It's pretty obvious that we've a number of folks who've got Thread
Religion. It's also very obvious that there is more than one One True
Thread Religion. And it's *definitely* obvious that I'm getting
cranky.

So.

This is everyone's chance. You have what you think is the Right Way
to do it? Fine. Time for design details.

Your constraints:

1) A POSIX-style "everything is shared implicitly" mode must be
available. It may be slow.

2) A perl 5 iThreads "it's not a thread, it's a fork. Well, sorta..."
mode must be available

3) You must give details of the proposed changes/additions to the
design of the engine and underlying code.

4) Keep in mind that the engine has events and asynchronous I/O
floating around. These are a given.

5) Be very aware of the existence of SMP machines, and the potential
fun that can ensue with a combination of SMP, DOD, and GC. (You may
assume that the current copying GC can be replaced with a non-copying
version when running with threads)

6) Bytecode can't, under any circumstances, crash the interpreter
because of thread programming errors. (Barring implementation
problems)

I make no promises that a proposal will get anything other than
ignored. The more of the current core design a proposal thinks should
be replaced, the less likely it is to go anywhere. Handwave on
details at your peril. No warrantee is expressed or implied. Slippery
when wet. Your mother says you never write, and you should wear a
sweater.

I may or may not ask questions, make pointed comments and/or
observations, or say anything about any proposal. It's possible, and
likely, that there are elements of parrot's design that I've
insufficiently expressed which may torpedo a proposal, though I'll
try to detail those when they come up.

This, as they say, is your one and only chance. Go for it, and good
luck. Please start a *new* thread, with a uniquely identifying
subject line (a proposal name or your name in it is good) so I have
at least some hope of keeping it all straight.
--
                                         Dan

--------------------------------------"it's like this"-------------------
Dan Sugalski                          even samurai
d...@sidhe.org                         have teddy bears and even
                                       teddy bears get drunk