Re: How to improve the readability of (any) LISP or any highlevel functional language to the level of FORTH ?

[Tamas K Papp]

On Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:21:44 +0000, Tim Harig wrote:

> On 2011-01-04, Tim Bradshaw <tfb@tfeb.org> wrote:
>> On 2011-01-04 08:02:35 +0000, Tim Harig said:
>>
>>>     LISP users on the other hand, never seem to be able to let go of LISP
>>>     when the situation requires it.
>>
>> I think this probably is not the case.  It may be the case that the
>> Lisp users *you hear from* often have this view, but I don't think
>> those people are necessarily very representative of Lisp users as a
>> whole.  Of course I can't really infer much about the ones you don't
>> hear from other than in a sort of dark-energy way - implementors are
>> probably the only people who might have a chance of knowing about them
>> in any reliable way.
> 
> The loudest voices in the crowd tend to characterize the crowd.
> Unfortunately, to my point, those vocal zealots in the LISP community
> are not doing it any favors.
> 
> Perhaps I am alone in this, but I don't much appreciate being part of
> communities that are too openly negative towards others.  It really puts
> a poor taste in my mouth.  I am a right tool for the right job kind of
> person and I prefer communities that are open enough to be able to
> properly evaluate the role of their chosen tools compared to others.

It would be great if you could substantiate your points with examples
(eg links to discussions on newsgroups or mailing lists).  I have been
following c.l.l for years now, but I haven't seen the kind of zealotry
that you describe.  Perhaps this is because Lisp zealots go to other
forums: this is of course possible, but I would be interested in
seeing examples of lispers being "openly negative towards others"
before entertaining the idea that this is some sort of general
tendency.

I don't believe that it is possible to have a meaningful discussion
about this question unless you are a lot more specific about your
claims.

Best,

Tamas