[clisp-list] Re: berkeley-db

[Bruno H. <br...@cl...>]

Sam wrote:
> > But I think there is some reason, perhaps historical, not sure why
> > "base w/out modules" is the default
>
> IIRC, Bruno wants the default to be as simple and reliable as possible.
> Frankly, I don't see how the presence of an unused module can reduce
> reliability, but what do I know? :-)

Making the default linkingset the 'base' one has the following advantages:

  - It avoids problems when a module requires a shared library, and that
    shared library is not present (or is present but with wrong version)
    on your system.

  - People looking at the size of "ps aux" or "(room t)" will not think
    "gee - lisp is so bloated". (That was precisely my impression when
    I first saw a CMUCL memory image, 20 MB large.)

  - Adding things to the heap means increased working set size, thus a
    slowdown. It matters for small to medium applications.

  - For us developers, support is easier, because we don't have to ask for
    each bug report whether the linnkingset contained clx or not.

Bruno