[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]** * * * _This archive was generated by [hypermail 1.02][73]._ [1]: http://vanderburg.org/war2/index.html [2]: http://vanderburg.org/date.html#start [3]: http://vanderburg.org/subject.html#start [4]: http://vanderburg.org/author.html#start [5]: http://vanderburg.org/0000.html [6]: http://vanderburg.org/0001.html [7]: http://vanderburg.org/0002.html [8]: http://vanderburg.org/0003.html [9]: http://vanderburg.org/0004.html [10]: http://vanderburg.org/0005.html [11]: http://vanderburg.org/0006.html [12]: http://vanderburg.org/0007.html [13]: http://vanderburg.org/0008.html [14]: http://vanderburg.org/0009.html [15]: http://vanderburg.org/0011.html [16]: http://vanderburg.org/0012.html [17]: http://vanderburg.org/0013.html [18]: http://vanderburg.org/0014.html [19]: http://vanderburg.org/0015.html [20]: http://vanderburg.org/0016.html [21]: http://vanderburg.org/0017.html [22]: http://vanderburg.org/0020.html [23]: http://vanderburg.org/0021.html [24]: http://vanderburg.org/0022.html [25]: http://vanderburg.org/0024.html [26]: http://vanderburg.org/0025.html [27]: http://vanderburg.org/0026.html [28]: http://vanderburg.org/0030.html [29]: http://vanderburg.org/0033.html [30]: http://vanderburg.org/0034.html [31]: http://vanderburg.org/0036.html [32]: http://vanderburg.org/0038.html [33]: http://vanderburg.org/0040.html [34]: http://vanderburg.org/0041.html [35]: http://vanderburg.org/0042.html [36]: http://vanderburg.org/0043.html [37]: http://vanderburg.org/0045.html [38]: http://vanderburg.org/0046.html [39]: http://vanderburg.org/0049.html [40]: http://vanderburg.org/0051.html [41]: http://vanderburg.org/0053.html [42]: http://vanderburg.org/0010.html [43]: http://vanderburg.org/0018.html [44]: http://vanderburg.org/0019.html [45]: http://vanderburg.org/0023.html [46]: http://vanderburg.org/0028.html [47]: http://vanderburg.org/0027.html [48]: http://vanderburg.org/0029.html [49]: http://vanderburg.org/0031.html [50]: http://vanderburg.org/0035.html [51]: http://vanderburg.org/0037.html [52]: http://vanderburg.org/0032.html [53]: http://vanderburg.org/0039.html [54]: http://vanderburg.org/0044.html [55]: http://vanderburg.org/0048.html [56]: http://vanderburg.org/0047.html [57]: http://vanderburg.org/0050.html [58]: http://vanderburg.org/0052.html [59]: http://vanderburg.org/0054.html [60]: http://vanderburg.org/0055.html [61]: http://vanderburg.org/0056.html [62]: http://vanderburg.org/0057.html [63]: http://vanderburg.org/0058.html [64]: http://vanderburg.org/0059.html [65]: http://vanderburg.org/0060.html [66]: http://vanderburg.org/0061.html [67]: http://vanderburg.org/0063.html [68]: http://vanderburg.org/0065.html [69]: http://vanderburg.org/0062.html [70]: http://vanderburg.org/0064.html [71]: http://vanderburg.org/0066.html [72]: http://vanderburg.org/0067.html [73]: http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html