The last few days I contributed a bit to the Snac codebase, fixing some issues, adding some features, making it more compatible with mobile apps and Tokodon using the Mastodon API.

The most recent version is running on our experimental instance https://snac.emacs.ch
If you want to sign-up, drop me a DM.

If you want to run your own Fediverse server, Snac is clearly the best alternative available right now:

https://codeberg.org/grunfink/snac2

Next step is to make it fully compatible with mastodon.el.

It's written in C, and the only dependency is on libcurl. Running it is a matter of `make install` and it works on Linux and BSDs alike.

I rarely contribute to open source projects, but Snac is an exception because I think that the Fediverse deserves a truly minimalistic project like this and the maintainer @grunfink is an amazing person to work with.

#snac2 #mastodonEl

Here at Emacs.ch we run an experimental side instance [1] based on Snac2 [2], which is a Mastodon-compatible Fediverse server written in C, runs completly file-based and features a zero-JS UI.

It doesn't have many of the fancy features of Mastodon, but is a bright example of how a super-minimal system can do the job *very* well. It'll also work with your mobile Mastodon apps and small browsers like Dillo[3].

It runs on OpenBSD and we accept a few more testers. There is no automatic sign-up, so if you are interested, DM me with the desired account name and I'll send you the credentials.

[1] https://snac.emacs.ch
[2] https://codeberg.org/grunfink/snac2
[3] https://dillo-browser.github.io

#snac2 #openbsd #dillo

Maybe a mix of C and CommonLisp can solve filling the gaps in missing libraries.

It's actually that easy to talk to C from Common Lisp:

Example C function

int add(int a, int b) {
  return a + b;
}

Compiile as a shared library with GCC.

% gcc -c -Wall -Werror -fpic lib.c
% gcc -shared -o mylib.so lib.o

Locate your library and define a foreign function in Common Lisp (#LispWorks in this case):

(fli:register-module "mylib.so")

(fli:define-foreign-function
    (add "add" :source)
    ((a :int)
     (b :int))
    :result-type :int
    :language :ansi-c)

Enjoy the fruits:

(add 66 3)
> 69

#CommonLisp

I have a feeling that Quicklisp slowly fades away into an unmaintained state. While still being the CL library manager & the CL online package library.

I believe there is an incredible amount of manual work invovled to keep it barely going.

Should we try to reform and renovate #Quicklisp and move it to a point where it appears to be a modern package manager & repository like any other language offers?

I probably sound heretic. I just feel that Quicklisp is an unopened treasure trove and vital to #CommonLisp 's adoption.

What do you think?