How do I get to Tau?

It's clearly a long-term project, and the same fundamental considerations apply as to any project. The big problems are time and money. I think the only sensible way to attack this problem is to give it a large amount of reasonably sustained time. This requires having money from somewhere.

Even supposing I won the lottery tomorrow, bought an old monastery, installed DSL and got stuck in, I would still have a problem. I think the only sensible way to approach a problem of this size is the extreme way. This means using extreme methods (and the crucial part is social, not technical) to work on the computing environment you use to achieve Tau.

It could be said this is a good method to apply in all spheres of life.

Tau needs the simplicity of extremist Forth, or you will never get close. It needs the confidence of a dictator, but the humility of an eternal student.

It also needs the ability to work fast: to implement new programs, languages and other systems very quickly. This is the area in which I fall most woefully short, but I'm getting there at least in the way I use my computers now. The environment I work is getting simpler all the time, but it's not too stable, yet it always works (it has to, I rely on it for so much). There's a lesson from CoSy here.

This might all sound waffly and pseudo-religious, but when you really get serious about something, it's hard not to. I'm still happy to be challenged, though!

"…supposing I won the lottery tomorrow, bought an old monastery, installed DSL and got stuck in…" Is that every CompSci's dream? And am I the only one to find this alarming? C

I think it is. For example (if I recall correctly) Alex Selby won some money in a competition and retired to write a Go computer, or so the rumour goes and goes. Oh, and why do you find it worrying? A

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Last updated 2017/05/16