------- Forwarded message -------
From: "John Cowan" <[email protected]>
To: "Aaron W. Hsu" <[email protected]>
Cc: "John Cowan" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [r6rs-discuss] Proposed features for small Scheme, part 1: a  
stake in the ground
Date: Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:34:44 -0400

Aaron W. Hsu scripsit:

> I agree that we should definitely standardize the things that are ripe. I
> also think that we shouldn't start trying to throw every standard into a
> single document or process. It makes sense to me to standardize all these
> things in parallel, as separate efforts.

That's been *done*.  That's what the SRFI process is.  Now I'm talking
about folding back a small number of SRFIs and a handful of stuff from
R6RS, so that people can look at a single document and see all the basics.

As I've said, I'm okay with making lots of things optional: R5RS already
does, far beyond just the six procedures actually marked "optional",
and the charter suggests even more.  But I am not up for fragmenting just
for the sake of fragmenting, so that someone who supports only "lambda"
can claim he has a Scheme, nyuk nyuk nyuk.

> So, we could standardize records outside of the core Scheme. Doing so
> would get us the benefits of a standard record type, but would simplify
> the process of standardizing a core.

Only in the sense that you simplify the job of peeling potatoes by
dividing them into five lots first.  If you *really* have parallel
processors available, that's fine; but history suggests that we simply
don't.

> So these are things we definitely want to standardize. Let's take
> advantage of the very modular aspects of working groups and standardize
> these features outside of the core as libraries, and restrict the core
> to a fairly clean, lean semantic model and some other more academic
> things.

What things?  The line must be drawn somewhere.  The SC has drawn it
at IEEE; I'm trying to leverage the SRFI and R6RS processes to get the
good stuff in.  Why restandardize records, or string ports?  We *have*
standards for them.

> Understandably, no one wants to import dozens of libraries just to write
> "Hello World," so, we should also make meta libraries. It could make  
> sense
> to make IEEE/R4RS/R5RS meta libraries that can run this code, but still
> separate out their components into piecemeal documents.

Sure.


-- 
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its  
victims may be the most oppressive. -- C. S. Lewis

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