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3:27:46
nyef
beach: Here's a question for you: What is the difference between the concept for Quicklisp and the concept for ASDF-INSTALL?
3:29:38
nyef
I'm going to contend that the concept for ASDF-INSTALL is "to make it easy to install common lisp software".
3:29:56
nyef
And that the concept for Quicklisp is "to make it easy to install working common lisp software".
3:32:26
nyef
ASDF-INSTALL was popular until it broke down. Quicklisp is going to remain popular until either something better comes along, or whoever is doing the curation stops without a designated successor.
3:33:16
nyef
And it's not a matter of "just software" vs. "software and curation", but a matter of "solves an actual, painful problem".
3:36:07
nyef
Well, there's two sides to this. One is that ASDF-INSTALL completely failed to cover the actual use-case that it was trying to hit.
3:37:43
nyef
And the other is that for Quicklisp to exist, someone (Xach) had to decide that there was a problem, to realize that the solution would require maintenance over time in order to continue to solve the problem, and to resolve to *do that maintenance*.
3:39:35
nyef
Yes, deciding that a problem exists is easy enough, more or less. Correctly diagnosing the problem is harder, and that was the first failure of ASDF-INSTALL.
3:40:04
nyef
The problem wasn't "how do we install lisp stuff", it was "how do we install working, usable lisp stuff".
3:41:07
nyef
But ASDF-INSTALL quickly broke down, and now I'd be surprised if the machinery still works.