[Openmcl-devel] RFC - init-file and asdf:*central-registry* changes

[Cyrus Harmon]

The folks at Apple would probably suggest adding files like 
/Library/OpenMCL/init.lisp and ~/Library/OpenMCL/init.lisp to that 
list. As for the one or many files, I'm a bit leery of multiple files. 
What order do they get loaded in? Alphanumeric? Doesn't sound right to 
me. I'd argue for keeping things in one file and letting that file in 
turn load whatever the heck it needs to (imagine a (require 'asdf) 
(asdf:operate asdf:load 'init) or whatever the right syntax is to get 
init.asd). Come to think of it, I'd much rather have an init asdf 
package than multiple files, but would be happy enough with a single 
file.

I'm pleased to see the recent progress in OpenMCL. Can we expect a 
release anytime soon? Are there things that we can do to help get a 
release out there?

Thanks,

Cyrus

On Feb 16, 2005, at 6:17 PM, bryan o'connor wrote:

> there are two related patches in the queue for which i'd like some
> feedback.  i've sent previous versions to the list over the last
> year, so these should be familiar.
>
> the first part involves changing the default application-init-file
> from just HOME:openmcl-init.lisp to the following list:
>   HOME:openmcl-init.lisp    ; current
>   HOME:.openmcl;init.lisp   ; unix-like
>   CCL:openmcl-init.lisp     ; system-wide default
>
> to ensure backwards-compatibility, startup-ccl accepts either an atom
> or list for the init-file arg.  if a list, it'll load *only* the first
> one that exists.  if the file exists but has errors, it won't try any
> others.
>
> this list is dumped as part of the initial image and can't be changed
> at run-time.  you can always disable it and use "-n -l my-init-file"
>
> personally, i prefer having the init file in a separate directory
> (HOME:.openmcl) so i can potentially break it out into multiple files.
> this is similar to the way xemacs stores its init files in .xemacs/
> instead of one giant file like gnu emacs.
>
> the second part, adds a default asdf:*central-registry*.  i propose
> the following (a direct mapping from sbcl's default):
>   CCL:tools;systems;		; packages distributed with openmcl
>   CCL:tools;site-systems;	; site-wide locally-installed packages
>   HOME:.openmcl;systems		; per-user locally-installed packages
>
> we'd then ship with a symlink to asdf-install.asd in systems so
> (require :asdf-install) would "just work".  future bundled projects
> like the cocoa listener, editor, ide, etc. could ship with a similar
> setup.
>
> the asdf:*central-registry* can be modified at any time including in
> your init-file.  this just adds a reasonable(?) default.
>
> what do you think?
>
> 	...bryan
>
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