Why GIL? (was Re: what's the point of rpython?)

[Paul Rubin]

Rhamphoryncus <rhamph at gmail.com> writes:
> IMO it's possible to rewrite only the core while keeping the refcount
> API for external compatibility, but a tracing GC API in portable C is
> hideous. 

It's done all the time for other languages, and is less hassle than
the incref/decref stuff and having to remember the difference between
owned and borrowed references, etc.

> Enough to make me want to find or make a better implementation language.

There is a lot to be said for this, including the self-respect that
comes from a language being able to host its own implementation.