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Subject: Re: Why do people like C? (Was: Comparison: Beta - Lisp)
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Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 22:15:45 +0000
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In article <hbakerCy17CC.vx@netcom.com>
           hbaker@netcom.com "Henry G. Baker" writes:

> Standards committees should _follow_, not lead.  The best standards
> are _de facto_ standards, which have already developed as a result of
> consensus.

Agreed. I was very sad, earlier this year, when I read that the ISO
Prolog committee is redesigning the language. I'd rather use a language
designed by an individual "with a vision", than a committee. Yes,
I had a horrible sinking feeling when I first read that the Common
Lisp committee had 60 people on it.
 
> Languages which don't change are dead.  Latin has been standardized
> for years.  (Doesn't it bother anyone else that people who are really
> good at Latin tend to gravitate to standards committees?)  Lisp grew

Yes. it bothers me! I was Lisp to live. I'd almost prefer it if the
ANSI CL standard is never completed, but it's probably acedemic.
I don't expect I'll ever need to use ANSI CL. When I program in Lisp,
I think of the language I'm using as one that I build just above the
language supplied to me. That way, I don't program in Common Lisp.
I program in a "meta Lisp" that might be nothing like CL.

> This was also approximately the prevailing attitude in physics circa
> 1890, and I hope that this ARPA attitude is proven just as
> spectacularly wrong as that physics attitude.

I hope so too, but I bet it'll only be accepted after a lot of money
has been wasted. It makes me smile.
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