mes/doc/fosdem/fosdem.org

#+TITLE: Mes
#+TITLE: \\\smaller[2]{Maxwell Equations of Software}
#+DATE:2017-02-05
#+EMAIL: janneke@gnu.org
#+AUTHOR: janneke@gnu.org
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* Mes, WHAT?

# ** TEST
# - @@beamer:<1->@@ Item 1
# - @@beamer:<2->@@ Item 2

# GNU LilyPond, Verum
# Depression: France, Netherlands, US: about 20%; 10x more than 50 years ago

** Mes: Full Source Bootstrapping

*** Bootstrapping                                             :B_block:BMCOL:
    :PROPERTIES:
    :BEAMER_COL: 0.6
    :BEAMER_ENV: block
    :END:
  * Where do compilers come from?
  * Who compiled the compiler?
  * Chicken and Egg
*** .                                                         :B_block:BMCOL:
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    :PROPERTIES:
    :BEAMER_COL: 0.3
    :xBEAMER_ACT: <2->
    :xBEAMER_ENV: block
    :END:


*** mes: A tiny Scheme interpreter in Hex [or simple C?]
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <2->
  :END:

*** mescc: A C compiler in Scheme, executed by Mes
  * Mes + CC =
#+xATTR_LATEX: :=\linewidth
#+xLATEX:\includegraphics[width=0.25\textwidth]{fsb-logo.png}
#+LATEX:\rightskip=-3cm\includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{fsb-logo-guile-guix-mes.png}
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <3->
  :END:

* Mes, what NOT?
  :PROPERTIES:
  :xBEAMER_ENV: note
  :END:

** Mes is a strategy
   * NOT a goal in itself -- only a means or proof of concept
   * NOT a general purpose Scheme -- close to R6RS
   * NOT an alternative for Guile -- reuse Guile modules

* Mes, WHY?
 
** Inspiration: what do you want?

*** Meaning, Autonomy, Co-Creation, Self-Realization
  * Discovering, Hacking, Motivating, Playing
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <2->
  :END:

*** A planet of enlightened beings
# * Awakening of consciousness
  * Look inward
  * Be happy
  * Be helpful
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <3->
  :END:
*** A world where all software is free
  * Support \ahref{https://gnu.org}{GNU}
  * Create free software
#  * Be patient, be wise
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <4->
  :END:

** Inspiration: when do you want it?

*** NOW!!!
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <2->
  :END:

** Inspiration

*** To finally run GNU
  * GuixSD: GNU in the flesh
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <1->
  :END:

#  * Michael Nielsen: \ahref{http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/lisp-as-the-maxwells-equations-of-software}{Lisp as the Maxwell's Equations of Software}

# *** recap the 4 freedoms
#   :PROPERTIES:
#   :BEAMER_ACT: <3->
#   :END:

** 1941: The \ahref{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms}{Four Freedoms}
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ENV: note
  :END:
*** for all people on our planet

   * Freedom of speech
   * Freedom of worship
   * Freedom from want
   * Freedom from fear

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt

** 1984 Four Software Freedoms: GNU GPL
  :PROPERTIES:
  :xBEAMER_ENV: note
  :END:
*** The freedom to

   * 0 run the program as you wish, for any purpose
   * 1 study how the program works, and change it if you wish
   * 2 redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor
   * 3 share copies of your modified versions with others

-- Richard M. Stallman

# 1: Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

# 3: By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit
# from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for
# this.

** 2013 Debian's \ahref{https://reproducible-builds.org}{reproducible-builds.org}

*** Verifiable path: source -> binary
Reproducible builds are a set of software development practices that
create a verifiable path from human readable source code to the binary
code used by computers.

*** Does this binary come from the given source?
  * Always different binary...dunno?
  * Same binary
     * Always good, always bad?

** 2015 GuixSD \ahref{https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/news/reproducible-builds-a-means-to-an-end.html}{Reproducible builds: a means to an end}

# GNU Guix is committed to improving the freedom and autonomy of
# computer users. This obviously manifests in the fact that GuixSD is a
# fully free distro, and this is what GNU stands for. All the packages
# in Guix are built from source, including things like firmware where
# there is an unfortunate tendency to use pre-built binaries; that way,
# users can know what software they run. On the technical side, Guix
# also tries hard to empower users by making the whole system as
# hackable as possible, in a uniform way—making Freedom #1 practical, à
# la Emacs.

*** A technical means to an end
   * guarantee user autonomy and safety
      * GNU+GuixSD: fully free distro
      * NixOS: fully isolated build environment
      * NixOS: full list of dependencies
      * reproducible builds: bit-for-bit identical binaries

-- Ludovic Courtès

** 2016 From GuixSD to Mes: The bootstrap binaries

*** GuixSD ... source
   * source/binary transparency
   * all is built from source
   * *EVERYTHING*
   * starting from the ... *bootstrap binaries*


   The distribution is fully “bootstrapped” and “self-contained”: each
package is built based solely on other packages in the distribution.

The root of this dependency graph is a small set of “bootstrap
binaries”, provided by the ‘(gnu packages bootstrap)’ module.  For more
information on bootstrapping, *note Bootstrapping::.


[2010]: Eelco Dolstra, Andres Löh, and Nicolas Pierron described
sources of non-determinism in their 2010 JFP paper about NixOS


** GuixSD bootstrap graph

#+LATEX:\includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{bootstrap-graph.png}


** GuixSD bootstrap tarballs
#+BEGIN_SRC bash
$ du -schx $(readlink $(guix build bootstrap-tarballs)/*)
2.1M	/gnu/store/mzk1bc3pfrrf4qnfs3zkj5ch83srnvpx-binutils-static-stripped-tarball-2.27/binutils-static-stripped-2.27-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
16M	/gnu/store/jddviycivycfhaqahqff6n18y9w46gpz-gcc-stripped-tarball-4.9.4/gcc-stripped-4.9.4-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
1.7M	/gnu/store/x5zrmh820yc054w00cy00iixwghmly2y-glibc-stripped-tarball-2.24/glibc-stripped-2.24-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
3.1M	/gnu/store/znsf5d7xbqkp4rrjgzsklmwmms8m5i3m-guile-static-stripped-tarball-2.0.12/guile-static-stripped-2.0.12-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
5.7M	/gnu/store/myfikfgx74dzlm3lc217kchxnckri5qq-static-binaries-tarball-0/static-binaries-0-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
28M	total
$ for i in $(readlink $(guix build bootstrap-tarballs)/*);\
  do sudo tar xf $i; done
$ du -schx *
125M	bin
13M	include
18M	lib
43M	libexec
4.3M	share
202M	total
#+END_SRC


** Inspiration

*** To finally run GNU
  * GuixSD: GNU in the flesh
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <1->
  :END:
*** Bootstrap binaries: source all the way down?
  * OriansJ: \ahref{https://github.com/oriansj/stage0}{self-hosting hex assembler}
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <1->
  :END:
*** The computer revolution hasn't happened yet
  * Alan Kay
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <2->
  :END:
The computer revolution is very new, and all of the good ideas have
not been universally implemented

** Bootstrapping: Chicken and Egg

#+LATEX:\includegraphics[width=0.3\textwidth]{egg.png}

** Inspiration

*** To finally run GNU
  * GuixSD: GNU in the flesh
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <1->
  :END:
*** Bootstrap binaries: source all the way down?
  * OriansJ: \ahref{https://github.com/oriansj/stage0}{self-hosting hex assembler}
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <1->
  :END:
*** The computer revolution hasn't happened yet
  * Alan Kay
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <1->
  :END:
The computer revolution is very new, and all of the good ideas have
not been universally implemented
*** \ahref{http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1039523}{LISP as the Maxwell's Equations of Software}
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ACT: <1->
  :END:
That was the big revelation to me when I [..] finally understood that
the half page of code on the bottom of page 13 of the Lisp 1.5 manual
was Lisp in itself.  These were “Maxwell’s Equations of Software!”

  * \ahref{http://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/LISP/book/LISP\%25201.5\%2520Programmers\%2520Manual.pdf}{LISP-1.5}: page 13


** Chicken and Egg

   * the shortest path from hex to gcc
   * using Maxwell's Equations of Software

** Bootstrapping: Chicken and Egg

#+LATEX:\includegraphics[width=0.3\textwidth]{mes.png}


* Mes: HOW?

** LISP-1.5 John McCarthy: page 13

# convert -density 150 -quality 100 -flatten -sharpen 0x1.0 LISP-1.5-page-13.pdf LISP-1.5-page-13.png
#+BEGIN_COMMENT
[[file:LISP-1-5-page-13-bottom.png][LISP-1.5 page 13 bottom]]
#+END_COMMENT

#+ATTR_LATEX: :width=\linewidth
#+LATEX:\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{LISP-1-5-page-13-bottom.png}

** Eval/Apply
  * core
    * apply
    * eval
  * helpers
    * assoc
    * pairlis
    * evcon
    * evlis
  * primitives
    * atom
    * car
    * cdr
    * cons
    * eq

** LISP-1.5 in Guile Scheme: APPLY

#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(define (apply fn x a)
  (cond
   ((atom fn)
    (cond
     ((eq fn CAR)  (caar x))
     ((eq fn CDR)  (cdar x))
     ((eq fn CONS) (cons (car x) (cadr x)))
     ((eq fn ATOM) (atom (car x)))
     ((eq fn EQ)   (eq (car x) (cadr x)))
     (#t           (apply (eval fn a) x a))))
   ((eq (car fn) LAMBDA)
                   (eval (caddr fn) (pairlis (cadr fn) x a)))
   ((eq (car fn) LABEL)
                   (apply (caddr fn) x (cons (cons (cadr fn)
                                                   (caddr fn))
                                             a)))))
#+END_SRC

** LISP-1.5 in Guile Scheme: EVAL

#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(define (eval e a)
  (cond
   ((atom e) (cdr (assoc e a)))
   ((atom (car e))
    (cond ((eq (car e) QUOTE) (cadr e))
          ((eq (car e) COND)  (evcon (cdr e) a))
          (#t                 (apply (car e)
                                     (evlis (cdr e) a) a))))
   (#t       (apply (car e) (evlis (cdr e) a) a))))
#+END_SRC

** LISP-1.5 in Scheme: ASSOC, PAIRLIS, EVCON, EVLIS

#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(define (assoc x a)
  (cond ((eq (caar a) x) (car a))
        (#t (assoc x (cdr a)))))

(define (pairlis x y a)
  (cond ((null x) a)
        (#t (cons (cons (car x) (car y))
                  (pairlis (cdr x) (cdr y) a)))))

(define (evcon c a)
  (cond ((eval (caar c) a) (eval (cadar c) a))
        (#t (evcon (cdr c) a))))

(define (evlis m a)
  (cond ((null m) NIL)
        (#t (cons (eval (car m) a) (evlis (cdr m) a)))))
#+END_SRC


** LISP-1.5 in C

  * closures
  * symbols
  * specials? =()= =#t= =#f= =*unspecified*= =*undefined*=
  * macros
  * syntax-rules
  * records
  * modules/importing

** Garbage/Jam Collector

*** Abelson & Sussman
With a real computer we will eventually run out of free
space in which to construct new pairs.(1)

*** footnote(1)

This may not be true eventually, because memories may get large
enough so that it would be impossible to run out of free memory in the
lifetime of the computer.  For example, there are about {3\cdot10^{13}}
microseconds in a year, so if we were to ‘cons’ once per microsecond we
would need about 10^{15} cells of memory to build a machine that could
operate for 30 years without running out of memory.


** C parser: roll your own LALR

*** Lalr
  * minimal ANSI-C parser

 =int main (){puts ("Hello, world!");return 0;}=

** C parser: Nyacc
*** Pros
  * full C99 parser
  * ...including C pre-processor
  * perspective of building complete C compiler in Guile
  * tsunami of enthusiasm and contributors!

** C parser: Nyacc

*** Cons: more TODO for Mes
  * keywords
  * =define*=, =lambda*=
    * optargs
  * exeptions, =catch=, =throw=
    * =call/cc=
  * fluids, =with-fluid=
  * =syntax-case=
    * André van Tonder's 2006-2007 streak in 14 "commits"
    * psyntax: another bootstrap loop?!
  * R7RS's Ellipsis
    * Guile-1.8
  * =#;=-comments
  * =#||#=-comments

** C parser: Nyacc

*** Cons: more TODO for Mes

  * Cond supports ==>=
  * Bugfixes
    * Cond now evaluates its test clauses only once
    * Append can also handle one argument
    * For-each now supports 2 list arguments
    * Map now supports 3 list arguments
    * Backslash in string is supported
    * Closure is not a pair
    * All standard characters are supported

  * 36 new functions
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
  1+, 1-, abs, and=>, append-reverse, ash, char<\=?, char<?,
  char>=?, char>?, even?, filter, delete, delq, vector-copy,
  fold, fold-right, getenv, iota, keyword->symbol list-head,
  list-tail, negative?, odd?, positive?, remove!, remove,
  string->number, string-copy, string-prefix?, string=,
  string=?, symbol->keyword symbol-append, symbol-prefix?,
  unless, write, zero?
#+END_SRC

* Mes: WHERE?


** Timeline

*** June 19: \ahref{https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-user/2016-06/msg00061.html}{on bootstrapping: introducing Mes}
# https://gnunet.org/bot/log/guile/2016-05-19
  * LISP-1.5 in Scheme and in C
*** September 25: \ahref{https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-user/2016-09/msg00061.html}{on bootstrapping: 2nd status report on Mes}
# https://gnunet.org/bot/log/guile/2016-09-25
  * Scheme primitives in C, closures, macros, 97 tests, LALR
  * Produce ELF binary from
#+BEGIN_SRC C
int main ()
{
  int i;
  puts ("Hi Mes!\n");
  for (i = 0; i < 4; ++i)
    puts ("  Hello, world!\n");
  return 1;
}
#+END_SRC
  * in 1'20"

** Timeline

*** October 23: 0.1 [not announced]
  * =let-syntax=, =match=
  * compile main.c in 2s (was 1'20")
  * add REPL

*** November 21: 0.2 [not announced]
  * psyntax integration, =syntax-case=, =load=

*** December 12: \ahref{https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-user/2016-12/msg00008.html}{on bootstrapping: first Mes 0.3 released}
# https://gnunet.org/bot/log/guile/2016-12-12
  * Garbage Collector/Jam Scraper

*** December 25: \ahref{https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-user/2016-12/msg00041.html}{Mes 0.4 released}
# https://gnunet.org/bot/log/guile/2016-12-25
  * run Nyacc, PEG, reduced core
  
** Status

*** core C prototype: 1150 lines
*** non-essential C sources: 
#+BEGIN_SRC bash
  210 lib.c
  157 math.c
  126 posix.c
  134 reader.c
  627 total
#+END_SRC

** Status
*** tiny-mes.c: 270 lines
  * compiles with mescc
  * i386-lib: =i386:exit=, =i3886:open=, =i386:read=, =i386:write=
  * tiny-libc: =getchar=, =putchar=, =puts=, =strcmp=, =strlen=
  * runs
#+BEGIN_SRC bash
Hello tiny-mes!
reading: module/mes/hack-32.mo
MES *GOT MES*
(#\A(#\B))
#+END_SRC

** Status

*** mini-mes.c: 800 lines
  * 12kB binary
  * 2500 lines assembly
  * runs with gcc
#+BEGIN_SRC bash
Hello mini-mes!
reading: module/mes/hack-32.mo
MES *GOT MES*
cells read: 19
symbols: 1
program[10]: (cons(0(1)))
(0 . 1)
#+END_SRC
  * compiles with mescc
    * 83 statements skipped

** Status

*** 

#+BEGIN_SRC bash
01:16:51 janneke@dundal:~/src/mes 
$ guix package -f guix.scm
The following package will be upgraded:
   mes	0.4.f84e97fc -> 0.4.f84e97fc	/gnu/store/2fsy1cd24pnwkv7a1zd0anzk3zz8ysdn-mes-0.4.f84e97fc

#+END_SRC



** Misc
  :PROPERTIES:
  :BEAMER_ENV: note
  :END:

civodul

Impressive!

   Is it a goal to try interpret a language as close as possible to that of
   Guile, and have the same libraries?  I guess that could help in the
   future: we could use (system base lalr), nyacc, etc.

   Also, currently there’s approximately 2K lines of C.  How do you plan to
   make sure that it doesn’t grow over time, or even that it shrinks?  :-)

   This all sounds very promising, thanks a lot!

arnebab

This is really cool! Thank you for your work!

  > How do you compile the interpreter?

paroneayea/cwebber
First, I'm really excited you're making progress on Mes!

  > Second, Scheme48 did something similar to this, called "Pre-Scheme",
    which is how they bootstrapped Scheme48 iirc.  Have you heard of it or
    looked at it?

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PreScheme

  * PreScheme in Scheme48
  * \ahref{http://canonical.org/~kragen/sw/urscheme/}{Ur-Scheme}
R5RS to x86 Assembly

** What's next?

  * psyntax
    * source or binary?
    * alternative syntax-case?
    * rewrite Nyacc without syntax-case, R7RS-ellipsis?
  * call/cc vs eval/apply/evlis?
  * merge with Guile?
  * compile Guile or compile Gcc?
  * prototype? in C
    * move from C to Hex?
    * move from C to [Pre]Scheme

** Thanks
*** Thanks                                                    :B_block:BMCOL:
    :PROPERTIES:
    :BEAMER_COL: 0.48
    :BEAMER_ENV: block
    :END:
   * John McCarthy
   * Richard Stallman
   * Eelco Dolstra
   * Ludovic Courtès
   * Rutger van Beusekom
   * Christopher A. Webber
*** Thanks everyone else                                      :B_block:BMCOL:
    :PROPERTIES:
    :BEAMER_COL: 0.48
    :xBEAMER_ACT: <2->
    :BEAMER_ENV: block
    :END:
    * LISP-1.5
    * GNU
    * NixOS
    * Debian reproducible builds
    * GuixSD
    * FOSDEM
*** Connect
    * irc  freenode.net [[irc://guix@freenode.net][#guix]] [[irc://guile@freenode.net][#guile]]
    * mail [[mailto://guile-user@gnu.org][guile-user@gnu.org]]
    * git  [[https://gitlab.com/janneke/mes][git@gitlab.com:janneke/mes.git]]

# * Copying
#  :PROPERTIES:
#  :COPYING: t
#  :END:

#   Copyright \copy 2017 Jan Nieuwenhuizen <janneke@gnu.org>

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