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Date:Mon Feb 9 01:13:22 1993 
Subject:Re: comp.lang.pop FAQ 
From:David Kinny 
Volume-ID:930213.01 

Well, thanks to Aaron Sloman, I now have a better idea of what POP is.
The fact that its only available commercially does put the EDEN
system in a strange light.  To quote from the announcement:

>    ANNOUNCING THE EDEN/POPBEAST AI COMPETITION AND TEACHING KIT
>
>
>Do you want to take part in Oxford University's international AI-in-Eden
>competition? Do you have a Poplog system?(*) Are you looking for AI
>teaching materials? If so, read on!
>
>We have developed Eden as a Poplog-based AI microworld(**) in which
>members can experiment with learning and planning, and we are now making
>it available as part of an international AI competition. Unlike many
>leading brands of microworld, Eden puts the emphasis on learning, whilst
>still providing a rewarding environment where the less creative
>rule-based AI need not feel out of place.
>
>(*) Or the willingness to translate some Pop-11 simulation code to your
>favourite programming language.

Well, translating to something else is probably straightforward if you
know Pop-11, but it seems that apart from the primer (described as
"an incomplete draft introduction") the only way to find out about it is
to purchase the system.

> (**) Hopefully to be accepted as the official ANSI standard microworld.

Pull the other one, Jocelyn.  I think the ideas behind eden are excellent,
but the decision to base it on a commercial product is ludicrous.  Pop-11
may be a wonderful language, and Poplog a fabulous implementation of it,
but it's not freely available.  If you are serious about wanting people
to use EDEN, you should release a Prolog or common lisp port.  If porting
is a non-trivial exercise, then you can't expect those unfamiliar with
pop to do it.  If its trivial, then why hasn't it been done?  I'd hate to
think that one aim of the competition was to sell more Poplog systems.

David