[pjmlp]

The last great version of Oberon, before ETHZ focused into Blue Bottle OS, written in Active Oberon. Which is actually my favourite version in the Oberon family linage.

Anyway Oberon System 3, is a great example of a full graphical single user workstation OS, with component framework (OLE style), with a repl, written in a GC enabled system programming language, supporting both JIT for dynamically loaded modules, or straight AOT compilation.

All of this when PCs still had to deal with Windows 3.x.

[Rochus]

> OLE style

The Oberon component model actually differs significantly from COM/OLE. Oberon uses messages and message protocols; COM uses interfaces and the same virtual function tables as C++. Also interesting to note that there is not a single type-bound procedure in the whole Oberon System release 2.3.6 code.

[pjmlp]

Style doesn't mean 100% the same C++ code as OLE.

Of course the Document/Gadgets/Library system was implemented in a different way as OLE.

[Rochus]

OLE 1 and Gadgets both appeared in 1990; Marais references the 1989 InterViews (Linton, Vlissides, Calder) publication in his 1990 report. See also https://doi.org/10.1080/10618600.1996.10474712.

[pjmlp]

Yes Herr Professor, they appeared on the same year.

I was trying to make a point about an idea for the people that might have heard of OLE and nothing else.

How many with the age of 30 years and below do you think even know what InterViews was about?

[Rochus]

It is important and also helpful for the younger readers to name and correctly attribute the essential achievements. E.g. one fellow stated that "OLE was introduced in Windows 3.x", so it is important to note that the Oberon Gadget system appeared in the same year, and the component system was an independent achievement, that took a completely different approach than OLE or OpenDoc.

[nine_k]

To be fair, OLE was introduced in Windows 3.x. Of course, writing in Pascal or C++ was less fun than it would be in Oberon.

[pjmlp]

OLE as concept, is based on how Xerox Star and GlobalView handled documents.

Some of the Office team early developers were ex-Xerox researchers.

I haven't mentioned them, because they aren't well know outside Xerox PARC archeology.

[__d]

You could change that? They deserve the history be known.

[lproven]

Charles Simonyi developed Bravo, the first WYSIWYG word processor, for the Alto at Xerox PARC.

He later wrote Microsoft Word, and other parts of what became MS Office, at Microsoft, where he was Chief Architect:

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

He designed what is now called Hungarian Notation:

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

Word uses the famous piece table data structure -- also from PARC -- which is how "fast saves" work.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160308183811/http://1017.songt...

As a result Simonyi is a billionaire and was the first ever two-time space tourist:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/26/space-tourist-...

You could justifiably say that he and his work are quite famous. (!)

[hedora]

It’s been documented elsewhere; e.g.:

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&d...