[Openmcl-devel] CCL on Apple Silicon

[R. Matthew Emerson]

> On Apr 7, 2024, at 3:49 AM, peter <p2.edoc at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Am I correct in concluding the Clozure Common Lisp will not run on Apple Silicon under any guise. So not natively, under Rosetta-2, in virtualisation (do any support X86 emulation) under Parallels, UTM, VMware Fusion, VirtualBox on Apple Silicon?
> 
> Hence for those that want to keep going with their Clozure Lisp but on current Apple systems (ie. Apple Silicon) it'll have to be via Screen Sharing to an 2018 Intel Mac Mini or such.
> 
> That or move on to SBCL et al and rewrite code as far as viable. For those addicted to the CCL Hemlock UI, get used to Emacs-Slime.
> 
> Meanwhile praying that Clozure breathes again, and cursing the INT instruction void. Or sticking with an unsupported Intel Mac, or abandon Apple and morph over to the WinTel world.
> 
> Is this how things stand today for those whose digital life has been heavily CCL based. Somehow I never got any message saying the CCL on current Apple computers (Apple Silicon) is a complete and indefinite no-go (unless there's some radical phoenix action).
> 
> I.e. CCL is effectively dead and buried on current Macs, full stop.
> 
> Crossing fingers and hoping to be shot down in flames.

I recently decided to leave my current full-time job, and I’ll be working on CCL again. This is probably an imprudent thing for me to do, but you only live once, right?

I don’t want to share details (funding, etc.) with the whole world, but it’s looking like I’ll be able to work about half-time on an ARM64 port. Please write me privately if you want to talk about supporting that ARM64 work.

I've worked on CCL for quite a few years, and I did the 32-bit x86 port, so I have experience in this area. I’m not as good a hacker as Gary Byers, but then again, few people are.

There are lots of issues and challenges ahead, but I’m not ready to have a funeral for CCL just yet.