[comp.lang.forth] Hooray for dissention

wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM (03/19/91)

> > Bill <bouma@cs.purdue.edu>
>
> If you dislike FORTH so much, why do you spend so much time in this
> newsgroup?

Non sequitur.  An honest appraisal of Forth does not imply that one
dislikes it.  I am happy to hear Bill's criticisms of Forth.  For the
most part, I think they are accurate.

Given an accurate view of reality, progress can be made.  I think that
the Forth community has suffered from a bad case of wishful thinking
for most of its history.  Wishing that the world would stand still, or
that the world is simpler than it is, won't make it so.

I like Forth well enough that I have chosen to make my living doing it,
and there are dozens of things about Forth that I think are deficient.

Mitch Bradley, wmb@Eng.Sun.COM

schmidtg@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com (03/22/91)

In article <9103191525.AA05173@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM writes:
>> > Bill <bouma@cs.purdue.edu>
>>
>> If you dislike FORTH so much, why do you spend so much time in this
>> newsgroup?
> 
> Non sequitur.  An honest appraisal of Forth does not imply that one
> dislikes it.  I am happy to hear Bill's criticisms of Forth.  For the
> most part, I think they are accurate.
> 

I agree, and I think you misunderstood my reply.  

Regarding the dislike for Forth, I suppose I got that impression when the
language was referred to as a "joke".  By the same token, I wouldn't bother
posting to the FORTRAN news group if I...

	1) Did not take the language seriously.
	2) Had no real interest in the language beyond criticism.
	3) Had no positive suggestions for improvement.

But maybe that's just me.

By asking the question, I was trying to determine where the poster was
coming from.  My intent was not to flame honest appraisals.

-- 


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Greg Schmidt -> schmidtg@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com
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-- 


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Greg Schmidt -> schmidtg@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com
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"People with nothing to hide have nothing to fear from O.B.I.T"
	-- Peter Lomax
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: No warranty is expressed or implied.  Void where prohibited.
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