The Evlan programming environment is meant to be a complete software platform. You might say that Evlan is like a virtual operating system which runs efficiently on top of other operating systems. The Evlan virtual machine communicates with the real OS to obtain essential services like network and GUI access. However, Evlan programs generally do not, for example, directly access the filesystem.

The goal here is to create an entirely new software paradigm which is superior to one we have been using for the last few decades. To allow the most flexibility in this new design, it has to be completely detached from older designs. The unix paradigm has been extended to the point of being a bloated mess, and in order for Evlan to properly integrate with this paradigm, it would have to carry over some of this bloat. In order for Evlan to fully integrate with unix, it would have to include massive APIs which cover all the functionality unix already has, much of which is obsolete, redundant, or just plain poorly designed. Indeed, it is my belief that the best way for Evlan to remain small and efficient is to be its own platform.

Does this mean that Evlan programs can't interoperate with existing software? No, of course not. Interoperability is extremely important. However, Evlan will seek to provide that interoperability not through direct integration, but through compatibility layers. If and when the legacy software is no longer in use, the compatibility layers can be removed, leaving only the ultra-efficient Evlan core behind.