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From: grante@reddwarf.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards)
Subject: Re: Why you should not use Tcl
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Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 04:42:28 GMT
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Richard Stallman (rms@gnu.ai.mit.edu) wrote:

: 		     Why you should not use Tcl
: 			Richard Stallman, GNU Project

[...]

: For these reasons, the GNU project is not going to use Tcl in GNU
: software.

OK, fine, use whatever you want. I'm a grown up and quite capable of
choosing a programming language to fit the application.  Why do you
feel the need to try to prevent people from using Tcl?  You sound
_exactly_ like a marketeer for a commercial product who thinks he's
losing market share to another product.  Below you even try to compete
by announcing a cool new vaporware product that will be shipping Real
Soon Now.

: Instead we want to provide two languages, similar in
: semantics but with different syntaxes.

Well then get on with it and provide them.  If you've got something
better to offer, 'fess up.  If not, why preach against Tcl?  Should
the world stop developing applications and sit on it's hands waiting
for these new languages?

: One will be Lisp-like, and one will have a more traditional
: algebraic syntax.  Both will provide useful data types such as
: structures and arrays.  The former will provide a simple syntax that
: hackers like; the latter will offer non-hackers a syntax that they
: are more comfortable with.

Sounds good, but what do I use _today_?

: Some people plan to use Tcl because they want to use Tk.
: Thankfully, it is possible to use Tk without Tcl.  A Scheme
: interpreter called STk is already available.  Please, if you want to
: use Tk, use it with STk, not with Tcl.

Did god appear to you and tell you that Tcl was EVIL?  If it works in
the applications for which I use it, what's your beef?  I've used both
Tcl and STk. I _like_ STk, but isn't nearly as stable as Tcl - it
coredumps a lot of the time when it runs across an unbound variable.

In general, I found the tone of this post very offensive.  RMS seems
to think he's god handing down commandments to the unwashed masses who
are too stupid to think for themselves.  The shortcomings of Tcl were
well known before the above proclimation came down from on high.  RMS
can resume his postion on the throne of heaven, and we will continue
to sin even though we have the knowlege that what we do is contrary
the wishes of RMS.

--
Grant Edwards                                 |Yow!  I'm thinking about
Rosemount Inc.                                |DIGITAL READ-OUT systems and
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grante@rosemount.com                          |FORMATIONS..
