Re: /\ Mess, upward compatibility

[George J. Carrette <GJC at MIT-MC>]

    Date: 25 JAN 1981 2259-EST
    From: Moon at MIT-AI (David A. Moon)
    To:   DLA at MIT-EECS
    cc:   LISP-FORUM at MIT-AI
    Re:   /\ Mess, upward compatibility

    I was assuming that if this change is made, in the Lisp machine
    there will be a new -*- entry, Syntax:Lisp meaning the new
    standard, Syntax:Oldslash meaning the old way.  This would
    minimize the immediate need for painful file conversion.  We could
    even defer making Syntax:Lisp the default for a while. This would
    affect both the Lisp reader and the editor.  This Syntax: property
    is scheduled to be installed anyway, to ease other syntax
    extensions, mostly by users rather than the system.

    Unfortunately things aren't so easy in the case of Maclisp and
    Emacs.

I don't see how Maclisp could possible win if you expect it to read
and process what is in a read-time ";" comment. Does a LOAD on the
LISPM really go outside of the language and parse what is in a ";"
comment? Shouldn't that info be in package definitions, or at least be
lisp readable in the file? With all the language purity and philosophy
arguments I hear from Lispm people, I really wonder sometimes.

-gjc