I remember installing Oberon in about ‘97 in a quest to explore something esoteric and as different from Windows as I could get. Actually tried to use it and work through the tutorials and write “gadgets”. Coming from a turbo pascal and then Delphi background, oberon was lovely!
But even then it was a what-could-have-been. Now, twenty five years after that, it still has the mystique of a somehow more powerful feeling system. I stare at it and feel it is somehow more powerful than the mundane electron apps today, even though I know what simple principles and how little code underlies it, and how comparatively complicated and byzantine those dumb modern electron apps are.
Honestly, simplicity is the way of the future -- eventually we will not be able to deal with the huge stack of abstractions, and it will either topple like the apocryphal tower of bable, or we will invent a """god""" (strong AI) to deal with it for us.
But even then it was a what-could-have-been. Now, twenty five years after that, it still has the mystique of a somehow more powerful feeling system. I stare at it and feel it is somehow more powerful than the mundane electron apps today, even though I know what simple principles and how little code underlies it, and how comparatively complicated and byzantine those dumb modern electron apps are.