Re: [ANN] guile-csv 0.0.1 released!

[Ian Price]

Mark H Weaver <address@hidden> writes:

> Nala Ginrut <address@hidden> writes:
>> Here is a CSV reader based on Andy's csv-reader.
>> And it's ready for guildhall.
> [...]
>> PS: I'll call ijp to add it into the repo.
>
> I haven't yet looked carefully at this code or its API, so this is no
> judgement on you, but in general, I don't think we should follow the
> model of "Hey, here's the first release of a library I just hacked up.
> Please add it to Guildhall now."  That's how we ended up with an ice-9
> directory that's full of bitrotted implementations of half-baked APIs.

So, you're concerned about Guile obtaining a bad rep from what is in the
Guildhall? A fair point, since I'm stewarding my own repo, I should
really get that blame, but it is likely that it would fall on Guile.

Over time, when we get the "official one" set up, we could certainly set
up a vetting process or something for there, but as Ludovic says, there
is no reason there can't be multiple ones. One scummier than the other :P

To take elisp as an example, there are three common repositories:
ELPA[0], Marmalade[1] and Melpa[2]. ELPA is the official gnu one, it
requires copyright assignment (as far as I know), and is in some sense
the strictest. Marmalade is the community one, where people generally
would submit packages. Melpa builds packages from repos, and has
predictable consequences :)

A similar setup could work for Guile. Whether or now we require
copyright assignment, you could have a "ELPA" corresponding to invited
packages, and a "ijp's $0.99 bit store".

Actually, I've been thinking about this issue in a slightly different
context, and have previously suggested on irc the idea of a
"guile-batteries" meta-package,[3] (along the lines of the Haskell
Platform[4]), where we would have a large collection of "generally useful"
software packages crypto/networking/whatever that would have a "one
command install". This would require it's own vetting to make sure it
was including libraries not liable to break. In theory, it could then
just match up as a convenience for the vetted repo.

Now, having said all that, I think these concerns are a little
premature. The Guildhall situation is little different from what we have
now, where a well-meaning Guiler posts an announcement to here, or
guile-user. We don't vet them, and we've certainly had bad APIs posted
here before <names withheld for obvious reasons>.

I'm an optimist though: if we can find them, we can fix them, and it
seems to work okay in other languages.

0. http://elpa.gnu.org/
1. http://marmalade-repo.org/
2. http://melpa.milkbox.net/
3. What guile-lib could have been (could still be), but guile-lib also
   gives me that ice-9 vibe.
4. http://www.haskell.org/platform/
-- 
Ian Price -- shift-reset.com

"Programming is like pinball. The reward for doing it well is
the opportunity to do it again" - from "The Wizardy Compiled"