[fpc-pascal] Re: FPC with case insensitive file system under Linux

[Mark Morgan Lloyd]

Alberto Narduzzi wrote:
>> If there problems with capitalization of certain characters exist then
>> these problems should be solved or
>> if that's not possible for some reason such characters should not be
>> allowed in file systems.
>>
>> But giving it all over to the user and tell him "We did not know how to
>> handle this mess, just try yourself" is not a solution.
> 
> I may partially agree on this one, because as you well may name a 
> document fußstraße.doc, but I strongly believe you won't for a .pas one...
> Programmers should get their feet back on programming, not on the 
> filesystem bells and whistles, IMHO.
> 
> While you cannot force an end user not to use certain characters for the 
> filenames, you certainly can a developer; as far as he knows a bit of 
> the tools he's dealing with. And he should.

It might be in order for the language to insist that program/unit names 
have certain properties, and that the files containing them have some 
relationship to the internal names. Anything else is unacceptable: it's 
not the prerogative of the tool to determine what the programs it 
generates can be used for.

The simplest solution is to assume that if the end user has selected a 
case-sensitive filesystem that he's had good reasons to do so, and not 
to try to overrule or protect him.

-- 
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk

[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]