[net.lang.lisp] bug

mac (03/08/83)

The gcdisable during (load) ought to be removed, or at least documented.
This prevents anything executed during a load from garbage collecting.

We have at least two interpreters here implemented in Franz.  The last
thing appearing in the source files is a call to the main driver.  These
are compiled using liszt's -r option, hence are executed during a
(load).

The gcdisable prevents any garbage from ever being collected.  Garbage
collection is normally an invisible process, so it is not immediately
apparent.  The problem has been dealt with by (setq gcdisable ()) just
before the call to the main driver.

I'd argue that this feature is so dangerous that it ought not be the
default for a (load).  Sophisticated users who want to speed up loads
may want to invoke the feature on their own, but novices such as myself
shouldn't have to dig through source code to make things work.

We're running Opus 36.  Our (help) manual is dated 9 July 1981.  This
may be part of the problem.

				Alex Colvin

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