Re: Throw some low-level C scutwork at me

> Because it becomes one more maintenance task we don't need.

There should be nothing to maintain, if it's done right.


>  The linux kernel is a mess. There are a couple of hundred files  
> with inconssistent mode lines. Most have none (and there are  
> thousands).

So it sounds like they could benefit from a tool that ensured that  
they would be kept consistent, and so that when it was decided that  
changes needed to be made, the single tool (likely a 20-line Perl  
program) would take care of it.


> So we're hardly alone in not doing it the way you're suggesting.


Sure, and I'm sure there are plenty of projects that do use them to  
great effect, most notably Perl 5 and Parrot.  Perl 5 specifically has  
had the mish-mosh of tabs-vs-spaces reduced by the addition of  
modelines.

xoa

--
Andy Lester => andy@petdance.com => www.theworkinggeek.com => AIM:petdance