>I'd hate to think that anyone might misinterpret Alex's comments here.
>
>Haskell is not limited to the Win32 platform, and neither are the tools
>that I think Alex was refering to. Both Hugs and GHC can be used on a
>range of different platforms, including linux and unix. Things have
>been this way for a long time and, to the best of my knowledge, everyone
>involved with these systems is committed to continuing cross-platform
>support and development for the foreseeable future.
I should probably also clarify my own position as regards cross platform
functionality. When we started writing Telergy, we had the option to go
cross platform from the outset, but as Linux (the only Unix-like system we
could afford back then!) didn't have threads, we were faced with needing to
support two *very* different versions. As Linux had very little penetration
into the commercial market back then (four years ago), we chose to go 100%
NT. Our choice of NT rather than some other Unix was simple expedience - we
had plenty of experience of it, machines running it, development software
for it and so on, but most importantly we knew that there were people out
there willing to *pay us* to write software under NT. Going the Unix or
Linux route would have been financially suicidal - a small software house
that is self-funding development off the back of development contracts can
not afford too much altruism.
When we picked the project up again two years ago, we re-evaluated the cross
platforming decision. Again, Linux threads weren't quite there yet. What was
worse, we were under unbelievable pressure to get a working Telergy server
out in as short a time as possible (we got to a technology demonstrator
level in two months), so there was no way, again, that cross-platforming
could be considered. However, we did go to considerable lengths to
encapsulate as many NT-isms as possible in C++ classes with a view to making
a later port more straightforward. Now that threads are available and well
supported under Linux, a port is at least now feasible without a total
rewrite.
The situation at the time of writing is that we have a 100% working system
on NT, with no real work having been done as regards a Linux/Unix port. We
have taken the decision that the next major version number update of Telergy
will support Linux and NT, as well as (possibly) a number of Unix variants.
I personally sit on the fence whenever any 'which
OS/Language/Compiler/Car/Motorcycle/Lifestyle Choice/Whatever' questions
come up - I really don't care what we use, so long as it gets the job done
as effectively as possible and we get paid at the end of the month (not
necessarily in any particular order of importance!). We have used NT in
anger - in fact, I have consulted on and off for a bank who happens to have
35000 NT machines on its WAN. The link that was posted in response to my
earlier comments reads as a highly emotionally charged rant from the point
of view of someone trying to evangelise Linux - I personally don't really
care. I certainly know from personal experience that NT can indeed be used
for mission critical purposes. By way of an example of our platform-agnostic
attitude, our network here consists of a number of NT boxes that are used
for development, a couple of Linux machines acting as a mail server and
firewall respectively, and a couple of 98 boxes that get used to support a
variety of high-end audio hardware (a Paris III system and a Symbolic Sound
Kyma system running on a Capybara 320 with 28 processors and 672MB of SRAM).
One of our Linux boxes hosts a development environment which is normally
used via X-Windows from one or other of our NT machines.
As I have mentioned before, I'm very keen to set up a system that can allow
web pages to be generated in Haskell, with information being pulled back
from Telergy. Currently, Telergy only runs on NT. It should therefore not be
too surprising that I am mostly interested in getting Haskell to interface
to Telergy on NT, and to generate web pages, again on NT. When we go cross
platform, we will cross-platform this interface, but there really is no way
that I can justify the time in doing so now. Flame me all you like, but the
ongoing support of our products and our customer relationships whilst
maintaining healthy business fundamentals has to have top priority, so I am
unashamed in adopting this policy. I have to be a CEO first, because that is
my job. However, I have believed strongly for quite a few years that
functional languages offer extraordinary potential benefits - I will be very
pleased if by releasing a Haskell-based web interface to Telergy that more
developers will get their chance at a first taste of this new world.
Sarah Thompson
