Messages over machinery
Published protocols define collaboration; implementations remain open to replacement.
SRG / Research programmeTarget 2028
System—128
A research project exploring the next generation of interactive, message-oriented computing systems.
↘The proposition
A live system can be open without being monolithic; distributed without becoming opaque; rigorous without ceasing to be a medium for thought.
System-128 preserves message orientation, liveness, reflection, inspectability, and user agency while rethinking the image, software architecture, collaboration, and tool design for contemporary computing.
Explore the project goals →Constitutional commitments
A workspace, not a universe
Identity persists across memory, storage, machines, and time.
Experimentation is first-class
Competing models can coexist and be compared without requiring a fork of the whole environment.
1900 + 1282028
Why “128”
A date of realization, not a version number.
The name follows the historical year-suffix convention as an homage. It marks the goal of a working implementation in 2028—128 years after 1900—without claiming ownership, endorsement, or lineage.
Read the naming note →The documents
One system.
A connected body of ideas.
01About SRGThe group↗02MotivationMotivation↗03The ConstitutionNon-negotiables↗04Project goalsObjectives↗05Evidence & acceptanceProof↗06ArchitectureSystem structure↗07Protocols, roles & authorityContracts↗08Workspace & object universeBeyond the image↗09Composition & replacementSmall parts↗10Models & protocol familiesDomains↗11Development & realizationBuild philosophy↗12Roadmap to 2028Sequence↗13Influences & acknowledgmentsIntellectual history↗14GlossaryShared vocabulary↗
The standard of success
System-128 is not complete when it compiles. It is complete when it demonstrates the Constitution.See the acceptance criteria →