6 char externs and the ANSI standard

[Henry Spencer]

> So alright already!  We all agree;  let's make sure the ANSI committee knows
> and move on to something else.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn they've
> already caved in to the overwhelming public opinion.

Caved in?  Not really; there is too much at stake in regard to getting wide
acceptance of the standard.  But the latest draft (17 Oct) has indeed had
the wording changed in the way I reported earlier:  the language itself no
longer defines any limits, but specific implementations are allowed to set
limits (provided they are no more severe than "six characters, monocase").
With any luck, this achieves the desired result:  getting sensible systems
to adopt arbitrary-length names, while encouraging adoption of the standard
by making it possible to produce standard-conforming implementations even
on systems with brain-damaged compatibility constraints.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry