Re: BOF at WWDC?
In article [EMAIL PROTECTED], Rich Morin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Would anyone be interested in attending a Perl BOF at WWDC? Is there something like this already in the works? So, anyone else interested in such a thing? Maybe something over beers wednesday night? I'm a WWDC virgin so I don't really know what to expect or plan for. -- brian d foy, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: BOF at WWDC?
Sure! Lawrence Furnival On Jun 6, 2005, at 9:02 AM, _brian_d_foy wrote: In article [EMAIL PROTECTED], Rich Morin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Would anyone be interested in attending a Perl BOF at WWDC? Is there something like this already in the works? So, anyone else interested in such a thing? Maybe something over beers wednesday night? I'm a WWDC virgin so I don't really know what to expect or plan for. -- brian d foy, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tiger Mail Issues
Greetings, I just upgraded to Tiger and I noticed that now the command line mail system is activated. I had been previously been using a perl program using MacGlue to put mail into the Mail.app. I use this program mainly to send myself the output of perl programs in cron. I have written the perl program primarily because the postfix mail system was not working, so now perhaps I should just start using the system mail for output. Does anyone know what I need to do to set it up and get it to send mail outside of the local system?
CamelBones on Intel? Maybe not.
On the surface, today's announcement of a shift to Intel chips is great news for CamelBones developers - Perl code is not, after all, compiled for a specific CPU type. Given the presence of the appropriate supporting framework, Perl code should run just as well on a Mac/Intel as it does on a Mac/PPC. But there's the rub - the supporting framework. The problem is how Perl builds XS modules. The perl for which a module is targeted must be used to build it. So far, that's been workable - Copying the Jaguar and Panther perls to my Tiger partition was a bit of a nuisance, but once I had done that, they run just fine. An Intel-based perl interpreter is another matter entirely. My Mac is an old G4, and it won't run that. I won't be able to produce a supporting framework for Intel Macs without buying an Intel Mac. The question becomes, whether CamelBones by itself justifies such a purchase. To put it bluntly - no, it doesn't. I've been working on CamelBones for over three years now. Its original purpose was as a segue into a career as a Mac developer. That hasn't happened - I'm still unemployed. If anything, it has actually *hurt* my prospects - employers looking for a Perl developer have doubts because I haven't done any CGI work in 3-4 years, and those looking for Cocoa developers have doubts because I haven't published much Objective-C work. The handful of donations I've received (and to those few supporters, I extend a heartfelt thank you), have not been enough to purchase evan a Mac mini. Meanwhile, developers like Delicious are using Objective-C to write shareware apps that net them $250k in registrations in a single month. Reports like that have been making me *seriously* doubt the wisdom of what I'm doing. Sorry to vent folks, but this is seriously depressing. I've invested three years of my life into this, and the only result has been three years of unemployment and poverty. And now Apple tells me I have to make yet another major investment of money and time if I want to continue with it. I'm beginning to feel like Sisyphus, working on an endless and unrewarding task. This is not a decision to be made lightly, nor quickly. I'm not writing this to announce the end. But really, something's got to give here - I need to pay the rent, and so far, CamelBones isn't doing it. If something doesn't change - a job, serious financial backing, something - the end may not be very far off. sherm-- Cocoa programming in Perl: http://camelbones.sourceforge.net Hire me! My resume: http://www.dot-app.org
Re: CamelBones on Intel? Maybe not.
I know what you mean, Sherm. Wish I could send you something to push into the iNTEL Mac world with, but I'm in the same position as you. Hope you can find a place that can see the value in understanding perl from the inside. If Perl 6 moves ahead, perl might go into the embedded world the way java hasn't yet really gone. For me, the computer industry just lost its last little bit of shine. I'm looking for a new career. Any general purpose computers I buy will run AMD since I doubt I'll be able to afford PPC hardware, and I'll be scratching Mac OS X from this old iBook this weekend. Not sure if I'll load Linux or openBSD on it, since it's my server. Jobs is insane. -- Joel Rees Nothing to say today so I'll say nothing: Nothing.
Re: CamelBones on Intel? Maybe not.
On Jun 6, 2005, at 5:18 PM, Joel Rees wrote: Jobs is insane. I'm not so sure about that. IBM seems unwilling or unable to produce mobile G5s, which is a market that Apple considers very important. They also are 2 years behind schedule on 3.0Ghz G5s, and appear to be focusing on video game processors instead of desktop and mobile processors. Apple might be OK in a speed comparison right now (on desktops, they are clearly losing in laptop comparisons), but how about in two years? Perhaps IBM has told Apple that they won't attempt a laptop chip, since the volume is way higher for video game consoles? What should Apple do? Personally, it looks like it will be a bit painful for a few years, but a far better move in the long run. Ian
Re: CamelBones on Intel? Maybe not.
Ian Ragsdale wrote: On Jun 6, 2005, at 5:18 PM, Joel Rees wrote: Jobs is insane. I'm not so sure about that. IBM seems unwilling or unable to produce mobile G5s, which is a market that Apple considers very important. They also are 2 years behind schedule on 3.0Ghz G5s, and appear to be focusing on video game processors instead of desktop and mobile processors. Apple might be OK in a speed comparison right now (on desktops, they are clearly losing in laptop comparisons), but how about in two years? Perhaps IBM has told Apple that they won't attempt a laptop chip, since the volume is way higher for video game consoles? What should Apple do? They should have released Mac OS X for Intel as soon as they had it ready. Why wait? It seems Apple is too caught up in their own keynotes to understand volume sales. One thing M$ was definitely *always* better at. IBM will probably laugh this one to the bank, not exactly going to put a dent in that $99 billion in revenue... Personally, it looks like it will be a bit painful for a few years, but a far better move in the long run. Unless they become just another cheap clone maker with a pretty software interface. (Did I hear someone say Sun?) Ian http://danconia.org
Universal Binary vs. Perl5
Porters, So it happened. I am surprisingly unsurprised at the news. These days I hardly care CPUs. I am as CPU-blind ad Color-blind (in a politically correct sense). But as a Perl5 porter I found at least a couple of issues we have to care. What's gonna happen to XS? -- It already uses .bundle so in theory it can handle multiple architectures but in practice? And Archname? - Hmm This one may not be an issue. Usually it is CPU-OS-misc (i.e. i386-freebsd-64int) but It is simply darwin. Any thoughts? Dan the (Perl5 Porter|Mac User Since 1989)
Re: CamelBones on Intel? Maybe not.
Hey Sherm, I have two suggestions. Since I know you to be a very good programmer with a very good knowledge of how things work under OS X, I suggest going straight to Apple and pitching the idea of developing CamelBones for them. It could work out quite well if the arrangement is crafted well enough. Or, set up a storefront and start charging some money for a premium version of camelbones, or charging a specific amount of money for support licenses. But to be honest, I'm not surprised you haven't received enough donations yet to keep afloat. A google search for camelbones donate gives no useful results, nor did I see any invitation to donate by browsing on your site. But even if it were there, I don't think donations make a business model. Support licenses and premium products can, though. -Ken On Jun 6, 2005, at 4:51 PM, Sherm Pendley wrote: This is not a decision to be made lightly, nor quickly. I'm not writing this to announce the end. But really, something's got to give here - I need to pay the rent, and so far, CamelBones isn't doing it. If something doesn't change - a job, serious financial backing, something - the end may not be very far off.
