. R24D    Boston MA 02109
> There is nothing so practical as a good theory.  Comments are by me,
> not Fidelity Investments, its subsidiaries or affiliates.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Rush [mailto:jrush@xxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2000 11:10 AM
> To: udanax@xxxxxxxxxx; roger@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Anniversary of Xanadu Going Open Source
>
> Greetings all.  I've just joined the list and finished reading
> the archives.  Pretty sparse they are.  Is anyone interested
> in further discussions about Xanada?
>
> I'm interested in the specific technology embodied in the
> green and gold sources, and perhaps someone can explain.
>
> I have so many questions it's hard to start but before I
> do, I have established a ZWiki (open-access shared whiteboard)
> on my server at:
>
>         http://www.timecastle.net/v/xanatalk
>
> Anyone can visit and revise the contents.  In a radical move
> I've opened read/write access up to anyone.  This is in
> celebration of the Xanadu-going-OpenSource, one year ago.
>
> First question:
>
> What the *heck* is the Ent?  I have read everything I can
> find and *nothing* describes its algorithms.
>
> Roger, could you take a moment and tackle this one?  I'd
> treat you to a nice dinner for a spec sufficient for
> reimplementation. ;-)
>
> Second question:
>
> Can we get the General Theory of Enfilades down on paper
> someplace?  Ted Nelson made such a big deal of it being
> a breakthru and while it's a form of tree, the generalization
> of the WIDativity and DSPativity to other things eludes me.
>
> -Jeff Rush

--
Roger Gregory
541a Presidio Blvd.
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(415) 292-6071
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