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Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:46:09 -0500
From: Dave McGuire <mcguire AT neurotica DOT com>
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To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: [geda-user] Thoughts on gschem UI
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Reply-To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com

On 11/18/2012 04:12 PM, Svenn Are Bjerkem wrote:
> I don't know why guile became the scripting language of geda, but if
> you have a look at this, http://www.vanderburg.org/OldPages/Tcl/war/,
> you will know what GNU founder Stallman thinks. I guess using guile is
> only something for GNU projects due to the license.

  Stallman is a bit, erm, crazy, but that has nothing to do with the
suitability of Scheme as a domain-specific scripting language.  Guile is
but one implementation of Scheme.

> Other CAD tools, both EDA and mechanical, use some kind of extension
> language. Lisp seems to be used by tools with long history, and newer
> tools use anything from python through perl to lua and ruby.

  If gEDA moves to Perl as its scripting language, I'm going back to
pencil and paper.

  Lisp is used by the ones with long history, but it CONTINUES to be
used there because it's a very good tool for the job.  Autodesk isn't
dumping Autolisp for Perl or Ruby. ;)

> A large number of commercial EDA tools use Tcl. Tcl is kind of the
> reason why guile exist. If you google on John Ousterhout and Richard
> Stallman, I think a lot of historical reasons for the existence of
> guile will show up.

  You know, I have tried to like Tcl off-and-on for about twenty years
now.  I've really tried.  I just think it's a very ugly language.
Powerful, yes...there's no doubt about that.  But people who like Tcl
also tend to think Bud Light is good beer. ;)

              -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA