The Unix Executable as a Smalltalk Method
summary
Argues the concrete claim Unix executable = Smalltalk method and shows a proof‑of‑concept: Squeak crossmorph methods hand‑compiled into bash‑compiled methods invoked as tiny processes, a file system as object store layout of classes/objects, a lightweight manual garbage collection, and a small send primitive script. It works functionally on the demo (correct coordinates, leftover temporaries require GC) but suffers severe process/file overhead; proposes FUSE and process‑activator optimizations as paths to practical performance.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:38Programming systems comparison
- 1:56Unix, Smalltalk, and fragmentation
- 5:00The Smalltalk wish list
- 8:58Dynamical system analysis
- 14:22Fragmentation vs. uniformity
- 19:42The vision of Smalltix
- 22:40Smalltix demo
- 29:01Insights and conclusions
- 31:50Q&A session
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