Re: Help sought understanding shorthands wrt modules/packages

[Matt Armstrong]

João Távora <joaotavora@gmail.com> writes:

> On Sat, Nov 5, 2022 at 3:13 AM Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> wrote:
>
>> If CL packages still have the misfeature of searching a list of
>> packages for one that has a symbol 'foobar' in it, and deciding what
>> `foobar' in your code means based on that, then they are inexcusable
>> bad design and we must not implement them.
>>
>> If they no longer have that misfeature, maybe they are ok.
>
> If you're talking about the :USE directive, you don't have to employ
> it: it's not mandatory for CL packages to be immensely better. But
> it's very useful and convenient in specific, well-understood
> situations.  If you're talking about something else, I don't know what
> it might me.

My understanding is that Richard is concerned about ambiguities, perhaps
not even flagged as errors at load time, that occurred in a version of
CL packages he implemented or otherwise worked with in the past, but
that may no longer occur in Common Lisp implementations conforming to
the newest standard.  I believe he described the "misfeature" he is
concerned about more clearly in
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2022-10/msg02165.html.
There, I think Gerd made the convincing argument that the situation is
acceptable in current CL standards.

If so, then Richard may be closer to a "maybe they are ok" judgment
about CL packages than he has been in decades.  ;-)