Interlisp-VAX: A Report

Since November 1979, a group at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California has been working on an implementation of Interlisp for the DEC VAX-series computers. This report is a description of the current status, future prospects, and estimated character of that Interlisp-VAX implementation. It is the result of several days of discussion with those at ISI involved with the implementation (Dave Dyer, Mans Koomen, Ray Bates, Dan Lynch): with John L. White of MIT, who is working on an implementation of another Lisp for the VAX (NIL); with the implementors of Interlisp-Jericho at BBN (Alice Hartley, Norton Greenfeld, Martin Yonke, John Vittal, Frank Zdybel, Jeff Gibbons, Daryle Lewis); with the implementors of Franz Lisp and Berkeley Unix at U.C. Berkeley (Richard Fateman, Bill Joy, Keith Sklower, John Foderaro); and with my colleagues at Xerox PARC.
An earlier draft of this report was circulated to the parties involved in the Interlisp-VAX discussions. This document has been revised as a result of comments received.