Front ending the Connection Machine with the XL400

["BUCKMAN@ALAN.LAAC-AI.Dialnet.Symbolics.COM" <"BUCKMAN%ALAN.LAAC-AI.Dialnet.Symbolics.COM %ALAN.KAHUNA.DECNET.LOCKHEED.COM"@WARBUCKS.AI.SRI.COM>]

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Date: Wed, 7 Jun 89 11:35 PDT
From: Eric Buckman <BUCKMAN@ALAN.LAAC-AI.Dialnet.Symbolics.COM>
Subject: Front ending the Connection Machine with the XL400 
To: slug@ALAN.LAAC-AI.Dialnet.Symbolics.COM
cc: hsc@ALAN.LAAC-AI.Dialnet.Symbolics.COM
Message-ID: <19890607183502.1.BUCKMAN@JOHN.LAAC-AI.Dialnet.Symbolics.COM>
 
 
Hi,
   It seems that Thinking Machines is reluctant to commit to front ending the
CM with the new XL400's.  We are currently front ending our CM with 3650's (and
want to replace them witht the faster XL400's).  Our CM developers (non AI folks
by the way, actually, they were Fortran hachers.) have had great success in
using the Symbolics front end and writing their code in *LISP.  (They have also
made great use of the Symbolics Genera interface software, thus providing the
users of their code a powerful user interface).  We have had such
good sucess (a lot of it attributed to the quick software development time that
using the Symbolics has provided (especially the debugger and incremental
compilation) that they are pretty adamant about not being forced to join the
"Sun bandwaggon".  I'm looking for other opinions and help from other CM users
currently using *LISP and the Symbolics that don't want to be forced to give it up.
 
Thanks for the word.
 
eric buckman  (buckman@alan.kahuna.decent.lockheed.com)