Re: 6502 syntax for mcedit

[Pavel Roskin <proski gnu org>]

Hello!

> I am new to the list and would like to contribute a Syntax file for MCEDIT 
> highlighting 6502 and 65c02 Assembler sourcecodes.
> Although http://ytm.republika.pl/src/mc-6502-syntax.tar.gz has a similar
> Syntax file, even for the same assembler, I wasnt really satisfied with it.

I'm sorry, but I believe this file is too specific to be included into the
distribution.  Keep it to yourself and give it to those who program that
processor.

An important fact that the mc developers have learned is that just because
you can do something and it works, it doesn't have to be included into mc.  
The reason is the price of maintenance.

What if we decide to change the syntax highlighting code?  All the rules
will have to be converted (possibly by hand) and revalidated.  It is _NOT_
reasonable to expect a contributor to mc (who is working for free and
probably doesn't have much time to spend on the project) to find example
files for each supported format, including 6502 Assembler, and revalidate
the code on them.

When Midnight Commander supported 3 graphical frontends (XView, Tk and
GNOME), almost every patch would break one of them.  The time cost of most
changes was incredibly high, and somebody had to pay that price - either
the original contributor, or somebody who cared about those frontends.  
(That's a bit simplified, but you get the idea.)

Now we have removed those frontends.  It is easier to add (and test!) new
stuff now.  Last night I spend unifying the dialogs so that they would no
longer draw their frames and titles themselves.  That would make it even
easier for a contributor to concenrate on the essential parts instead of
choosing the best color for the dialog title.  That would cut the time
cost of further development.

The stuff that is not used breaks.  That's known as bit rot.  Your file 
would be highly vulnerable to that disease, since very few mc users use 
6502 Assembler, and of those who do, most would rather share the syntax 
file between themselves rather than wait for the next version of mc to be 
released with the news syntax rules for 6502.

Seeing that you a using a server in Poland, may I suggest that you rather
translate doc/pl/xnc.hlp from CVS - this would be much more useful for mc
users.  No need to translate the license, and without the licence, it's
just 2.2 kilobytes.

-- 
Regards,
Pavel Roskin