On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Steve Stevenson wrote:
>
> I had the pleasure of talking to Jim McGraw of Sisal fame about a year
> ago. I asked him why Sisal just didn't make further inroads in the
> scientific community. He seemed to be of the opinion that inertia
> played a big part in it.
No doubt, inertia plays some significant role. But in
my case it was not inertia, but other factors. Far from
being critical (because I really appreciate their effort),
I personally disliked most their approach to I/O.
Syntax matters too and it is not even close to what Haskell
has to offer.
But for people who are willing to make new choices what really
matters is a risk related to investment - especially time.
We do not like wasting our time without being somehow
reassured that we are not investing in something without
future. What would be your first reaction if you went
to download Sisal and found out that all their files
were five years old? It might mean that the product is
ideal and stable. But it could also mean that no one
cares any more - including the developers.
>
> It would be interesting if someone would sit down and interview him
> for the community's sake of history. Would be an interesting article
> in something like IEEE Computer.
Definitely!
Jan
