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home / www.sbcl.org / item 47140657
+0.48 Steel Bank Common Lisp (www.sbcl.org)
159 points by tosh 8 hours ago | 56 comments on HN | Moderate positive Landing Page · vv3.4 · 2026-02-25
Article Heatmap
Preamble: +0.27 — Preamble P Article 1: +0.20 — Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood 1 Article 2: +0.50 — Non-Discrimination 2 Article 3: ND — Life, Liberty, Security Article 3: No Data — Life, Liberty, Security 3 Article 4: ND — No Slavery Article 4: No Data — No Slavery 4 Article 5: ND — No Torture Article 5: No Data — No Torture 5 Article 6: ND — Legal Personhood Article 6: No Data — Legal Personhood 6 Article 7: ND — Equality Before Law Article 7: No Data — Equality Before Law 7 Article 8: ND — Right to Remedy Article 8: No Data — Right to Remedy 8 Article 9: ND — No Arbitrary Detention Article 9: No Data — No Arbitrary Detention 9 Article 10: ND — Fair Hearing Article 10: No Data — Fair Hearing 10 Article 11: ND — Presumption of Innocence Article 11: No Data — Presumption of Innocence 11 Article 12: ND — Privacy Article 12: No Data — Privacy 12 Article 13: ND — Freedom of Movement Article 13: No Data — Freedom of Movement 13 Article 14: ND — Asylum Article 14: No Data — Asylum 14 Article 15: ND — Nationality Article 15: No Data — Nationality 15 Article 16: ND — Marriage & Family Article 16: No Data — Marriage & Family 16 Article 17: ND — Property Article 17: No Data — Property 17 Article 18: ND — Freedom of Thought Article 18: No Data — Freedom of Thought 18 Article 19: +0.53 — Freedom of Expression 19 Article 20: ND — Assembly & Association Article 20: No Data — Assembly & Association 20 Article 21: ND — Political Participation Article 21: No Data — Political Participation 21 Article 22: ND — Social Security Article 22: No Data — Social Security 22 Article 23: ND — Work & Equal Pay Article 23: No Data — Work & Equal Pay 23 Article 24: ND — Rest & Leisure Article 24: No Data — Rest & Leisure 24 Article 25: +0.40 — Standard of Living 25 Article 26: ND — Education Article 26: No Data — Education 26 Article 27: +0.72 — Cultural Participation 27 Article 28: ND — Social & International Order Article 28: No Data — Social & International Order 28 Article 29: ND — Duties to Community Article 29: No Data — Duties to Community 29 Article 30: ND — No Destruction of Rights Article 30: No Data — No Destruction of Rights 30
Negative Neutral Positive No Data
Aggregates
Weighted Mean +0.48 Unweighted Mean +0.44
Max +0.72 Article 27 Min +0.20 Article 1
Signal 6 No Data 25
Confidence 13% Volatility 0.17 (Medium)
Negative 0 Channels E: 0.3 S: 0.7
SETL -0.18 Structural-dominant
Evidence: High: 2 Medium: 3 Low: 1 No Data: 25
Theme Radar
Foundation Security Legal Privacy & Movement Personal Expression Economic & Social Cultural Order & Duties Foundation: 0.32 (3 articles) Security: 0.00 (0 articles) Legal: 0.00 (0 articles) Privacy & Movement: 0.00 (0 articles) Personal: 0.00 (0 articles) Expression: 0.53 (1 articles) Economic & Social: 0.40 (1 articles) Cultural: 0.72 (1 articles) Order & Duties: 0.00 (0 articles)
Domain Context Profile
Element Modifier Affects Note
Privacy —
No privacy policy or data collection statements observable on page.
Terms of Service —
No terms of service observable on page.
Accessibility +0.15
Article 2 Article 25 Article 27
Open source software with permissive license promotes access to technology and information for all; no accessibility barriers noted on landing page.
Mission +0.10
Article 27 Article 19
Free/open source software mission aligns with freedom of thought and scientific progress.
Editorial Code —
No editorial policy observable; technical project documentation.
Ownership —
Open source project; community-based governance model implicit but not detailed on page.
Access Model +0.10
Article 19 Article 27
Free and open access to software, documentation, and bug tracking promotes information access.
Ad/Tracking —
No advertising or tracking observable on page.
HN Discussion 6 top-level · 0 replies
emptybits 2026-02-24 19:26 UTC link
Can we get a "(1999)" date on this, please? Only half joking becuase I see Common Lisp and, sure, I upvote ... but honestly, what's the purpose of this HN submission without context?

SBCL is obviously fantastic but let's contrast with another popular implementation: Embeddable Common Lisp. https://ecl.common-lisp.dev/

Top marks for SBCL performance but ECL can be a better fit for embedding into mobile applications, running on lighter weight hardware, and in the browser.

jibal 2026-02-24 19:32 UTC link
What about it?
shadowgovt 2026-02-24 19:38 UTC link
My favorite bit of SBCL trivia is the name: this is descended from Carnegie Mellon's build.

Steel. Bank.

philipkglass 2026-02-24 20:09 UTC link
Older HN users may recall when busy discussions had comments split across several pages. This is because the Arc [1] language that HN runs on was originally hosted on top of Racket [2] and the implementation was too slow to handle giant discussions at HN scale. Around September 2024 Dang et al finished porting Arc to SBCL, and performance increased so much that even the largest discussions no longer need splitting. The server is unresponsive/restarting a lot less frequently since these changes, too, despite continued growth in traffic and comments:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41679215

[1] https://paulgraham.com/arc.html

[2] https://racket-lang.org/

pjmlp 2026-02-24 20:15 UTC link
While great option, LispWorks and Allegro Common Lisp should not be overlooked, too many focus on SBCL + Emacs and then complain about Lisp tooling.
iberator 2026-02-24 21:18 UTC link
How come it is named like that? It's a product of some old school consortium?

I know that ford,gm etc also made some R&D into software
Score Breakdown
+0.27
Preamble Preamble
Medium A: Implicit advocacy for open-source development as path to human dignity and freedom
Editorial
+0.20
Structural
+0.30
SETL
-0.17
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Landing page describes free/open-source commitment; promotes access principles aligned with preamble dignity and freedom concepts.

+0.20
Article 1 Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
Low P: Open-source model implies equal access without discrimination by design
Editorial
ND
Structural
+0.20
SETL
ND
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

No explicit discussion of equality or non-discrimination; structural signal from free/open-source access model only.

+0.50
Article 2 Non-Discrimination
Medium P: Free software license removes barriers based on economic status, disability
Editorial
ND
Structural
+0.35
SETL
ND
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Accessibility modifier applied; permissive license and open-source model eliminate discrimination in technology access.

ND
Article 3 Life, Liberty, Security

No observable content regarding right to life, liberty, or personal security.

ND
Article 4 No Slavery

No observable content regarding slavery or servitude.

ND
Article 5 No Torture

No observable content regarding torture or degrading treatment.

ND
Article 6 Legal Personhood

No observable content regarding right to recognition as person before law.

ND
Article 7 Equality Before Law

No observable content regarding equal protection under law.

ND
Article 8 Right to Remedy

No observable content regarding effective remedy for rights violations.

ND
Article 9 No Arbitrary Detention

No observable content regarding arbitrary arrest or detention.

ND
Article 10 Fair Hearing

No observable content regarding fair trial or due process.

ND
Article 11 Presumption of Innocence

No observable content regarding criminal responsibility or presumption of innocence.

ND
Article 12 Privacy

No observable content regarding privacy, family, home, or correspondence.

ND
Article 13 Freedom of Movement

No observable content regarding freedom of movement.

ND
Article 14 Asylum

No observable content regarding asylum or nationality.

ND
Article 15 Nationality

No observable content regarding nationality rights.

ND
Article 16 Marriage & Family

No observable content regarding marriage or family.

ND
Article 17 Property

No observable content regarding property rights.

ND
Article 18 Freedom of Thought

No observable content regarding freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.

+0.53
Article 19 Freedom of Expression
High A: Explicit framing of free/open-source as enabling freedom of information P: Free access to source code, documentation, bug database enables freedom to seek and impart information
Editorial
+0.40
Structural
+0.45
SETL
-0.15
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Landing page emphasizes open-source license, free access, permissive terms. Bug database and documentation freely accessible. Access model modifier applied.

ND
Article 20 Assembly & Association

No observable content regarding freedom of assembly or association.

ND
Article 21 Political Participation

No observable content regarding political participation or government.

ND
Article 22 Social Security

No observable content regarding social security or economic rights.

ND
Article 23 Work & Equal Pay

No observable content regarding work or employment.

ND
Article 24 Rest & Leisure

No observable content regarding rest or leisure.

+0.40
Article 25 Standard of Living
Medium P: Open-source technology access supports digital inclusion and standard of living
Editorial
ND
Structural
+0.25
SETL
ND
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Free access to compiler/runtime technology reduces barriers to education and information technology access. Accessibility modifier applied.

ND
Article 26 Education

No observable content regarding education.

+0.72
Article 27 Cultural Participation
High A: Explicit framing of SBCL as enabling scientific and technical progress P: Open-source software model enables participation in scientific community; source code access promotes technical progress
Editorial
+0.40
Structural
+0.50
SETL
-0.22
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Landing page describes SBCL as high-performance compiler serving scientific/technical development. Free software enables participation in scientific work. Mission, accessibility, and access model modifiers applied (cumulative cap applied).

ND
Article 28 Social & International Order

No observable content regarding social and international order.

ND
Article 29 Duties to Community

No observable content regarding duties or limitations on rights.

ND
Article 30 No Destruction of Rights

No observable content regarding prevention of rights destruction.
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build f581ea9+b3nz · 2026-02-25 03:04 UTC