PATHNAME-SYMBOL

[edsel!kent-state!eb@navajo.stanford.edu (Eric Benson)]

   Date: Mon, 1 Jun 87 23:45 EDT
   From: David A. Moon <navajo!Moon@STONY-BROOK.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
   Line-Fold: No

   I'd say the succinct form of this point is that
   strings preserve the case that you type in, but symbols don't, they
   force to uppercase.  This doesn't affect me, since I don't enjoy a file
   system with case-sensitive file names, but it affects a lot of people.

I don't enjoy a file system with case-sensitive names, but I seem to
be stuck with it!  Our VMS users like to be able to type (load 'foo),
though.

I think you've made a better case for eliminating the coercion of
symbols to strings, rather than making a special case restriction
against using a symbol as a string to be coerced to a pathname.  You
have also made a case for making the boolean falsehood value be
something other than a symbol.  Making this special case restriction
against symbols as pathnames is treating the symptom and not the
disease.