Re: Bug #1 - (debug-disable 'debug) has no effect ...

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

   From: Neil Jerram <address@hidden>
   Date: 08 Mar 2002 23:53:35 +0000

   I'd say it's a bug, and that it would be better to squash it now than
   to support strange expectations through 1.6.x.

it's also a bug in the sense that side-effects on load (except for
`define') are usually considered antithetical to clean modular design,
especially since the module system does not (and might never) support
"instantiable modules".  this would be a good check to add to the
linter.

on the other hand, loading modules serves to extend the basic system in
other ways (e.g., syntax), so it might seem natural in a similar fashion
to piggyback turning on the debugging evaluator when loading (ice-9
debug).

in the long run, the stability of a bad design rarely outweighs the
temporary instability that changing it to a good design entails, in
terms of both user and maintainer satisfaction.  (however, there are
always exceptions; see Unix. ;-)

thi