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From: trolfs@vax1.tcd.ie (Thomas Rolfs)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Forth, FIG and Frustration
Message-ID: <4732@vax1.tcd.ie>
Date: 12 Jan 90 12:17:02 GMT
Organization: Computer Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin
Lines: 37


    More and more it seems that Forth programmers are doing their own
    thing. Forth has to one of the most antisocial languages around! Why
    else are their SO MANY different Forth systems, all doing it their
    own way. I don't have a PC (and I never will!), so I'm not going to
    be using f83 or F-PC and these are the closest to a common Forth
    standard. Why should anyone use Forth or bother with FIG if ever one
    is speaking a different language? Maybe if FIG were to support a
    standard library extensions to Forth that are machine/system
    independent, then maybe they might have something to offer. Cheaper
    membership isn't the answer.

    "Divide and conquer". Forth is divided. C is very much united. Forth
    doesn't stand a chance. FIG even less so. If FIG don't give us
    something in common to talk about, who do they think they are going to
    attract? Come on FIG! You won't get anywhere by standing still.

    As for the purist bullshit, I don't care if Forth wizards roll their
    own. Being able to write a editor quicker than it takes to load one in
    and only using 5 WORDS in the bargain, doesn't impress me. I would
    like to use Forth instead of C when I get a job. I don't want to be a
    closet Forther, doing my own thing. 

    Computers have moved on a lot. Forth hasn't.

-- 
Thomas Rolfs               mail: 33 Beechwood Lawn, Dun Laoghaire, Eire. //
E-mail:TROLFS[Thomas Rolfs On-Line Forth Server - "OLIS"]@vax1.tcd.ie \\//+IV
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"The number of Unix installations has grown to 10, with more expected."
-- The Unix Programmer's Manual, 2nd Edition, June, 1972
-- 
Thomas Rolfs               mail: 33 Beechwood Lawn, Dun Laoghaire, Eire. //
E-mail:TROLFS[Thomas Rolfs On-Line Forth Server - "OLIS"]@vax1.tcd.ie \\//+IV
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"I'm not a god, I was misquoted."
-- Lister, Red Dwarf