Ousterhout's quote in guile-ref.texi

[forcer <forcer@mindless.com>]

Hi there.
In guile-ref.texi, John Ousterhout is quoted with a comment about
Scheme, in which he describes it as the Ultimate Language.

This quote is out of context (and it's cynism is obvious by it's
references to "Bureau of ATF, most of the LAPD, and Mark
Fuhrman"), though being nice, eventually it might harm more than
it does good. It's a nice joke, but it's inclusion should be
reconsidered. The original post (as kindly provided by Anselm
Lingnau):

================================================================

Message-id: <5ilnmp$rg9@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM>
References: <5ihaol$n3g@Masala.CC.UH.EDU>
From: ouster@tcl.eng.sun.com (John Ousterhout)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.scheme, comp.lang.scheme.scsh,
	    comp.lang.lisp, comp.lang.tcl, comp.lang.functional,
	    comp.lang.c++, comp.lang.perl.misc, comp.lang.python,
	    comp.lang.eiffel 
Subject: Re: Reply to Ousterhout's reply (was Re: Ousterhout and
	 Tcl ...)  
Date: 11 Apr 1997 16:08:57 GMT (Fri 18:08 CEST)

In article <5ihaol$n3g@Masala.CC.UH.EDU>, cosc19z5@Bayou.UH.EDU
(cosc19z5@bayou.uh.edu) writes:
|> ...
|>
|> As for Tcl, it's there for one reason and one reason only --
|> strong corporate backing.  We've got a powerful company that
|> wants to make a quick buck and therefore is using its clout to
|> force Tcl down our throats.  This is the same tactic used by
|> charlatans like Micro$oft.  Indeed that's the only possible
|> explanation as to why a glorified text preprocessor would even
|> get a second look -- that and the fact that it is riding on
|> the coattails of Tk.

Sorry for taking so long to respond to this comment, but I
couldn't stop laughing long enough to compose a response.  I wish
your accusation were true, but I'm afraid you are a bit out of
touch.  Apparently you haven't heard of a language called Java,
which is the main thing Sun is pushing these days?  We're a small
player in comparison.  Also, how do you explain the 100,000 or so
people who learned Tcl while I was still a lowly professor at
Berkeley?  Was that just a powerful university trying to make a
quick buck and using its clout to force Tcl down people's
throats?

OK, enough is enough.  I can see that I'm not going to be able to
fool you guys.  I confess everything.  You're right.  It all
*was* an evil conspiracy.  There really isn't a shred of merit in
Tcl, or C++, or Perl, or C; there is not a single reason on earth
why anyone should use any of these languages for any programming
task.  Scheme truly is the perfect language that solves every
problem and combines the virtues of every other language.  For
years we've been plotting to trick programmers into using bad
languages.  Yes, I mean "we".  Many many people have participated
in this sinister plot, including Larry Wall, Dennis Ritchie, Bill
Gates, the Bureau of ATF, most of the LAPD, and Mark Fuhrman
(sorry you guys, but the truth has overwhelmed me so I've been
forced to expose you).  I feel just terrible at how I have set
the programming world back, and I promise to be a good boy from
now on.

Now that that's over with, you can all get back to work now.

================================================================

	-forcer

-- 
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