Re: [STUMP] Dependencies

[David Bjergaard]

Hi,

cl-ppcre is used in one place to parse the X11 display string.  That
functionality could be replaced with a specific solution rather than a regex.

That being said, cl-ppcre is used in a lot of the contrib modules that we ship,
so its probably better to keep it.

    David

address@hidden writes:

> Hi David,
>
> Just curious, what is supposed to be used instead of cl-ppcre that way?
>
> Alex
>
> David Bjergaard <address@hidden> writes:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> When I first started maintaining stumpwm, I was interested in knowing if 
>> people
>> were OK with extra dependencies in stumpwm.  This was before quicklisp was as
>> popular as it is now, and the build prescription didn't even mention it.
>>
>> Things have changed now, and there have been a handful of contributions that
>> change the way stumpwm handles its internal loop.  There are also many, many
>> places where stumpwm re-invents the wheel for the sake of keeping 
>> dependencies
>> to a minimum.  The arguments for minimal dependencies are/were:
>> 1. Less overhead for compiling (especially those unfamiliar with lisp 
>> development)
>> 2. Less dependence on upstream changes that break their interface
>> 3. Smaller dependencies -> greater freedom to run on multiple lisp flavors
>> 4. Lower dependencies make it easier for distro managers to package and ship
>>    stumpwm outside of quicklisp/compiling with make
>>
>> Quicklisp clearly nullifies argument 1.  Argument 2 is still an issue.  I've
>> been told that argument 3 is also moot with quicklisp since libraries in
>> quicklisp are supposed to run in multiple flavors.  In practice I've had the
>> opposite experience with the gui libraries  I've looked at (qt and smoke, and
>> the freetype renderer).  
>>
>> While I believe philosophically that we should only depend on sbcl (the most
>> popular flavor), others in the community disagree.  Therefore I have agreed 
>> that
>> the mainline stumpwm will keep the minimal dependency design requirement, and
>> that paulownia (stumpwm 2.0) will have a much looser policy.  
>>
>> I bring this up because there have been requests to:
>> 1. remove dependence on cl-ppcre
>> 2. add dependence on bordeaux-threads and alexandria
>>
>> I think it warrants a discussion since the landscape has changes so much in 
>> the
>> last 3-4 years.
>>
>>     David
>>
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