Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!vaxine!wjh12!genrad!decvax!harpo!utah-cs!shebs
From: shebs@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley Shebs)
Newsgroups: net.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: ^
Message-ID: <2019@utah-cs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Oct-83 19:02:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: utah-cs.2019
Posted: Wed Oct 19 19:02:53 1983
Date-Received: Mon, 24-Oct-83 23:43:41 EDT
References: uvacs.962
Lines: 15

Personally, I'd say that using a character macro for lambda is pretty
frivolous.  If you use defun's etc, you shouldn't ever have to *see*
a lambda, let alone type one in.  The number of characters available
for macros is sufficiently small that making a new character macro
is pretty serious business.  Also, the redefinition of certain non-obvious
characters could have tragic consequences (try redefining * or !).
I don't think *those* two would actually do anything awful,
but then I'm paranoid about systems with as many globals as Franz
has (try looking at the oblist sometime - every one of those variables
is potential headache.  Example: OPS5 defines its own 'remove',
replacing the Franz 'remove'.  Had to write my own... (PSL plug:
it warns you about such tricks, unless you tell it to shut up))

							stan the l. hacker
							utah-cs!shebs