On Tuesday, 27 January 2015 at 04:10:24 UTC, Andrei Alexandrescu
wrote:
I'm ready to commit to dfix. Problem is many of the changes
suggested are unlikely to mark much improvement, while miring
us in the perpetual illusion of making progress.
I don't think there's any illusion about D's great progress. D
really has been making incredible progress. But also, don't you
think it's progress to really solve issues, even little ones,
such that threads like this never take place again? The way I see
it, it's either dfix or the status quo for this issue. The
current pull request is not decisive enough. So I talk about
dfix, because it seems like the right tool for the job. Yes, it's
tantalizing to imagine what other uses it has, but we won't know
until it's in the tool belt and available to use. Maybe it'll
have no other uses. Maybe all other potential uses will be
"illusions of progress". But to me, it's attractive. It offers
the best odds at really closing the case on a lot of nitpicks
people have about D right now.
The fact that we can avail ourselves of a tactical tool that
makes changes easy is helpful but also opens opportunity of
abuse.
What I hear you say is that you may not want the added
responsibility of yours and Walter's making decisions on all the
new possibilities it opens up. And maybe you're right about that.
All I can do is make arguments, while you two have to decide Yes,
or No. I want my arguments to help make your decisions easier.
That's my goal. But I won't deny that (to use a tired cliche that
actually makes sense here) with added power comes added
responsibility.
Let's stop shuffling the deck. I mean it. Stop shuffling the
freaking deck. Fix the real issues in the language. Add new
libraries. Be original. Be creative. Do real work.
How is the pull request which started this post not shuffling the
deck? If it's not an issue, why make a pull request to begin
with? Also, I hope it helps to realize that not everyone is
qualified to give valuable feedback on some of the larger issues
D faces. I definitely feel out of my league on many topics here,
notwithstanding the crazy ideas that just pop into my head
sometimes. :-/ But simply allowing people to chatter about the
issues they do feel competent to discuss can have a very positive
effect on the community. I don't think it stops you or anyone
else from starting threads on the bigger animals in the arena.
Not everyone's playing with the same set of marbles here. But
I'll admit I don't know exactly how you feel. Just focus on what
you care about and be honest about what you currently consider
worthy and not worthy of your very valuable time. Destroy! :-)
