CosmicOS is a self-contained message designed to be understood primarily by treating it as a
computer program
A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components.
A computer progra ...
and executing it. It is inspired by
Hans Freudenthal
Hans Freudenthal (17 September 1905 – 13 October 1990) was a Jewish-German-born Dutch mathematician. He made substantial contributions to algebraic topology and also took an interest in literature, philosophy, history and mathematics edu ...
's
Lincos and resembles the programming language
Scheme A scheme is a systematic plan for the implementation of a certain idea.
Scheme or schemer may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''The Scheme'' (TV series), a BBC Scotland documentary series
* The Scheme (band), an English pop band
* ''The Schem ...
in many ways.
The message is written with only four basic symbols representing the binary digits one and zero and open and close brackets. Numbers are represented as a string of binary digits between a pair of brackets and expressions are represented as a string of numbers between brackets. Identifiers for operations are arbitrarily assigned numbers and their functions can be defined within the message itself.
Self-contained messages are of interest for
CETI research, but there is much difference of opinion over the most appropriate encoding and broadcast medium to use. CosmicOS is released in modular form, so that the basic message can be adapted to a particular concrete instantiation. The message is released under the
GPL
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general us ...
licence.
See also
*
Hello world
''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses
''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...
References
External links
CosmicOS projectold CosmicOS project page
Interstellar messages
Engineered languages
Knowledge representation languages
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