Issue: DEFPACKAGE (version 3)

[Jon L White <jonl@lucid.com>]

re: I think that at least IN-PACKAGE should not accept these options, and
    should be used for selection only.  The reason is the same as the one
    for adding DEFPACKAGE.  If you do this to IN-PACKAGE, people will end
    up making the same mistake of using in-package with different arguments
    in different files of their program.

The relevant section of the proposal (version 3) reads:

    Also expand MAKE-PACKAGE (and IN-PACKAGE, unless the cleanup Issue
    IN-PACKAGE-FUNCTIONALITY is adopted) to take all the same keyword
    arguments as DEFPACKAGE, for consistency.

As moon rightly points out, we have to address the pull-back of
IN-PACKAGE separately, since it is a serious incompatible change.
[Note that I'm agreeing with you -- I just want to move the discussion 
about it into the pre-existing Cleanup issue.]


re: Also, wherever it currently takes a symbol or a symbol-name (string), it
    should just take a string.  . . . 

I'd certainly be happy with that, but my impression is that moon and kmp
feel it is important to be able to use symbols just for their print-name;
the issue being that case-conversion happens automatically for symbols,
but doesn't for strings.  Given the option to use strings everywhere, and
given implementation techniques that permit the compiler to evade package
issues (in the compiled output for a DEFPACKAGE), this admission to "lazy 
typing" seems harmless.  Note also that many users have discovered the 
wonderous insensitivity to package problems that the notations :FOO and 
#:FOO have.


re:  . . . In systems which use
    a "structure" editor, forms which take symbols as their argument, 
    and then change the print-name of those symbols, cause all sorts of
    problems.  So, at least the import options will cause problems for 
    this system.
    -------

There is no common-lisp capability to "change the print-name" of symbols.
This DEFPACKAGE proposal doesn't suggest that, so if you think it implied
it somehow, maybe you could point out the confusing phrases.



-- JonL --