When did you first try Lisp (meaning here and throughout the survey "any member of the Lisp family") seriously, and which Lisp family member was it?
I first tried Lisp (CL) in ~1998. I used CMUCL. Though I didnt get far as I did not officially study CS. Started again this year and am using SBCL now.
What led you to try Lisp?
A friend of mine programmed Prolog. I tried Prolog but didnt really get it. Then for the heck of it, I lurked at c.l.l, read people like Mr.Gat and Mr.Pitman ... was very impressed and tried CL. Loved the parenthesis - simply beautiful. As there was no one I know personally who programmed CL or even had heard of CL, c.l.l was my inspiration.
If you were trying Lisp out of unhappiness with another language, what was that other language and what did you not like about it, or what were you hoping to find different in Lisp?
I programme in C for my petrol and beer and film. I love C. I tried C++ and hated it. But I started CL at the same time I started C. I love both and dont think I need another one. I also programme in PHP et.al if requied but they are, err. nondescript as compared to the big two.
How far have you gotten in your study of Lisp? (I know, that is hard to measure)
Not much unfortunately. (Re)Opend Winston and Horn after 2-3 years - plan to spend some time now on it. No other physical books available here. Only able to write small trivial programms till now.
What do you think of Lisp so far?
I love it.
Lisp Is Super Power
update ;
12 years after my first paren I am still at it :). One startup's ass saved due to CMUCL and EdiWare. Working on the next one - this time my own - with SBCL and the rest. I might have been slightly responsible to start a minor lisp chapter in the Mumbai - Pune area .. about 10-15 lispers now ...
Switch Date 1990s RtL Word of Mouth RtL comp-lang-lisp