On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 11:42:49PM -0400, Keith Wright wrote: > Greg Troxel <[email protected]> writes: > > > With anger like this, it's a wonder anyone every contributes anything! > > Indeed. > > As one who knows nothing, I must ask: > > What exactly changed from Guile-2 to Guike-3 that made this program > that used to work, quit working?
I think this one answers your question best: https://wingolog.org/archives/2020/02/07/lessons-learned-from-guile-the-ancient-spry TL;DR Guile has gained a native compiler. This changes the world for low-level stuff. Someone (TM) has to "rewire" bindings (or binding generators, as g-wrap is) lest they die. Having FFI helper, it seems nobody is sufficiently motivated to revive g-wrap for Guile 3.0. But never say never (you even could help to find enough hacking power). > Are there other programs that no longer work because of that change? You can't know. Sometimes it would be nice to have a central register of software dependencies (but sometimes it'd be terrible, too). You see that pattern often with extensible programs when they age. Emacs is a good example. The browsers are, too (the latter are far more brutal when changing interfaces, BTW). > Would it be possible to load a library or set a compiler option so that > Guile-3 could do it the old way and run these Guile-2 programs? > > As one who once made a living developing and maintaining software > to run a production line I must say: > > Not everyone wants the newest software. Some just want to press > the same button as yesterday and have it work the same as yesterday, > turning components into products the same as yesterday, This is tough, but it happens. I know that, I'm in that trade for longer than I want to admit (currently touching up a program which has lived for > 20years, and hasn't had love for six. Some interfaces have changed since then, bummer: the "little touch-up" ballooned). You can still stick to Guile 2.0. Or you can try to port your program and write about it (thus helping others). Cheers -- t
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