3 ms·
From the post: > GNU M4 only exists because RMS wanted GNU to have what Unix had, and while I wanted to do something different and better, RMS convinced me to
by chipdart 3y ago
From the post:
> GNU M4 only exists because RMS wanted GNU to have what Unix had, and while I wanted to do something different and better, RMS convinced me to do M4 first.
This remark sounds awfully ignorant and clueless, and with accusatory tones with w whiff of a personal attack.
Unix is specified in a set of international standards which specify exactly what interfaces must exist. This also includes key tools such as M4.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX
If your goal is to implement an operating system that is focused on interoperability, and in the process reuse the whole ecosystem developed around it, you implement the whole set of interfaces. M4 is a part of those interfaces. There is no personal opinion or whim or capricious sadism. You could not have that if ignorant opinions on the optional nature of key components were taken seriously.
- kibibu 3y agoGNU M4 was released several years before the relevant POSIX standard.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- arp242 3y agoThere's a bunch of stuff in POSIX no one really implements. Pax and SCCS spring to mind (although SCCS is optional, IIRC). I'm sure there's more you will find missing on a fair number of modern systems. And the person who was there says "Stallman wanted X because Y". That there may be other good reasons for X is besides the point, but recollecting the argument at the time doesn't make one " ignorant and clueless". What a ridiculous comment. Furthermore, in a quick search it seems that m4 wasn't added to POSIX until the early 90s. So that makes it doubly besides the point and doubly ridiculous.
- fanf2 3y agopax is in all the BSDs - an implementation was included in 4.4BSD. libarchive implements the pax file format, so bsdtar and bsdcpio can handle pax files.