Re: Batteries

[Dibyendu Majumdar <mobile@...>]

On 11 March 2018 at 08:25, Dirk Laurie <dirk.laurie@gmail.com> wrote:
> 2018-03-11 3:42 GMT+02:00 Dibyendu Majumdar <mobile@majumdar.org.uk>:
>
>> On the other hand, I think this model is harmful for the 'batteries'
>> part - which could easily be improved by allowing external
>> contributors.
>
> I use Roberto's LPeg and several of Luiz's modules: complex numbers,
> C99 math, XML parsing etc. They are of comparable quality to Lua
> itself and stay abreast of new releases, but they give a glimpse of
> what Lua might have been like if developed by only that person ­— and
> I wonder if Waldemar's unheralded role might not be to mediate between
> two extremes.
>
> The key is: "of comparable quality to Lua itself ".
>
> We have two main battery providers: stdlib and penlight, and one
> battery compiler: luarocks. Will lovers of the first two please stand
> up to be counted? I use a dozen or so offerings from the third, but
> with caution: there are often several different offerings for the same
> task, and they come without quality certificates.
>

Sorry I don't think I explained clearly what I meant.

The Lua core libraries are constrained by the need to be small,
portable anywhere there is a C99 compiler, hence most libraries cannot
be included in Lua standard library.

However, the community needs and would benefit from an extended
standard library that is supervised / blessed by the Lua team. All the
Lua team have to do is:

a) Create an official repository - perhaps in Github
b) Appoint trusted leads who can manage the library - I am sure many
people here who maintain distros or major libraries would be willing
to help - I can think of a few names including yours.
c) Take part in regular reviews and decision making - maybe spend 1
hour per fortnight in an online meeting to approve / disapprove
decisions taken by the leads.
d) The leads should create a shortlist of the libraries that need to
be include - and set criteria on quality, documentation, portability
etc., again possibly reviewed/approved by Lua team.

All this can be done with very little effort from the Lua team.

Regards
Dibyendu