[asdf-devel] Re: Make the CL syntax predictable

[Faré]

On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 11:00 AM, Zach Beane <xach at xach.com> wrote:
> Faré <fahree at gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Once it's accepted that ASDF will enforce the syntax variables decided
>
> This seems more like an "if" than a "once" to me.
>
Then please argue that. I for one fully agree that the big question is
not about the specific defaults chosen by Dan Barlow and me in the
past, and possibly Robert Goldman in the future, but about whether
ASDF should provide a default that system author can rely upon.

Will you argue against ASDF letting the system author fully control
the file type of source files, rather than it depending on a global
variable?

Will you argue against ADSF letting the system author fully control
the encoding of source files, rather than it depending on a global
variable?

Will you argue against ADSF letting the system author fully control
the syntax of source files, rather than it depending on a global
variable?

And since you're fond of C analogies: should gcc determine the syntax
it uses to compile a file based on an environment variable or on
information fully determined by the software author in his Makefile?

That's the high-order bit question. Let's argue it, with more than an
ad hominem attack.

—♯ƒ • François-René ÐVB Rideau •Reflection&Cybernethics• http://fare.tunes.org
The least deviation from truth will be multiplied later.
        — Aristotle