While I don't entirely agree with UNIX admin, I am sort of concerned
with the growing number of scripting environments that are now required
to make [Open]Solaris run.
First I realized that Perl was needed was when I discovered the kstat
was rewritten in Perl, which kind of bummed my Operations folks out to
have to install Perl just for a few utilities that had previously been
written in C. (I ended up rewriting kstat for them in C, pretty easily).
Now Python is needed for IPS, Xen, probably more. What other language
platforms are necessary?
Although I realize that when you want to do something useful, like
install and run actual applications to solve business problems, you are
likely going to be installing one or both, or even something else, but
it would have been nice if Solaris engineering had decided on a small
set (read one) scripting language for anything in the base O/S. So the
O/S remains smaller, quicker to install, less language platforms to
support & maintain, etc.
Especially if you are getting performance by writing C modules for
critical functions, it kind of reduces the "we've got to use scripting
language X" argument.
Heck, last time I looked the O/S needs even a couple of different
versions of the Java JRE, even worse!
--joe
UNIX admin wrote:
Significant portion of softwares in use at large
software installations
for high-traffic providers such as Google are written
in Python.
So what?
Let me get this straight: just because Google does something, XYZ should also
do that something?
You mean, like "ME TOOs" that I've been writing about? Nice.
It is important to keep in mind that algorithms
generally matter more
than choice of programming language.
That is, in my experience only, quite a naive view of the industry and programming. By choosing
Python, you (plural) chose a programming language just because "Google does it", and
because it's "hip", not because it is the best tool for the job.
In fact, you pretty much chose a tool that most people are unfamiliar with, unless they too want to
be "hip" and "cool" at all costs. You've basically forced any would-be
contributor to go an learn Python, a language they might not need or want for anything else, if
they want to fix, revise or otherwise collaborate with you on the project.
I look at the choices that were made for IPS, and keep help but keep wondering,
WHY?
Who makes these decisions? What were they THINKING?
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