Lisp Machine Museum Documentation Examiner
Genera Museum Documentation
Knowledge Base›Constructing systems, patches, worlds, and distributions

Constructing systems, patches, worlds, and distributions

MIT CADR software and Symbolics Genera both connect source-system descriptions, compiled files, patches, and bootable memory images, but they do not use one interchangeable artifact or one monolithic “system builder.” In the inspected releases:

  • MIT System 46 bootstraps a running world with QLD, writes a cold load with MAKE-COLD, saves memory into a disk load band with DISK-SAVE, and transfers bands separately. It predates the later MAKE-SYSTEM and patch-manager source inspected here.
  • LM-3 System 303 has MAKE-SYSTEM, a patch manager and ZWEI patch commands, cold and load-band writers, network band transfer, and file-level distribution utilities.
  • Genera 8.5 has the System Construction Tool (SCT), journal- and plan-based compilation/loading, a richer patch workflow, a World Building command subset, VLOD world loads, and interactive distribution and restoration frames.

The most important preservation distinction is that a distribution is not necessarily a runnable memory image. A CADR LOD partition and a Genera VLOD hold saved machine state; the distribution facilities select and copy systems, source, binaries, patches, documentation, or installation media. Conversely, a saved world is not a source archive. Genera's VLOD structure and its limits are covered separately in World loads and the VLOD format.

Scope and meaning of “complete”

This is a release-bounded implementation dossier, not a universal command list for every Lisp Machine site. “Complete” has the following reproducible grain:

Surface Inventory rule
System 46 Direct construction, save, and band-transfer entry points in the pinned public source snapshot.
System 303 MAKE-SYSTEM Every keyword with a MAKE-SYSTEM-KEYWORD handler in the pinned maksys.lisp.
System 303 patches The callable patch-management surface identified in patch.lisp, every option parsed by LOAD-PATCHES, and every direct DEFCOM in zwei/pated.lisp.
System 303 distribution Direct top-level distribution and band-transfer functions in the inspected files.
Genera SCT Every active CP command defined in the inspected SCT command sources, plus every documented DEFSYSTEM option found in the installed 8.5 material. Block-commented stubs are identified but not counted as active commands.
Genera patch editing Every public direct DEFCOM in the inspected Zmacs patch source, plus the two commands local to its special description-edit buffer.
Genera World Building Every direct command assigned by source to the World Building command table.
Genera distribution Every direct CP command, frame pane, direct frame command, accelerator, and source-defined mouse translator in the inspected distribution and restoration sources.

This grain excludes commands installed later by a site, private user initializations, runtime patches, inherited generic Dynamic Windows commands not defined by these applications, and functions that are implementation helpers rather than an intended entry surface. Source, manuals, and runtime observations are kept separate when they disagree.

Evidence boundary

The public MIT comparison uses two distinct revisions:

  • MIT CADR System 46, Git commit 8e978d7d1704096a63edd4386a3b8326a2e584af;
  • maintained LM-3 System 303, Fossil check-in 4df393c68d7f083ce42d5c377039d26043cc18a9031ace28258dc97f4137eb91.

The latter is a maintained restoration tree, not evidence that every System 303 detail was present in System 46 or in an unmodified historical MIT tree.

The Genera comparison is a local, licensed Open Genera 2 / Genera 8.5 artifact observation. The purchased archive is opengenera2.tar.bz2, 206,213,430 bytes, SHA-256 89fb3e76b91d612834f565834dea950b603acf8f9dbacacdd0b1c3c284a2d36e. Its base Genera-8-5.vlod is 54,804,480 bytes, SHA-256 a8ee5e86cc7e322f7385af3e0cd579d7650d4dcfc3ce328acbf8b25515dd0672. Only filenames, sizes, hashes, interface inventories, and original analysis are recorded here; no licensed source, manual text, or recovered payload is reproduced.

Four layers that must not be collapsed

Layer CADR / LM-3 example Genera example What it preserves
Source-system construction QLD, later DEFSYSTEM and MAKE-SYSTEM SCT system definitions and plans Relationships among source, binaries, dependencies, components, and load actions.
Patch lifecycle System 303 patch directories and ZWEI patch commands SCT patch objects, journals, and Zmacs patch commands Ordered changes applied after a system version, with status and authorship metadata.
Runnable memory image Cold load and LOD load band LOAD, ILOD, and VLOD world-load files Memory state from which the machine can start or resume its boot sequence.
Distribution media File-copy utilities, directory/tape preparation, band transfer Distribution and restoration plans for tape, disk, or supported removable media A selected set of installable files or, separately, a transferred saved image.

“Build the system,” “save the world,” and “make a distribution” are therefore different operations, even when an operational recipe performs them in sequence.

MIT CADR System 46: constructing and saving before MAKE-SYSTEM

QLD constructs a running world

System 46's QLD is a staged loader rather than the later declarative MAKE-SYSTEM interface. The source describes eight phases:

  1. load a minimal nucleus including QFASL, string, and package support;
  2. load the inner system;
  3. load FORMAT;
  4. load Chaosnet and related network support;
  5. load the file/QFASL layer;
  6. perform cold-boot-like file-system initialization;
  7. use package-driven loading for the remainder of the world;
  8. optionally compact property and method lists.

The procedure ends with an instruction to invoke DISK-SAVE; it does not itself turn the loaded files into a durable boot band. RECOMPILE-WORLD is a related recompilation entry point. This division is historically important: loading enough code to create a working Lisp environment and recording that environment on disk are separate steps.

No MAKE-SYSTEM implementation or patch-editor source was found in this pinned System 46 snapshot. That is an absence claim about this revision, not a claim that MIT Lisp Machines never acquired those facilities; System 303 below demonstrates the later design.

Cold loads and load bands

MAKE-COLD reads a prescribed list of QFASL inputs and writes a cold-load partition. Its prompt asks whether to smash the target partition. DISK-SAVE records the current Lisp memory into a selected disk partition after confirming the overwrite, updating the partition comment, logging out, resetting network state, and running save initializations. Both operations are media-mutating construction tools, not archive extractors.

The direct System 46 band-transfer surface is:

Entry point Purpose Preservation risk
BAND-TRANSFER-SERVER Serve band-transfer protocol requests. Depends on the request received.
RECEIVE-BAND Receive blocks into a local band. Writes the target partition.
COMPARE-BAND Compare local and remote band contents. Read-only in the inspected implementation, but requires a live peer and network.
TRANSMIT-BAND Send a local band to a remote receiver. The remote target is written.

The installation notes treat source/QFASL copying and band construction as related operational work, but the saved band remains distinct from the file trees used to construct it.

LM-3 System 303: DEFSYSTEM and MAKE-SYSTEM

System 303 represents a system as components and transformations with dependencies. MAKE-SYSTEM first resolves the named system, normally reloads a changed system declaration, expands the requested top-level transformations including component systems, builds a file-transformation plan, asks for confirmation as appropriate, and then performs the plan. Conditions can recheck a transformation immediately before execution because an earlier transformation may have changed its inputs.

Complete MAKE-SYSTEM keyword inventory

Keyword Source-defined effect
:NOCONFIRM Do not ask for confirmation.
:SELECTIVE Ask about files individually.
:SILENT Suppress normal file-list output.
:RELOAD Load even when the normal loaded-state test says loading is unnecessary.
:NOLOAD Remove loading from the requested transformations.
:COMPILE Add compilation and the associated patch-version increment transformation.
:RECOMPILE Combine forced reload with compilation, including files already compiled.
:NO-INCREMENT-PATCH Remove patch-version incrementing; source makes this override :COMPILE regardless of keyword order.
:INCREMENT-PATCH Request patch-version incrementing.
:NO-LOAD-PATCHES Do not load patches for a patchable system as part of making it.
:DO-NOT-DO-COMPONENTS Omit component systems.
:NOWARN Suppress warning interaction/output used by the make operation.
:DEFAULTED-BATCH Arrange a batch warning file using default naming.
:BATCH Write compilation warnings to a loadable batch file.
:PRINT-ONLY Print the work that would be required without compiling or loading.
:NO-RELOAD-SYSTEM-DECLARATION Do not refresh the file containing the DEFSYSTEM.
:NOOP Accept the option but add no operation.
:DESCRIBE Report compile/load history and related file state.

The manual documents fourteen of these. The source additionally accepts :NO-LOAD-PATCHES, :DO-NOT-DO-COMPONENTS, :NOWARN, and :DESCRIBE. MAKE-SYSTEM also has two behaviors easy to miss in a feature list:

  • collective confirmation offers a selective path, and its unattended timeout proceeds after five minutes;
  • :PRINT-ONLY still computes the transformation plan, making it the least invasive source-defined inspection mode even though no runtime check was made in this audit.

System 303 patch management

A patchable system has a major version, an ordered minor-patch directory, status, and source/QFASL patch files. Reserving a patch records a placeholder; finishing it replaces that unfinished marker with an explanation and release state. Loading must respect order so that the same system version denotes the same patch sequence.

Patch-manager entry points

The intended callable surface found in sys2/patch.lisp groups as follows:

Role Entry points
Find and register GET-PATCH-SYSTEM-NAMED, ADD-PATCH-SYSTEM
Major version and directory INCREMENT-PATCH-SYSTEM-MAJOR-VERSION, GET-PATCH-SYSTEM-MAJOR-VERSION, READ-PATCH-DIRECTORY, WRITE-PATCH-DIRECTORY
Inspect PRINT-PATCHES, PATCH-LOADED-P, PRINT-PATCH, VIEW-UNFINISHED-PATCHES
Load and save LOAD-PATCHES, LOAD-PATCHES-FOR-LOGICAL-PATHNAME-HOSTS, LOAD-AND-SAVE-INCREMENTAL-PATCHES, LOAD-AND-SAVE-PATCHES
Author a patch RESERVE-PATCH, CONSUMMATE-PATCH, ABORT-PATCH
Version and status administration GET-NEW-SYSTEM-VERSION, SYSTEM-VERSION-INFO, DESCRIBE-SYSTEM-VERSIONS, PRINT-SYSTEM-MODIFICATIONS, GET-SYSTEM-VERSION, SET-SYSTEM-STATUS

The source recognizes the statuses experimental, released, obsolete, inconsistent, and broken.

Complete LOAD-PATCHES option inventory

Options may also be system names directly. The parser otherwise recognizes:

Option Effect
:SYSTEMS systems Restrict loading to the following system or list.
:SILENT, :NOWARN Suppress patch-loading information and selection.
:VERBOSE Print information for patches considered.
:SELECTIVE Query about individual patches.
:SITE Refresh site configuration information.
:NOOP Perform no additional option action.
:NOSITE Do not refresh site configuration information.
:UNRELEASED Consider unreleased patches.
:NOSELECTIVE Do not query about each patch.
:FORCE-UNFINISHED Continue through unfinished patches.

The installed manual mentions :HOSTS and :NOHOSTS, but neither is accepted by this source parser. Conversely, the source accepts :NOWARN and :NOOP, which the manual's option list omits. After the site path, source refreshes logical pathname hosts without those two manual switches.

An unfinished entry has no explanation and normally stops the remaining sequence. Loading an unfinished, unreleased, or out-of-sequence patch marks the system inconsistent and warns against dumping a band. Selective loading times out after five minutes: consideration of unreleased patches defaults to no, while a per-patch load prompt defaults to proceeding. The LOAD-AND-SAVE-* helpers reject :FORCE-UNFINISHED and :UNRELEASED, inspect inconsistent systems, and then save a band only after loading changes. They are convenience pipelines for mutation, not safe inspection commands.

Complete System 303 ZWEI patch-command inventory

These ten direct commands are named-command operations, conventionally invoked through Meta-X; the source does not install direct keystrokes for them:

  1. Add Patch
  2. Start Patch
  3. Start Private Patch
  4. Cancel Patch
  5. Resume Patch
  6. Finish Patch
  7. Finish Patch Unreleased
  8. Release Patch
  9. Add Patch Changed Sections
  10. Add Patch Buffer Changed Sections

Only one patch-editing state is active at once. Start Private Patch avoids allocating a public system version, and private patches are outside the normal LOAD-PATCHES sequence. Add Patch detects a readtable mismatch between a source buffer and the patch buffer and inserts a warning note rather than silently treating the text as context-free. Finish Patch with a numeric argument requests release; without it, the command asks.

System 303 cold loads, bands, and file distributions

The later MAKE-COLD still writes a cold-load partition from selected compiled inputs and has an optional Lambda-machine branch. It remains distinct from MAKE-SYSTEM, which operates on ordinary system files in a running world.

The System 303 band-transfer surface remains BAND-TRANSFER-SERVER, RECEIVE-BAND, COMPARE-BAND, and TRANSMIT-BAND. Receive and transmit can select a subset of blocks, allowing a transfer to resume, and server policy can be NIL, T, or :NOTIFY. Resumability does not make receipt nonmutating: accepted blocks still overwrite the destination band.

The direct file-distribution surface in distribution/dist.lisp is:

  • system and patch copying: MAKE-DISTRIBUTION, COPY-SYSTEM, COPY-SYSTEMS, COPY-PATCH-FILES, COPY-PATCH-FILES-OF-SYSTEM-VERSION, and COPY-PATCH-FILES-OF-SYSTEM;
  • machine inputs: COPY-MICROCODE-FILES, TRANSLATE, and COPY-INSTALLED-VERSIONS;
  • broader selections: COPY-WORLD, COPY-DOCUMENTATION-DIRECTORIES, and COPY-OZ-WORLD;
  • media and inspection helpers: MAGTAPE-WRITE-SYSTEM-DIRECTORIES, DIRED-SYSTEM-DIRECTORIES, DIRED-ALL-DIRECTORIES, and DELETE-FILES-WITH-BAD-CONTENTS, plus tape-restore pathname transforms.

Despite its name, COPY-WORLD copies system source and related files; it does not copy the currently running memory or a LOD partition. COPY-OZ-WORLD similarly selects logical source, binary, and documentation directories. Band transfer and file distribution are parallel preservation paths, not aliases.

Genera 8.5 SCT

The installed documentation expands SCT as System Construction Tool. Its source evolves the System 303 model: a system definition names modules, components, dependencies, source and destination policy, journal policy, patch policy, and machine variants. Commands construct a plan for compilation, loading, editing, or distribution. A plan can be shown or simulated before operations execute. Journals record system/component histories and version designations.

Complete documented DEFSYSTEM option inventory

The 24 options in the installed 8.5 material are:

Concern Options
Names and package :pretty-name, :short-name, :default-package, :package-override
Paths and module type :default-pathname, :default-destination-pathname, :default-module-type
Dependencies and components :required-systems, :parameters, :initializations
Journals and versions :maintain-journals, :journal-directory, :version-mapping, :initial-status
Patches and reporting :patchable, :patches-reviewed, :patch-atom, :bug-reports, :maintaining-sites
Publication and installation :advertised-in, :source-category, :distribute-sources, :distribute-binaries, :installation-script

The list describes system declarations, not CP command keywords. A site or patch can extend the system-definition machinery; completeness here is limited to the installed 8.5 documentation and inspected implementation.

Complete active SCT CP command inventory

Eleven active direct commands are defined in the inspected SCT CP sources:

Command Source-defined arguments and options
Load Patches All, Local, or a sequence of systems; :Query, :Include Components, :Save, :Show, :Dangerous Patch Action, :Excluding, :Machine Type.
Load System System; :Condition (Always or Newly-Compiled), :Query, :Redefinitions Ok, :Version, :Branch, :Silent, :Load Patches, :Include Components, :Component Version, :Simulate, :Machine Type.
Show System Modifications System; :Author, :Before, :From, :Matching, :Newest, :Number, :Oldest, :Reviewer, :Since, :Through.
Show ECOs No command arguments in this definition.
Compile System System; :Version, :Branch, :Condition (Always or New-Source), :Copy Compile, :Load, :Query, :Redefinitions Ok, :New Major Version, :Update Directory, :Silent, :Batch, :Include Components, :Component Version, :Simulate, :Machine Type.
Edit System System; :Branch, :Include Components, :Machine Types, :Query, :Silent.
Show System Plan System and operations; :Detailed, :Version, :Machine Types, :Date Checking.
Show System Definition System; :Detailed, :Version, :Use Journals.
Show System Components System.
Show Additional Patches Systems; :Comments.
Show System Version Designations Systems.

Create System and Release System appear only in a block-commented source region and are not counted as active commands. Their presence is design residue, not proof that a user could invoke them in this release.

Compile System controls how source freshness, copying, loading, confirmations, component inclusion, journaling, and target machine type affect the plan. Load System builds a load plan rather than blindly loading every file. Show System Plan and :Simulate expose the distinction between planning and execution. Nevertheless, some plan construction can consult file state and journals; “simulate” means no planned compile/load operation, not necessarily zero reads or zero ephemeral Lisp allocation.

Genera patches

Genera retains ordered patch directories and adds plan integration, component-system handling, dangerous-patch policy, dependency retries, journals, and a larger Zmacs authoring surface. Load Patches normally considers only systems whose patch directory creation date changed. An unfinished patch stops the sequence. A patch can require a minimum patch level in another system; the loader queues the dependent system and retries it after prerequisites are processed.

The default :Dangerous Patch Action is to skip dangerous patches; the alternatives query or load. This default is source-visible safety behavior, not a promise that ordinary patches are harmless. The source's journal update narrows a concurrency race by checking before the write and, on LMFS, again after writing but before closing. Its own comment says a true distributed lock service is not yet present, so this must not be described as transactional or globally locked patch installation.

Complete public Zmacs patch-command inventory

The 24 direct public named commands in the inspected patch editor are:

  1. Edit System Files
  2. Edit Patch File
  3. Start Patch
  4. Start Private Patch
  5. Declare System for Private Patch
  6. Resume Patch
  7. Select Patch
  8. Add Patch
  9. Add Patch Undefine Function
  10. Add Patch Cleanup Flavor
  11. Finish Patch
  12. Abort Patch
  13. Revoke Patch
  14. Set Patch Author
  15. Set Patch Reviewer
  16. Add Patch Changed Definitions
  17. Add Patch Changed Definitions of Buffer
  18. Add Patch Changed Definitions of Tag Table
  19. Show Patches
  20. Recompile Patch
  21. Reload Patch
  22. Edit Patch Comment
  23. Add Patch Comment
  24. Show Patch Mail Example

The workflow can save modified source buffers, compile the patch, handle compiler warnings, edit the explanatory comment, send patch mail, and record dependencies. These are named commands; the inspected source installs no general direct key bindings for them.

Two additional commands exist only in the special patch-description editing buffer: Exit Patch Description Edit and Abort Patch Description Edit. In that buffer, End or Control-Altmode exits and continues; Abort, Control-Z, or Control-] aborts. Those local keys are not global Zmacs patch bindings.

Genera World Building

World Building is a command-table subset under Site Administration, not a single frame or one “World Builder” application. The source assigns four direct commands:

Command Role Open Genera relevance and risk
Save World Save a complete, or where supported incremental, world to a pathname. Writes a world load and transforms the running process into the save path; not exercised.
Show Login History Report login history. Read-oriented, but ancillary to construction.
Optimize World Perform immediate layered garbage collection/release work before a save. Confirms a roughly forty-minute operation and mutates the live world's state; not exercised.
Configure MacIvory Application Prepare MacIvory application configuration. Platform-specific and not the Open Genera/VLM workflow.

On the VLM, Save World accepts a pathname and defaults to a complete save; the complete/incremental choice is present only when incremental saving is enabled. DISK-SAVE prepares the world, resets temporary allocation, reaches a point it labels too late to return from, transfers control to an initial process, and waits. The VLM implementation refuses a second save from the same running world. A save is therefore neither an ordinary file-copy command nor a reversible UI experiment.

Genera pathname types distinguish :COLD-LOAD (LOAD), :I-COLD-LOAD (ILOD), and :V-COLD-LOAD (VLOD). A VLOD is a structured saved virtual-memory image, not an archive of independent source files. CADR LOD partitions and Genera VLOD files occupy analogous lifecycle positions but are not the same on-disk format.

Genera distribution and restoration

Complete CP command inventory

Four direct CP commands expose the subsystem:

Command Source-defined options
Distribute Systems System/version specifications; :Source Category, :File Types, :Default Version, :Query, :Menu, :System Branch, :Flatten Files, :Compress Files, :Include Patches, :Distribute Patch Sources, :Include Components, :Included Files Checkpoint, :Use Cached Checkpoint, :Use Disk, :Tape Spec, :Full Length Tapes, :Machine Types, plus generic More Processing and Output Destination controls.
Restore Distribution :Use Disk, :Skip Restoration, :Menu, plus generic output controls.
Show Distribution Directory :Use Disk.
Verify Distribution :Use Disk.

With no system specifications, Distribute Systems enters its menu-driven frame. The source notes that an existing frame preserves prior system specifications but resets keyword-derived state; it calls this inconsistency out rather than hiding it. Generating a plan and writing media are separate actions, and a new plan initially selects all included files.

The media abstraction covers tape and disk, with platform-dependent removable-media support. Disk output uses a tape-like image representation rather than turning the distribution into a VLOD. Restoration likewise initializes media, displays its systems/files, lets the user select a subset, and only then performs copying. Before performing, the source checks that the medium still identifies as the one initialized.

Distribution frame: panes and commands

The standard distribution frame and the small-distribution variant have the same eight direct panes; only sizing and fonts differ. The chooser selects the standard form above 950 pixels of screen width and the small form otherwise.

  1. title
  2. mode
  3. menu
  4. actions
  5. defaults
  6. default-recast-menu
  7. display
  8. interact

Manual descriptions combine these into larger semantic regions, so their smaller section count is not a contradiction to the eight implementation panes.

The 21 direct distribution-frame commands are:

  1. Add System Specs
  2. Menu Delete System Specs
  3. Delete System Specs
  4. Menu Edit System Spec
  5. Edit System Spec
  6. Recast System Specs from Defaults
  7. Recast System Spec from Defaults
  8. Generate Plan
  9. Toggle Distribution of File
  10. Include All Files of System
  11. Exclude All Files of System
  12. Write Distribution
  13. Switch Modes
  14. Reset Defaults
  15. Help
  16. Distribute Refresh
  17. Distribute Scroll Forward
  18. Distribute Scroll Backward
  19. Distribute Scroll to Beginning
  20. Distribute Scroll to End
  21. Distribute Remove Typeout Window

The visible top menu exposes Add, Delete, Edit, Generate Plan, Write, Switch, Reset, and Help; Recast has a separate control. The two Menu ... commands are menu wrappers rather than additional conceptual operations.

In system-specification mode, left-clicking the title invokes Add, left-clicking a system line invokes Edit, middle-clicking a system line invokes Delete, and the right-button menu includes Recast. In plan mode, left-clicking a file toggles its selection, left-clicking a system header includes all its files, and middle-clicking the header excludes them.

Restoration frame: panes and commands

The restore frame has six direct panes:

  1. title
  2. menu
  3. actions
  4. system-display
  5. display
  6. interact

Its 19 direct commands are:

  1. Select All Systems
  2. Deselect All Systems
  3. Select System
  4. Deselect System
  5. Toggle Selection of System
  6. Select All Files of System
  7. Deselect All Files of System
  8. Select File
  9. Deselect File
  10. Toggle Selection of File
  11. Initialize Restoration
  12. Perform Restoration
  13. Help
  14. Restore Refresh
  15. Restore Scroll Forward
  16. Restore Scroll Backward
  17. Restore Scroll to Beginning
  18. Restore Scroll to End
  19. Restore Remove Typeout Window

The visible menu has Initialize, Perform, and Help. Other selection operations are presentation-driven: left-clicking a file or system toggles it; left- and middle-clicking a file-system header select or deselect all its files; left- and middle-clicking the systems title select or deselect all systems. The source also defines translators for typed selection and deselection commands.

Both frames bind Help and Refresh, Control-V or Scroll for forward scrolling, Meta-V or Meta-Scroll for backward scrolling, Meta-< and Meta-> for the beginning and end, and Space to remove a typeout window.

Source/manual differences that affect operation

Release and surface Manual evidence Pinned source evidence Documentation conclusion
System 303 MAKE-SYSTEM Lists fourteen keyword options. Adds :NO-LOAD-PATCHES, :DO-NOT-DO-COMPONENTS, :NOWARN, and :DESCRIBE. The source inventory is broader for this check-in.
System 303 LOAD-PATCHES Lists :HOSTS and :NOHOSTS; omits :NOWARN and :NOOP. Parser rejects the host switches and accepts the omitted pair. Do not present the manual list as the executable grammar of this source.
Genera Load Patches Says :Include Components defaults to No. Command definition defaults it to true. Unresolved release-artifact contradiction; inspect live argument prompting before choosing.
Genera Load System Includes :Condition Never. Active command choice is only Always or Newly-Compiled. Never is not source-supported by this command definition.
Genera machine targets Manual option summaries omit :Machine Type for Compile, Load, and Patches. Active commands implement it. The source exposes a target-machine control absent from those summaries.
Genera :Branch Manual calls it reserved for future use. Source conditionally uses it when version-control support is present. Its effect depends on loaded feature support; “always inert” is too strong.
Genera distribution options Manual omits :System Branch and :Flatten Files. Distribute Systems accepts both. Include both in the release-bounded source inventory.
Genera :Full Length Tapes Manual says default No. Source default is true. Unresolved release-artifact contradiction.
Genera disk distribution Manual says a disk plan is not divided by a size limit. Plan construction assigns disk a finite tape-equivalent capacity and divides the plan. Preserve the disagreement; do not promise unlimited single-volume output.

These differences are why the manual is used as evidence of supported intent, while source is used to enumerate the exact implementation inspected. Neither establishes site-local patches or runtime state by itself.

Runtime verification and safety boundary

No construction, patch installation, world save, band write/transfer, distribution write, or restoration operation was run for this dossier. Those actions would modify a private copy of a preserved band/world, write derived licensed material, change patch or journal state, or affect another endpoint. MAKE-COLD, DISK-SAVE, RECEIVE-BAND, TRANSMIT-BAND, LOAD-AND-SAVE-PATCHES, Genera Compile System, Load System, Load Patches, Save World, Optimize World, Write Distribution, and Perform Restoration are explicitly outside the experiment boundary.

An existing reviewed Genera 8.5 System Menu observation confirms that Distribute Systems is visibly registered in the release; see Activities and the System Menu. It does not verify either distribution frame's panes, menus, mouse gestures, defaults, media initialization, or results. Those claims above are source/manual findings.

No application-frame screenshot is published here. A useful new capture would require a fresh isolated world, opening only Distribute Systems and Restore Distribution, and stopping before Generate Plan, Initialize Restoration, Write, or Perform. That bounded frame-only observation was not made during this audit, so the visible layout remains an explicit screenshot TODO rather than a guessed runtime claim. Any candidate must first pass the image-specific screenshot publication review and retain the Genera harness provenance required by the computer-use procedure.

For System 303, a future safe check could invoke MAKE-SYSTEM with :PRINT-ONLY on a disposable private session and capture only its proposed transformations. It must not progress to DISK-SAVE, patch loading, or a band-transfer receiver. System 46 offers no equivalently useful nonmutating application UI for the construction path; its direct operations are loader or media writers.

Preservation implications

  • Preserve source trees, QFASLs, patch directories, saved worlds/bands, disk labels, and distribution media as distinct artifact classes. None substitutes for all the others.
  • Record exact system definitions and journal/patch metadata with files. A directory full of Lisp source does not preserve dependency order, target variants, or the loaded patch sequence.
  • Treat world saves as machine-state evidence. They may retain compiled functions, objects, fonts, and application state absent from a file distribution, but they do not recover original source comments, formatting, macro inputs, or build history.
  • Clone writable media before experimenting. A confirmation prompt reduces operator error; it does not make MAKE-COLD, DISK-SAVE, restore, or band receipt safe on an original.
  • Record contradictions instead of silently normalizing them. The exact source, manual edition, runtime world, and patch level determine which default a restorer actually encounters.

Open questions

  • Which historical MIT check-in first introduced the MAKE-SYSTEM and patch-manager implementations represented in maintained System 303?
  • Does an unpatched Genera 8.5 runtime prompt show the source or manual default for Load Patches :Include Components and :Full Length Tapes?
  • Does the shipped disk distribution path enforce the finite capacity visible in source for every target, or does a later method specialize it away at runtime?
  • Which incremental-save facilities are present and supported in the exact Open Genera VLM world, beyond the conditional command grammar?
  • A frame-only, nonmutating runtime capture of the Genera distribution and restore interfaces remains to be made and reviewed.

Reproducible source inventory

Public MIT sources

Revision-relative file Bytes SHA-256
System 46 src/lispm/lfl.192 15,463 b2da667d3bf2bd211717accfc984fbdf01309912155815d0bc32e3ca05901759
System 46 src/lispm/coldut.22 47,914 4566bcd85cbb95758a44e968cddff6d32afe28b476fc214ac59aa49248a905bc
System 46 src/lispm/qmisc.281 62,028 ed80c13e4d51f5d9b3132a8f193673f081f25d310835087c40cc8c9b08d063ad
System 46 src/lispm2/band.16 10,792 3c10189cd539effe1c93f626e98a11c35d8c4e7ce5fe7b7e1a31774e3a4bc40e
System 46 src/lmman/fd_hac.50 14,881 d064109ae6b51b3b2b9962d6c0867145ef0f844fea82765a88598bb013194ba4
System 46 src/lmdoc/instal.newsys 9,779 d28a26342143907a7ce546097fc58d56328906550d34fb240ba60a365f3125e1
System 303 l/sys/sys2/maksys.lisp 93,257 bc2c889505560ff2b70b0b213d761b51f50cb443651048882f78f42c6825eba3
System 303 l/sys/sys2/patch.lisp 34,441 39f6ac864aff3c905432f2897313cd5402d69c746bd0af14e4318b3ebb46a07f
System 303 l/sys/zwei/pated.lisp 17,116 4aca984824d8050a3aff9750154f8db876c2a3f5bc28d46705c778d9c901fb13
System 303 l/sys/cold/coldut.lisp 58,186 7f5d92f5423f3292ba2a9e858f9848d3fecf79294324be75ab4dc928da06d204
System 303 l/sys/sys2/band.lisp 13,316 f7de2972368f491b9f0fc37729ccb37d1f58465a72a5140b5ad0a5a2928b504c
System 303 l/sys/distribution/dist.lisp 13,808 5ea9feb1db1b65871b24f026607903f71ad31a419e1e054a3f708e8031becf85
System 303 l/sys/man/maksys.text 34,612 8d6408bfdd6a915be9ef4a0bf4e2a99bab8d9832a09d8dcbb7a6eecffe0cc1c2
System 303 l/sys/man/patch.text 26,069 91b478c477e1e3f131cbf6d41f0bbbee773be87d02b7cab0bc8fe7780d6afacb
System 303 l/sys/man/fd-hac.text 83,921 db1562bb42be7daae0fe1a16cc8bc1b9ab2c93254e546b2e84190b28ed7607a5

Licensed Genera source observations

Paths are relative to the licensed extracted sys.sct tree; they are identifiers, not repository links.

Artifact-relative file Bytes SHA-256
sct/system-commands.lisp.~317~ 43,999 697d1113826658c3afbef9e015f845b48638f39ddff8ebceb4676eeb01085420
sct/development-commands.lisp.~27~ 47,662 eaa796b79baee9857ee7950277c3331fee8f7fc3ad0bea1ff6d7ed00f9f1cdfa
sct/patch.lisp.~229~ 98,924 b41723c2a78ab071ed48629a742206e7f888bfacc86c24d1a5685e1cde73e870
sct/make-plan.lisp.~247~ 82,494 6e30839bbfcd31a160fa910cdb501981b5bf1115596140699581a7b4c52cc3bd
sct/journals.lisp.~246~ 82,325 5f76f0ffafa14403f1021b14dd749ea622991f933ee6b4906c01650ed09c46ff
sct/distribution-support.lisp.~56~ 35,434 25ab53fc18cf694d9ef7262d83db7233a819e27af7e3ccbac957643cc5429825
cp/sct-commands.lisp.~28~ 18,995 840810443a6a01aa6b423ca0a1becd1aab44203e51ebf086481a7905ee54f70b
zwei/pated.lisp.~321~ 127,190 010026c3ca264dc76c3278eda79bbbd69d1e9f51e4a6d088c686187ba2f418bf
distribution/distribution-commands.lisp.~4024~ 27,254 8d07d4585c5d70023b525eefb9a63bd844065367fd9e6d1f449353e80b94fb3d
distribution/distribute-frame.lisp.~4040~ 56,321 a9aba96d2e276d4ff5d18e617c55ab9033e1ccf3e3086b8c23d5dc296ba07adc
distribution/restore-frame.lisp.~4029~ 37,635 61848009a9b511055bba7a664163b0a3e23e4cf11896b264c57aead5cbdef437
distribution/distribution.lisp.~4084~ 28,711 27c1100afece07529072c05874a7f3d8e7702d9fc8ac3496195d58434d57ccfd
l-sys/disk-save.lisp.~158~ 55,040 4709ea266a71715b0138a32b1e4eaa72afc9b832e39c86999aab2472ef99fcf9
cp/utility-commands.lisp.~343~ 36,758 31e1c10c3c4e7d0d40332e0a0110832fce7d42185c7979415a4905a4ecae517d
cp/comtab.lisp.~103~ 36,295 f60724c8e2526950000f090f2dae4745b3394079713b3601606be865c23b98e1
io/pathnm.lisp.~882~ 121,441 c0d34616bf7f3c2638e556773e8d9b745ddb2c6f3799af929117f5190ddcb4e0
embedding/macivory/ui/file-formats.lisp.~39~ 29,952 70b521b6bf90116def9cd0b33be736fc0a14ca4699db2962dd6d435e576e0511

Licensed installed-manual observations

Artifact-relative file Bytes SHA-256
doc/installed-440/cp/cp2.sab.~152~ 164,164 2dda47b43c53edcab060da0d5b513f2d5735d7d4d447157aa2cdd269a3dae7b6
doc/installed-440/cp/cp3.sab.~184~ 404,196 24ed5565a80c9857feae331466cffc9cecbdf6439ae30a3de0f650e0f4b1c484
doc/installed-440/cp/maint1.sab.~78~ 147,908 51159979903e91d26f75126a4839f826d36aaf72fdbdffdec027bbe30ce76705
doc/installed-440/cp/maint2.sab.~50~ 55,657 b6649aad7149f5619ad803709351937d2d80b79ccf10e718c67dfd6293d97835
doc/installed-440/cp/maint3.sab.~40~ 72,675 69984c38bdedf59b2dd6f478ad560310361850326570c3720ccb060814e235d4
doc/installed-440/tape/tape2.sab.~89~ 249,366 9bc055e332c9364094580727644173c41a8f6083c7efdb062bef49d5005bc863

The installed .sab material was decoded only under the repository's ignored Genera help build tree. The table identifies original inputs; decoded licensed prose is not tracked or linked.

Sources

Last verified: 2026-07-18.

Try “search window system”, “open genera”, or “help”.