GNU bug report logs - #58513
describe-function should say that defconst variables are constant

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Message #41 received at 58513 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: psainty <at> orcon.net.nz, stefan <at> marxist.se, monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca,
 58513 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#58513: describe-function should say that defconst variables
 are constant
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2022 16:51:57 -0400

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  > And then, in a later Emacs version, we could start enforcing the
  > constness in running code.

defconst has had a subtle meaning: "It is ok to expect, in certain
limited ways, that the value will not be altered."  Nothing more.

This change may seem to be fixing a bug, but some old programs used to
take advantage of the actual old meaning.  This change might break
them.

I think that would be asking for trouble, and we have better things to
do than deal with that trouble.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)

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