Standard Library Concerns (Phobos / Tango)

[Jesse Phillips]

On Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:49:17 -0400, Tim Burrell wrote:

> Hey all,
> 
> It seems that even though Phobos is open source, it's difficult for
> people to contribute to.  Patch submissions aren't being accepted as
> readily as they should be, and bugs remain even months after having a
> fix submitted by users.
> 
> Not to mention that it's confusing for new users to have to deal with
> two standard libraries.  I think it would be a really good thing for the
> language as a whole if there were only one standard library.
> 
> My personal opinion is that Walter should let go of Phobos and adopt
> Tango as the official standard library.  I know there are people out
> there that prefer the Phobos API over Tango's, but I have a feeling that
> if Walter asked the Tango people to maintain the Tangobos base as the
> official standard library for D they would be okay with that.
> 
> It would be a win-win situation for everyone, including Walter.  His
> time would get to be spent more on D itself, as he would likely only
> need to oversee the standard library in terms of input regarding the API
> and patchset accepts.
> 
> The community would gain a huge win because there would only be one
> unified standard library.
> 
> Phobos users would still be able to use the Phobos API but would gain
> the benefits of using an API that they feel they can contribute to, and
> that has a proven track record of being responsive to fixing bugs.
> They'd also gain the ability to use the odd Tango class when desired.
> 
> And Tango users wouldn't have to deal with using a non-standard library
> as the basis for their app, plus the ability to use the odd bit of the
> Phobos API would be nice now and again as well.
> 
> I really feel strongly that a move toward a single standard library is
> the right thing to do for D.  There's very few cons to such a move and a
> great many pros.
> 
> Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?
> 
> Tim.

I would like to express why I think Walter is silent in the matter. The 
standard library would be a big change. This is to say there are a lot of 
people that stick with the library that comes with the compiler. A switch 
of the standard lib would cause a ripple effect that would disturb those 
that don't use Tango. While this is doable it is not something to hastily 
do.

It is quit possible that some time in the future Tangos momentum slows 
and Phobos surpasses as the mainly used library. We don't want to be 
switching back and forth as the community takes a liking to one or the 
other.

There are areas that Tango falls behind in and it would be best to have 
them addressed before such a switch. I think any action should wait for 
the release of D2, but I think the choice as to what will be expected to 
happen should be declared now.