Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!hc!lanl!lambda!roberts
From: roberts@studguppy.lanl.gov (Doug Roberts)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: Tired C programmer (Really configuration files)
Message-ID: <ROBERTS.89Apr29124654@studguppy.lanl.gov>
Date: 29 Apr 89 18:46:54 GMT
References: <166@ncis.tis.llnl.gov>
Sender: news@lanl.gov
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lines: 48
In-reply-to: carlson@aftac.tis.llnl.gov's message of 29 Apr 89 04:09:10 GMT


In article <166@ncis.tis.llnl.gov> carlson@aftac.tis.llnl.gov (John Carlson) writes:


> 
> After several years experience with UNIX, something dawned on
> me.  I know too many languages:  C, awk, sed, lex, yacc, Bourne Shell, C shell
> and now I may learn UIL, Xcu's wlm etc., etc.  I know too many
> configuration file formats: fstab, passwd, Xdefaults, termcap, exports,
> etc. etc.  I know to many expression formats: regexp, X fonts, globbing.
> 
> Unfortunately, I am entirely unfamilar with LISP machines.
> Given the same functionality as UNIX, could LISP
> provide some uniformity; would LISP make a system easier to use,
> administer, and develop on, or would I have to learn several
> configuration file formats and expression formats?  Does
> LISP vary formats as widely as UNIX does?
> 
> To UNIX people: Could all of these configuration files be standardized?
> 
> John "Maybe LISP isn't so complex after all" Carlson
> 
Better yet: develop LISP on a unix box. That way you have the best
(and the worst) of both worlds. {And, you can drop C from your list of
supported languages :-)} 

Seriously, system admin on a Symbolics LISPm is a serious headache
compared to Sun system admin. The networking software is not as
sophisticated (yes, I _do_ know about Sun's infamous YP); the
documentation for the various configuration files is sketchy; you
would miss the tools like grep, awk, & piping.

On the other hand, I still miss the LISPm tools like the powerful
ZMACS editor, the frame-based source debugger, the mouse-sensitve
inspector, and the nice toggle interface to the disassembler. I hope
you are listening, Lucid.

--Doug
--

===============================================================
Douglas Roberts
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Box 1663, MS F-602
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545
(505)667-4569
dzzr@lanl.gov
===============================================================