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Source for ticket #484

cc


    
changetime

    
2013-07-07 03:20:44

    
component

    
WG1 - Core

    
description

    
Sam Tobin-Hochstadt writes:

  The draft makes a concerted effort to avoid hard decisions that might alienate any of the community¹.  As a result, it is less of a standard than a description of the current balkanized state of the Scheme community.  If real standardization of Scheme is impossible, then we should avoid trying, just as we do not put effort into a single standard describing both Scheme and Common Lisp.

  ¹With the notable exception of the majority of the community that favored R6RS.

    
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484

    
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milestone

    

    
owner

    
alexshinn

    
priority

    
major

    
reporter

    
cowan

    
resolution

    
wontfix

    
severity

    

    
status

    
closed

    
summary

    
The draft avoids making hard decisions

    
time

    
2013-05-12 22:26:06

    
type

    
defect

    
Changes

    
Change at time 2013-07-07 03:20:44

    
author

    
cowan

    
field

    
comment

    
newvalue

    
The WG decided by unanimous consent to take no action on this ticket.

    
oldvalue

    
3

    
raw-time

    
1373142044410382

    
ticket

    
484

    
time

    
2013-07-07 03:20:44

    
Change at time 2013-07-07 03:20:44

    
author

    
cowan

    
field

    
resolution

    
newvalue

    
wontfix

    
oldvalue

    

    
raw-time

    
1373142044410382

    
ticket

    
484

    
time

    
2013-07-07 03:20:44

    
Change at time 2013-07-07 03:20:44

    
author

    
cowan

    
field

    
status

    
newvalue

    
closed

    
oldvalue

    
new

    
raw-time

    
1373142044410382

    
ticket

    
484

    
time

    
2013-07-07 03:20:44

    
Change at time 2013-05-12 22:39:42

    
author

    
cowan

    
field

    
comment

    
newvalue

    

    
oldvalue

    
2

    
raw-time

    
1368373182429570

    
ticket

    
484

    
time

    
2013-05-12 22:39:42

    
Change at time 2013-05-12 22:39:42

    
author

    
cowan

    
field

    
summary

    
newvalue

    
The draft avoids making hard decisions

    
oldvalue

    
D

    
raw-time

    
1368373182429570

    
ticket

    
484

    
time

    
2013-05-12 22:39:42

    
Change at time 2013-05-12 22:29:53

    
author

    
cowan

    
field

    
comment

    
newvalue

    
This is another example of the "all or nothing" fallacy.  A standard is inherently a compromise.  A rigid "my way or the highway" standard, especially a complex one, means that only a few implementers will be able to provide it, thus limiting the scope of user choices.

The draft often expresses its decisions conditionally.  For example, ''if'' a certain module is provided by an implementation, it ''must'' export exactly the identifiers specified by the standard, and give their values the standard meanings.  This is not at all the sum of what existing Schemes are doing: indeed, I doubt if ''any'' Scheme other than Chibi and Sagittarius specify exactly the same identifiers for any of their modules.

    
oldvalue

    
1

    
raw-time

    
1368372593813915

    
ticket

    
484

    
time

    
2013-05-12 22:29:53