Newsgroups: comp.lang.scheme
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From: lwall@netlabs.com (Larry Wall)
Subject: Re: scsh in scm and Scheme gui's
Message-ID: <1996Jan2.182220.11213@netlabs.com>
Organization: Seagate Enterprise Management Software, Cupertino, California.
References: <qijzqcm3nz9.fsf@lambda.ai.mit.edu> <87zqcm3pt0.fsf@organon.serpentine.com> <4bjskn$o6b@jive.cs.utexas.edu> <87loo1lnde.fsf@organon.serpentine.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 1996 18:22:20 GMT
Lines: 28

In article <87loo1lnde.fsf@organon.serpentine.com>,
Bryan O'Sullivan <bos@serpentine.com> wrote:
: Perl isn't going to escape outside of the areas where it already has
: hegemony.  If you don't use Perl very frequently, you're not going to
: remember from one use of it to the next what on earth any of the
: myriad of notational shortcuts do, or even what they look like.  As
: for Perl's evolution, recent additions to the language such as
: references, garbage collection (don't forget, kids, you can't GC
: circular structures in Perl!) and object orientation are sufficiently
: crufty as to make strong men weep.  Perl's appeal is self-limiting,
: much like that of chainsaw juggling.  Mind you, I'd hate to think of a
: world without chainsaw juggling.

English isn't going to escape outside of the areas where it already has
hegemony.  If you don't use English very frequently, you're not going
to remember from one use of it to the next what on earth any of the
myriad of notational shortcuts do, or even what they look like.  As for
English's evolution, recent additions to the language such as latinate
words and the entire pronoun system (don't forget, kids, you can't make
case distinctions on ordinary nouns in Engish) are sufficiently crufty
as to make strong men weep.  English's appeal is self-limiting, much
like that of chainsaw juggling.  Mind you, I'd hate to think of a world
without chainsaw juggling.

Me either.  :-)

Larry Wall
lwall@sems.com
