> Philip Taylor writes:
>  > >>  b) please lets have portable programs written in the genuinely
>  > >>     popular langauges, viz TeX or C++
>  >
>  > Please let's have portable programs written in the genuinely
>  > PORTABLE languages; popularity is completely irrelevant.
>
> no, its not irrelevant at all. if language X is popular, the reliable
> compilers/interpreters become widely available. hence the program becomes
> portable. its called a _de facto standard_.....

Umm, aren't "reliable" and "C++ compiler" contradictory terms, by the
very nature of the language?

Robin (sitting in Stroustrup's old seat) Fairbairns