Subject: Re: Core Lisp (was: explicit package markers (Ex: Re: cond and if....) From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 1999/03/22 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3131092057449863@naggum.no> * Kelly Murray <kem@IntelliMarket.Com> | The big issue is getting more people to program in Lisp, and that means | making it easier for them to learn and use Lisp, and to give them some | advantage for doing so. no, it doesn't. Lisp is already easy to learn, and anyone who learns it and uses it derives great advantages from doing so. the issue is how to make people aware of this. the way to do that is manifestly _not_ to give in to the people who use something else today and pretend it's like it. such moves try to take the results of one heritage and graft them onto another. that's not how grafting works. at best, you'll completely cannibalize Lisp and some other language will get all its features, and _Lisp_ no longer has the advantages. what you're proposing, Kelly, is like going into prostitution because sex is good and you want to get laid more often. while the goal is reached, it has obvious drawbacks and costs. I'm rather curious why you don't see the costs of your own proposals. (comp.lang.scheme excised.) #:Erik