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created_at: '2016-07-03T08:15:51.000Z'
title: The Tcl War (1994)
url: http://vanderburg.org/old_pages/Tcl/war
author: akkartik
points: 85
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[Source](http://vanderburg.org/old_pages/Tcl/war/ "Permalink to The Tcl War | Glenn Vanderburg")

# The Tcl War | Glenn Vanderburg

# The Tcl War

In late September, 1994, Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation posted an article to `comp.lang.tcl` and several other newsgroups titled Why you should not use Tcl. Predictably, a flamewar ensued, which lasted in one form or another for almost a month (until it was pre-empted by the [GNU project's announcement of plans for its own extension language][1], later dubbed _GUILE_). 

Like most flamewars, there was much heat and little light. However, there was _some_ light, and as the maintainer of the Tcl bibliography (which attempts to be very thorough), I took it upon myself to archive the interesting posts, partly to give the bibliography entry something to point at, and also to provide a balanced perspective: it seemed likely, even at the beginning, that the GNU project would archive Stallman's original article and redistribute it without the many reasonable rebuttals which appeared. 

Although I tried to take a neutral perspective, and saved articles espousing diverse points of view, this selection unavoidably reflects my own prejudices. Included are a few articles which contain nothing but a snappy comeback. I missed a few important articles, such as one by Bill Janssen which started an entire lengthy subthread. And naturally, all of my own posts are included. 

* **Messages sorted by:** [[ date ]][2][[ subject ]][3][[ author ]][4]
* Other mail archives: [**GUILE][1]**

**Starting:** _Sun 25 Sep 1994 - 06:14:14 CST_  
**Ending:** _Tue, 18 Oct 1994 01:02:03 GMT_  
**Messages:** 68 
* [**Why you should not use Tcl**][5] _Richard Stallman_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][6] _Barry Merriman_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][7] _Dan Connolly_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][8] _Ron Natalie_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][9] _Dirk Grunwald_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][10] _Robert DeLine_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][11] _Drew Justin Asson_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][12] _Rob Savoye_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][13] _Thomas Werthmann-Auzinger_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][14] _John Ousterhout_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][15] _Peter da Silva_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][16] _Wayne Throop_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][17] _Wayne Throop_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][18] _Eduardo Pelegri-Llopart_
    * [**Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][19] _Robert DeLine_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][20] _Mumit Khan_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][21] _Peter da Silva_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][22] _Wayne Throop_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][23] _T. William Wells_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][24] _Wayne Throop_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][25] _Mark Harrison_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][26] _George M. Sipe_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][27] _Wayne Throop_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][28] _Sharon Hopkins_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][29] _Wayne Throop_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][30] _Tom Christiansen_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][31] _Tim Bunce_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][32] _Matthias Neeracher_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][33] _Wayne Throop_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][34] _Glenn Vanderburg_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][35] _Tom Christiansen_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][36] _Wayne Throop_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][37] _Jeff Dalton_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][38] _Barry Merriman_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][39] _Tim Pierce_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][40] _Barry Merriman_
    * **[Re: Why you should not use Tcl **][41] _Glenn Vanderburg_
* **[Re: Comments in Tcl (Was: Why you should not use Tcl)**][42] _Peter da Silva_
* **[Comments on "Why you should not use Tcl"**][43] _Adam Sah_
    * **[Re: Comments on "Why you should not use Tcl" **][44] _Wayne Throop_
* **[Re: Look into libscheme - was Re: Why you should not use Tcl**][45] _Tom Christiansen_
    * **[Re: Look into libscheme - was Re: Why you should not use Tcl**][46] _Andrew McCallum_
* **[Tcl has (has not) got arrays ?!?!?!**][47] _Tom Lord_
* **[Critical review of Stk [Was: Why you should not use Tcl]**][48] _Dan Connolly_
* **[Re: extensibility (was: Why you should not use Tcl)**][49] _Ian Moor_
    * **[Re: extensibility (was: Why you should not use Tcl)**][50] _Wayne Throop_
    * **[Re: extensibility (was: Why you should not use Tcl)**][51] _Kevin B. Kenny_
* **[Re: Tcl/Lisp/Python: A "User" point of view**][52] _John Ousterhout_
* **[Integration of libscheme and Tcl (announce)**][53] _Kathi Fisler_
* **[Re: An alternative to Tcl, python, etc...**][54] _Mario J. Silva_
    * **[Re: An alternative to Tcl, python, etc...**][55] _Josef Dalcolmo_
* **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][56] _bruce@liverpool.ac.uk_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][57] _Thomas Funke_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][58] _Brent Welch_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][59] _Glenn Vanderburg_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][60] _Niels P. Mayer_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][61] _Wayne A. Christopher_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][62] _Larry W. Virden_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][63] _Larry W. Virden_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][64] _Robert Sanders_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][65] _Tom Tromey_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][66] _Robert Withrow_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][67] _Peter da Silva_
    * **[Re: Why Tcl is a Bad Thing**][68] _Steven D. Majewski_
* **[Tcl does not support linked lists- technical commentary.**][69] _Adam Sah_
* **[linked lists in Tcl, part II.**][70] _Adam Sah_
    * **[Re: linked lists in Tcl, part II. **][71] _Peter da Silva_
    * **[Re: linked lists in Tcl, part II. **][72] _Peter da Silva_

**Last message date:** _Tue, 18 Oct 1994 01:02:03 GMT_  
**Archived on:** _Fri Feb 10 1995 - 18:04:38 CST_
* **Messages sorted by:** [[ date ]][2][[ subject ]][3][[ author ]][4]
* Other mail archives: **[GUILE][1]**
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