Re: Fixes for GNU Sather 1.2.2

[Michael R. Taylor]

----- "Sather User" <address@hidden> wrote:

...
 

> I suggest you avoid GNU Sather-1.2.3 and apply the patches to 1.2.2.

...

> That's it, folks.  But Sather has only one size of INT.  Therefore
> the
> designers of the language made it equivalent to a C long.  It makes
> no
> sense for maintainers to decide it is going to be a C int from now
> on.
> Perhaps it is a great achievement to make "INT 32-bit even on 64-bit
> systems", but I don't see it.
> 
> I think it would be good practice to avoid mixing code and
> copyright/license diffs.  Perhaps the few changes above can be edited
> out of the 1.2.3 source code.  Then the diffs below could be applied
> to that version, and 1.2.3 could be purely a vehicle for the license
> change.
> 
> I don't use GNU Sather.  I don't like it.  I've adapted these changes
> from "my" version, based on ICSI Sather 1.2b, which has remained
> under
> the Sather license.
> 
> The terms of that license require a comment to appear wherever the
> code has been changed.  The GNU licence doesn't require that AFAIK.
> You can put these diffs under it, and remove the comments and
> initials
> that are still there.
> 
> Snip out the above 1.2.2-1.2.3 diffs before applying this message as
> a
> patch.
> 
> Regards,
> Mike

Thanks for your patch, however the reason 1.2.3 went with 32bit INTs was to 
retain backwards-compatibility with legacy programs.  INT should, and 
definitely will, become 64bit.  However it makes no sense to do that in a 
patch-level release.  The INT change will happen in GNU Sather 2.0 when code 
breakage is more expected.  It looks like it will be one of the first changes 
towards 2.0 (along with removing the ALL_CAPITAL class requirement).  One 
decision that needs to be made is whether GNU Sather 2.x releases should have 
64bit INTs or C long INTs.  There are pros/cons to either.

If you don't use GNU Sather, you might be on the wrong mailing list, but your 
input is still appreciated.  About the licensing:  GNU Sather is a part of the 
GNU system, and as such follows the GNU software standards as much as possible. 
 The ICSI code was donated to GNU and with it ICSI allowed the license change.  
Since then, it has always been GPL-ed.  The original GNU Sather license is 
compatible with converting to GPL v3.

-- Michael R. Taylor