Re: ARPA still undermining Ada

[bs@research.att.com (Bjarne Stroustrup <9758-26353> 0112760)]

intros@cscns.com (Introspect Technologies) writes

 > Jay Martin (jmartin@oahu.cs.ucla.edu) wrote:
 > : So what language does Stallman like?  Surely it is not brain-dead crap
 > : like C,LISP and UNIX.  Inquiring minds want to know! Jay
 > 
 > He was asked this question point blank at an evening session of TriAda '92
 > and answered that Lisp was his favorite because it was "elegant". 
 > (Caveat: I don't know if this is still how he feels.)
 > 
 > RMS was quite contemptuous of C++ in his remarks.  He felt that C++ had
 > some serious deficiencies.  G++ included some "fixes" but if the user
 > wanted "standard" C++ features, they could invoke the "BS" switch.  RMS
 > said that he had expressed his concerns to Bjarne but was told "If you
 > think you can do it better, go ahead".  (Caveat: see above.)

That description does not square with my recollection.

After a talk I gave a long time ago (8 or 10 years ago, I think)
at some Californian university, a wild looking guy walked up to
me wrote half a dozen suggested changes to C++ on the blackboard
and demanded (not suggested) I adopt them. I don't recall details
but all suggestions related to the C part of C++ and most to the
then rather incomplete C standards effort. I started to describe
an experiment I had conducted with the first idea listed (what
was later called auto-prototyping when Walter Bright from Zortech
re-invented it) and what responses I had had from people trying
it out. The guy yelled ``I had not expected such a hostile reaction!''
did some strange gestures with his arms and hands, and walked off.

I was somewhat startled by this unusual behavior - that is why I
remember the conversation. People who had been standing around
listening told me that that the guy was Richard Stallman. That
didn't enlighten me because I'd never the name before. After that,
I have never had a technical discussion with him.

It is not inherently improbable that I would have muttered something
to the effect that if he didn't like C++ he could go design his own
language - it would be a rather mild statement from a young researcher
to someone demanding changes to his work while showing disdain for
technical issues and the results of experiments - but I recall nothing
of the sort. I doubt the whole exchange lasted five minutes.

Why do I bother commenting? After all, what rms and I said or didn't
say to each other back in the dark ages can be of little interest today.
However, the myths that seems to sourround every programming language
tend to obscure the language itself to people with only casual acquaintance
with it, and are seldom helpful to anyone. Sometimes - far too rarely -
facts help avoid myths caused by random guessing about the reasons
various things are the way they are.

	- Bjarne