Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
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Subject: Re: Lisp advocacy
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Date: Fri, 9 Sep 1994 12:55:31 +0000
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In article <34n1kp$56d@news.doit.wisc.edu> STEB@MACC.WISC.EDU "STEB" writes:

> The reason this rather dull thread refuses to die is simple enough: the c
> familiy of languages and the lisp familiy each require vastly differing world
> views in order to effectivly cast the appropriate incantations in them. It's

Well, I blame the programmers who pointlessly debate this issue, not
the tools themselves. They may well serve different purposes, but
not all people are not rational. Some don't care about that, so they
create these, as you say, boring threads.

> If you fear for the magick of programming then it's time for you to do one of
> two things:

I didn't say that. I refered to Lisp as "magic", as in the phrase that
Niven used as his book title, "The Magic Goes Away", mean that when you
use it, it dies. In the case of Lisp, it seems that it dies when not
enough people use it, or they use it badly. Same as any other language.
 
> 1) quit. Walk away from yer killer micro and never look back.

I don't have a killer micro. :-) Anyway, you've missed the point.
 
> 2) Hack something you love and rediscover the real magick that lies between
> your ears and in your heart.

This is what I do. I just wonder why anyone has to whinge about something
that is dying, if it is dying. See above. The magic goes away, but that
doesn't mean it can't come back. It's a matter that goes beyond mere
programming. It's a market thing. What people mean when they say that
Lisp is dying, is that the market is dying. Lisp goes on.
 
> When I started actually working in computers, I promised myself I'd stop the
> day it was no longer fun. Well, I haven't crossed that bridge yet because, for
> me, lisp and such like keep me laughing at myself. That's the magick...

Yeah, but who pays you to do it? Nobody even advertises Lisp jobs,
or thereare none that I've seen. I wonder when people will just wake
up and recognise that, and instead of whinging about it, do something.

Well, I'm not whinging about the whingers. I'm doing something. I'm
suggesting an advocacy newsgroup. What do _you_ think about it? Do
you have anything to say about it? So far, you've completely missed
the point.

-- 
Future generations are relying on us
It's a world we've made - Incubus	
We're living on a knife edge, looking for the ground -- Hawkwind
