8 Sep
2010
8 Sep
'10
3:37 a.m.
2010/9/8 Bryan O'Sullivan
It doesn't really. As you note, the stuff in base is all tied to I/O on Handles, whereas the functions in the text package are pure.
It doesn't mean that it is not possible to make them pure. The operations are pure in nature.
Unfortunately, that's not possible, as it would break backwards compatibility with 6.10, which some industrial users still need.
I guess you mean that then the text package will not work with 6.10. I prefer to have some intermediate version of text for compatibility rather than to nail down this lack of synergy forever. I still think that it is premature to add the text package if it is not in synchrony with the existing packages.