compile-time actions & top-level forms (long)

[Ram@C.CS.CMU.EDU]

This obviously falls within the purview of the Compiler Cleanup
comittee, which unfortunately seems to be moribund.  I agree with all
the expectation of compiler semantics that you mention, and my
proposal to the compiler cleanup comittee does have these properties.

    As a separate but related issue, I'd also like to see a DEF<something>
    form defined to replace the magical compile-time behavior of the
    package functions. 

The solution I propose is to require package manipulation forms to
appear at the beginning of the file.  The package functions are only
special-cased when they appear in that position.

My proposal is accessible as <ram>cprop.txt on c.cs.cmu.edu.  Anybody
who knows Lisp compilers and has a recent history of breathing is
encouraged to harrass the compiler comittee.

  Rob