Jam/feature/durable by default

README.md

@@ -1,35 +1,49 @@
 # AL
 
-**TODO: Add description**
+AL is a live, ACID, (eventually) bitemporal, relational-object operating system built around an append-only command log. It combines inspiration from:
 
-## Installation
+- XTDB
 
-If [available in Hex](https://hex.pm/docs/publish), the package can be installed
-by adding `al` to your list of dependencies in `mix.exs`:
+- GlamorousToolkit/Pharo
 
-```elixir
-def deps do
-  [
-    {:al, "~> 0.1.0"}
-  ]
-end
-```
+- Git
 
-Documentation can be generated with [ExDoc](https://github.com/elixir-lang/ex_doc)
-and published on [HexDocs](https://hexdocs.pm). Once published, the docs can
-be found at <https://hexdocs.pm/al>.
+- PROLOG
 
+- LISP
 
-TODO 
+- BEAM
 
-- Re-evaluate this list!
+- Urbit
 
-- Loads more docs
 
-- concurrency
+The goal of the system is to be the first truly principled object-oriented PROLOG, and the personal computing environment of the future.
+This runtime is the first version of AL, written in Elixir. The irony of the first Erlang interpreter having been written in PROLOG is not lost on us.
 
-- constraint processing
+## Features
 
-- more bootstrapping for diff kinds of objects
+- Live Smalltalk-style objects, defined relationally. No more faux-ADTs. Define protocols and their implementations. Mix and match at your leisure.
+- Bidirectional Execution thanks to WAM semantics.
+- Shutdown your system, continue later. All transactions are backed up by an on-disk database, hydrated at startup.
+- ACID transactions ensure your work is safe and easy to reason about.
+- Constraint Processing
 
-- system wipes and rollbacks
+And to come:
+
+- Bitemporality features: Model temporal systems. Spin off new branches of your system at different points in time and move between them easily.
+
+For discussion of the design philosophy of AL and resources that were consulted during its design, please see: 
+https://forum.anoma.net/t/design-philosophy-of-al-bibliography/2698
+
+## Getting Started
+
+Install from terminal using `iex -S mix` or as a mix dependency.
+From IEx, you can run `require AL`.
+
+`lib/examples` contains examples.
+`lib/AL/package` contains the bundled packages (the `bootstrap` package is the foundational one).
+`lib/AL` contains the runtime code.
+
+Tips:
+
+- Use `examine(:my_object_id_here, info)` in order to get quick information about an object via its ID, such as its class(es!), superclass(es!), methods, and in the case of method objects, relevant clauses.

config/config.exs

@@ -5,6 +5,16 @@ config :logger,
   handle_otp_reports: false,
   handle_sasl_reports: false
 
+# Packages installed at startup.
+config :al,
+  packages: [
+    AL.Package.Bootstrap,
+    AL.Package.Users,
+    AL.Package.ElixirProcess,
+    AL.Package.Process,
+    AL.Package.Constraints
+  ]
+
 # Import environment specific config. This must remain at the bottom
 # of this file so it overrides the configuration defined above.
 if File.exists?("config/#{config_env()}.exs") do

config/test.exs

@@ -2,5 +2,3 @@ import Config
 
 config :logger,
   level: :error
-
-config :al, mnesia_storage: :ram_copies