[asdf-devel] asdf verbosity

[Zach Beane]

Faré <fahree at gmail.com> writes:

>> No, which is why I wrote that I'd be happy if the old behavior was restored.
> It has been restored in 2.014.12.
>
> For 2.014.13, I'm considering making asdf not verbose by default. I'm
> wondering what you think of it.

I don't like these kinds of user-visible changes, because if someone
liked the old behavior, or was at least accustomed to it, they now have
to do research and become involved in ASDF to learn how to get the
previous behavior.

> Nevertheless, I think SBCL should be changed to explicitly use
> :verbose nil when it loads a .asd from another one -- and/or it should
> be relying on the new :defsystem-depends-on.

SBCL doesn't do that, user code does. It would be nice if people took
advantage of new features where useful. It would be nice if keeping the
status quo didn't require *any* updates or changes to existing user code.

>>> I'm confused because it seemed like the alternatives were new, greater
>>> verbosity, versus silence, neither of which seems very appealing to
>>> me.
>>
>> Those are indeed both bad choices.
>>
> What's wrong with (mostly) silence?

I object to making changes that require updates to existing code or
configuration to maintain previous desired or at least customary
appearance and output.

> What about verbosity levels, with an integer indicating what level of
> messages to get?

That sounds fine, as long as the previous behavior is the default.

>> Any change that I can ignore, and still get the current appearance,
>> behavior, and semantics, is one I don't mind.
>>
> OK, what do you positively like about the current output, that you
> want to preserve?

Using ASDF lately is a little like living in a house with an insomniac
interior decorator who putters around rearranging the furniture while I
sleep. While I might not have particularly liked the previous behavior,
it's been that way for a long time and I'm used to it.

To stretch this metaphor way too far, I'd rather wake up and find a note
that says "I installed a set of hidden furniture-rearrangement servos in
the floor - to see the nice new idea I had, push the tiny little button
by the door."

Zach