"In future versions of macOS the tcl runtime will not be available by default"

[kainjow]

If you run tclsh on Ventura you'll get:

WARNING: This version of tcl is included in macOS for compatibility with legacy software. In future versions of macOS the tcl runtime will not be available by default, and may require you to install an additional package.

I haven't yet heard of Tcl being removed from Sonoma, but it could happen after. If/when this does happen, we'll need to embed it.

The system uses 8.5.9, while 8.6.13 is the latest, so we could benefit by doing this ahead of time anyways.

Edit: forgot about #216

[xyzzy-plugh-plover]

Upgrading to 8.6.x would provide the newer language features (also allowing using libraries that require newer Tcl versions), possibly improve performance, and make it easier to upgrade to 8.7 or 9.0, which are both in alpha.

[xyzzy-plugh-plover]

Will Tcl be updated to 8.6.13 in 2.17?

[kainjow]

No. Probably limit it to a smaller release, since I’m not sure if there are backwards-incompatible changes with 8.6. It’d need more testing.

[kainjow]

What would be neat is to be able to choose between the system Tcl and the built-in one. The most direct way would be to dynamically load the system Tcl.framework. This seems tricky though. Alternatively, loadable bundles could be added that themselves load the framework, and then at launch one is chosen based on a preference. This would allow for users to choose which one they'd want to use and experiment using the newer version, vs forcing the new version on everyone.

[kainjow]

Tcl 9.0 released! https://www.tcl-lang.org/software/tcltk/9.0.html?post=new

[xyzzy-plugh-plover]

Will Tcl 9.0 be supported by HexFiend in the foreseeable future?