Re: Time to rewrite dpkg
Hi Marek,
On 19 May, Marek Habersack wrote:
> * Ossama Othman said:
> > I don't think that is a "complete" solution. Improving libdpkg would
> > be good but, as Aaron described, that would just be adding/modifying
> > code to code that is already "brittle."
> Well, a complete rewrite and redesign in C would help...
Yep, I agree. Although, I still like Aaron's idea.
> > > any language against C based libraries. As far as I'm aware doing the same
> > > to C++ (or other object-oriented languages) is a pain in the neck.
> >
> > C++ libraries aren't bad once you get to know them. If you are
> It isn't about C++ libraries being bad, or C++ being bad language, but about
> compatibility and an issue of C++ still being in a state of flux in a GNU
> world...
Good point. However, now that there is a C++ standard I don't believe
that the state of flux you mention is a major issue. EGCS has been
fairly stable in terms of existing language feature support. Stuff
like RTTI and exception handling aren't major issues since they can
easily be disabled.
> > Hrm. I would have to disagree with you. Using object oriented
> > techniques certainly makes things easier to maintain, extend and debug.
> > Using object oriented "design patterns" (see any good book on OO design
> > patterns), for example, makes code much easier to understand and/or
> > implement.
> That's true, but again, the compatibility and unstability of the C++
> implementation on the GNU platform is an obstacle. OTOH, we have Objective
> C...
I've never tried Objective C. How is it? Is Objective-C link
compatible with standard C? Just curious.
> I'm not convinced this is a good way, but I admire the courage - g'luck from
> me as well :))
It certainly does seem like it will be difficult. I am sure Aaron has
thought this thing through, including the friendly opposition of late.
BTW, I just want to thank everyone who has been participating in this
discussion for keeping it _friendly_. It can certainly turn into into
a C/C++ flame war but I am glad everyone has been calm and rational.
Thanks again! :-)
-Ossama
--
Ossama Othman <othman@cs.wustl.edu>
Center for Distributed Object Computing, Washington University, St. Louis
58 60 1A E8 7A 66 F4 44 74 9F 3C D4 EF BF 35 88 1024/8A04D15D 1998/08/26
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