delorie.com/archives/browse.cgi   search  
Mail Archives: geda-user/2015/02/14/12:25:19

X-Authentication-Warning: delorie.com: mail set sender to geda-user-bounces using -f
X-Recipient: geda-user AT delorie DOT com
X-Cam-AntiVirus: no malware found
X-Cam-ScannerInfo: http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/email/scanner/
Message-ID: <1423934649.760.8.camel@cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: [geda-user] on the choice of languages
From: Peter Clifton <pcjc2 AT cam DOT ac DOT uk>
To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2015 17:24:09 +0000
In-Reply-To: <alpine.DEB.2.00.1502140527190.7324@igor2priv>
References: <mblhhr$uvp$1 AT ger DOT gmane DOT org>
<CAOuGh89uhX3p+=AbcgZ20gen0hP4rg9FngAaMo3d4HVQ3bF0ow AT mail DOT gmail DOT com>
<mbltsv$ae2$1 AT ger DOT gmane DOT org> <alpine DOT DEB DOT 2 DOT 00 DOT 1502140527190 DOT 7324 AT igor2priv>
X-Mailer: Evolution 3.12.7-0ubuntu1
Mime-Version: 1.0
Reply-To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com
Errors-To: nobody AT delorie DOT com
X-Mailing-List: geda-user AT delorie DOT com
X-Unsubscribes-To: listserv AT delorie DOT com

On Sat, 2015-02-14 at 05:34 +0100, gedau AT igor2 DOT repo DOT hu wrote:
> 
> On Fri, 13 Feb 2015, Kai-Martin Knaak wrote:
> 
> > An open source project like geda relies on volunteers to get ahead. Few
> > people feel comfortable to learn a new language from scratch just to start
> > contributing. Choose a rarely used language and you get less contributions
> > than you could. IMHO, this is what we see with guile.
> 
> I agree. While there is no good choice here (there always will be people 
> driven away or brought in by your choice), the fact that such decisions 
> do affect contribution must be noted and should be kept in mind when 
> selecting a language for a project.
> 
> I am an actual example. I am a developer who often plays around making 
> minor modifications in open source software (for my own amusement most of 
> the time). In case of gschem, guile (and scheme in general) was a 
> showstopper on this. Not that I wouldn't be able to learn it if I really 
> wanted or had to, it's just that there's always another project that is 
> equailly interesting/important and does not require such effort just to 
> start.

I think it must be just the IDEA that we use scheme that has put you
off. (Or the stated excuse ;))

If you dug into the code, you would find that the VAST majority of
geda/gaf is written in C.  Only the (appallingly badly written - sorry!)
net-list backends make extensive use of scheme code.

scheme's use elsewhere, such as the config files are not IMO real
show-stoppers to anyone, only deterrents.

I wouldn't describe myself as a fluent in scheme or LISP (or any
functional language for that matter), but I really never found the bits
we use to be a show-stopper.


-- 
Peter Clifton <peter DOT clifton AT clifton-electronics DOT co DOT uk>

Clifton Electronics

- Raw text -


  webmaster     delorie software   privacy  
  Copyright © 2019   by DJ Delorie     Updated Jul 2019