[plt-dev] renaming programs in the distribution

(3 1B 2 1A)

On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 10:38 AM, Matthew Flatt <mflatt at cs.utah.edu> wrote:
> Here are the plausible options we came up with on the IRC channel:
>
>  1: Keep `racket' plus a separate command tool
>  1A: Keep `rico' as the command tool (i.e., status quo)
>  1B: Rename `rico' to `racket-tool'
>
>  2: Rename `racket' to `racket-run', rename `rico' to `racket', add a
>    `racket run' command, and let `racket' (no command) still provide a
>    REPL
>
>  3: Like 2, but let `racket' guess whether its first argument is a
>    command or a file name so that `racket <file>' often works (i.e.,
>    the most recent proposal, but amended with `racket-run' for
>    scripts)
>
> 1A is obviously best, because it fits existing conventions.
> 1A is obviously worst, because `rico' doesn't contain "Racket".
>
> 1B acceptably fixes the problem with `rico' by adding "racket".
> 1B leaves us with an unacceptably long and ugly tool name, as will
>   anything that starts "racket".
>
> 2 works well, since it makes `racket' the one executable for
>  everything.
> 2 doesn't work, because users expect `racket <file>' to to run the
>  file.
>
> 3 looks like the best combination; it almost always does what you'd
>  expect, and the only real trouble shows up with people who put "." in
>  their PATH, which is a typical newbie mistake that we shouldn't try
>  to accommodate. [But I have "." in my PATH.]
> 3 looks suspiciously like an attempt to innovate; it's unusual, it has
>  surprising corner cases, and it interacts awkwardly with tab
>  completion.
>
>
> I can live with any of the options.
>
> My vote, most preferred to least:
> '(3 1B 1A 2)
>
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-- 
Jay McCarthy <jay at cs.byu.edu>
Assistant Professor / Brigham Young University
http://teammccarthy.org/jay

"The glory of God is Intelligence" - D&C 93