On 2026-03-08 06:26, Bruno Haible via Gnulib discussion list wrote:
Please don't use identifiers that start with '__gl'. Identifiers that start with '__' belong to the system (= compiler + libc).
I was a little disappointed to see patches immediately installed to implement this request even though I've recently written here that I disagree with it at least in part.
Gnulib is supposed to help its users, not get in their way. So when Gnulib is implementing a standard C or POSIX header, it should be viewed as being part of the implementation not part of the application, and its API strive to follow the relevant namespace rules.
Yes, this places a greater burden on the Gnulib developers, as it means we must pick names like "__gl_whatever" that work on every practical Gnulib target. But that's OK: it's better for us to take on the minor burden of picking such names, than for users of Gnulib to take on the burden of worrying about Gnulib's intrusion into their namespace.
So as a compromise I propose that although it's fine to stick with ordinary names when implementing Gnulib's own headers, we should avoid this when implementing standard headers.
