On Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:39:32 -0400, Zach Beane wrote: > Hi, > > I've been trying to learn more about how Quicklisp has changed how > Common Lisp hackers work. When I posed the question on the Quicklisp > list, I got a response from Elliot Slaughter with a point that I hadn't > considered before: > >> I think part of what makes Quicklisp successful (in my opinion) is that >> both new *and old* Lisp users love and make use of it. To me, it's >> really magical to be able to cd into my project, start lisp, and >> quickload it, and have it just work, even if I have customized versions >> of some of the dependencies. I think the extent to which Quicklisp >> "just works" but also stays out of the way makes older Lisp hackers >> happy, which in turn makes the community more vibrant because library >> and implementation authors are using the same system that new users are >> being told to use (which wasn't always true with e.g. lisp-starter-pack >> or asdf-install). > > As I suspect the "pro" list likely has more old-timers than newcomers, > I'd like to get your take on this idea.
I don't think I qualify as an old-timer, but here are my 2 cents: 1. As a user, Quicklisp made library management much easier. I just update regularly with each release, and get a reasonably recent version of libraries that passed a few quality control checks. Recently, I was setting CL up on a new machine, and it literally took no more than a few minutes -- thanks to Quicklisp. It is also great for keeping my laptop and the server are use in a consistent state when it comes to versions of libraries. 2. As an author of a few libraries, I am now paying attention to the Quicklisp release cycle (it would be great if the dates could be made more transparent though). I used to put experimental code to the main branch of my git repos (essentially using Github as a glorified backup tool), but now I either branch or wait with pushing until I use it for a while. In particular, Quicklisp's automated checks about symbol conflicts etc that are reported as issues on Github are very useful (I hope that they are indeed automated and don't require a lot of effort on your part). Once again, thanks for Quicklisp! Tamas _______________________________________________ pro mailing list pro@common-lisp.net http://lists.common-lisp.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pro
