Modern Common Lisp finds a tidy new home on FSet

A new online book titled "Modern Common Lisp" has been published at fset.common-lisp.dev, and it looks made for tinkering. Short, practical, and unapologetically old-school in spirit, the text aims to bring Common Lisp into clearer focus for people who want a modern take without the fluff. Curious about Lisp again? You’re not alone — interest in “classic” languages has been creeping back, like the vinyl revival for programmers.

License, claims, and a tiny act of defiance

The material is released under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, which means you can remix, adapt, and build on it — as long as it’s noncommercial, attributed, and shared under the same terms. It has been reported that the author explicitly states the document contains no LLM‑generated text — “zero, zip, nada.” That line reads like a small, proud flourish in an era of AI-assisted content. Allegedly, the author also invites corrections and improvements, so this isn’t a finished shrine but an open workshop.

Community and contribution

If you spot typos or want to suggest changes, file issues on Common-Lisp.Net’s GitLab or the project’s GitHub — the author points readers there. The book’s presence on Lobsters and similar hubs suggests it’s meant for the community: learn, poke, fork, and patch. Want to remix a chapter for a workshop or a class? Remember the noncommercial and share-alike hooks.

This is a neat little moment for Lispfolk and curious newcomers. Practical documentation, a clear reuse license, and an explicit stance on handcrafted content — it’s modest, useful, and a reminder that some projects still wear their craft on their sleeve.

Sources: fset.common-lisp.dev, Lobsters