i'd be curious if red can be used as a commandline shell. the syntax should work well with it. it may just need some wrapper functions to be able to call external programs, pass arguments to them and capture the output.
klibertp•Jul 1, 2026
Not sure why it wouldn't be usable for that:
-▶ ./red-cli-066
--== Red 0.6.6 ==--
Type HELP for starting information.
>> call/console "echo 123"
123
== 0
>> call/console "pwd"
/home/cji/portless
== 0
`call` has a bunch of refinements (toggles or switches appended to the function name with a slash; I'm using /console to redirect output to the parent's stdout), but it's a pretty low-level interface. You definitely could define a few simple helpers and get to a usable Unix-like shell pretty quickly. You'd get native AOT compilation for all your shell scripts for free.
The problem is that you could write those helpers in just about any language, and while Red has an edge over many due to the regular and simple syntax, it's by no means unique in that regard (TCL is an obvious alternative, Lisp-likes are also strong, and even Smalltalk could join the chat if you don't care too much about startup time). And 32-bit-only thing doesn't look good, even if it's not an actual problem in most cases.
In short: it can, but why would you? (Don't get me wrong: I like Red! But with so many other interesting languages (if you're willing to look past TIOBE Top 20), it's hard to justify investing more time into learning Red in particular.)
ulbu•Jul 1, 2026
I think they mean red as a shell scripting/command line language.
naltun•Jul 1, 2026
Always nice to see Red updates (thanks for sharing)
andsoitis•Jul 1, 2026
> We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds. -Aristotle Onassis
Love that quote. More poetic than my quip “Hope is not a strategy”.
kryptiskt•Jul 1, 2026
I'm a bit surprised that Red still seems stuck at 32 bits, like it was last time I saw something about it years ago. What is the roadblock that prevents them from building 64-bit binaries? I guess it must be very hard since otherwise it would have already been fixed.
em-bee•Jul 1, 2026
i think the holdup is the lack of self-hosting. probably the rebol compiler they use can only build 32bit binaries so self-hosting and 64bit support go together.
it's on the milestone for 1.0. and according to the roadmap 1.0 is a solid year of work. it's likely not the only thing they want to do for 1.0, but i guess self-hosting is a big chunk
4 Comments
The problem is that you could write those helpers in just about any language, and while Red has an edge over many due to the regular and simple syntax, it's by no means unique in that regard (TCL is an obvious alternative, Lisp-likes are also strong, and even Smalltalk could join the chat if you don't care too much about startup time). And 32-bit-only thing doesn't look good, even if it's not an actual problem in most cases.
In short: it can, but why would you? (Don't get me wrong: I like Red! But with so many other interesting languages (if you're willing to look past TIOBE Top 20), it's hard to justify investing more time into learning Red in particular.)
Love that quote. More poetic than my quip “Hope is not a strategy”.
it's on the milestone for 1.0. and according to the roadmap 1.0 is a solid year of work. it's likely not the only thing they want to do for 1.0, but i guess self-hosting is a big chunk