dblack:
> Actually, s = :sym doesn't produce a reference to :sym;
> rather, s has the actual/immediate value :sym. Anyway, the main (obscured)
> point was that symbols are not references.

My understanding of things so far was that :sym and 3 are immediate values, 
and after writing
  a, b = :sym, 3
a is a reference to :sym and b is a reference to 3.

Have I been wrong all the time?

Malte