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Date:      Sun, 20 Jan 2002 16:06:50 +0100
From:      Alfatrion <alfatrion@cybertron.tmfweb.nl>
To:        "Mike Meyer" <mwm-dated-1011946023.0c21bb@mired.org>
Cc:        questions@freebsd.org, rene@xs4all.nl
Subject:   Re[2]: what is a good language for system administration?
Message-ID:  <374787884.20020120160650@cybertron.tmfweb.nl>
In-Reply-To: <15434.31399.395825.846309@guru.mired.org>
References:  <15434.31399.395825.846309@guru.mired.org>

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Hello Mike,

Sunday, January 20, 2002, 9:07:03 AM, you wrote:

MM> Alfatrion <alfatrion@cybertron.tmfweb.nl> types:
>> rxn> What other language do you guys advise for system administration tasks such
>> rxn> as
>> rxn> * checking if a remote host is up
>> rxn> * pumping files & RAM data through external tools
>> rxn> * calling scripts written in the same language on a remote machine, to
>> rxn>   'pickup' data that was pumped to that machine by a local script.
>> 
>> rxn> My wishlist for the language, prioritized with most important first:
>> rxn> * portability! to other UNIXes, and even Windoze.
>> rxn> * low system demands - it needs to run on lowend boxes aswell
>> rxn> * clear organization of any 'plugins' (which need to be replicated on other
>> rxn>   machines aswell)
>> rxn> * a nice errorhandling & logging system
>> 
>> rxn> I could really use some clues here. PHP comes into mind, but maybe there are
>> rxn> other better options?
>> 
>> Two good choices are: Python and Java. The later is good for portabily
>> to other type of systems.

MM> Actually, I've found Python to be more portable than Java. Java's
MM> portability is limited by the availability of the Java VM, which isn't
MM> as portable as the Python VM. I've written Python GUI apps on Unix,
MM> and they run unmodified on Windows and the Mac. 

Im not that in to Python, so can't say to much about it. Its on my
list to try, but that may take a wail. I didn't see a platform that didn't have a
Java VM availble. Than again i didn't see that many. What you say bout
the Python GUI apps is also true with the Java GUI apps.

MM> Both Java and Python support CORBA for remote work. Python is a bit
MM> uglier than Perl when it comes to munging strings and external
MM> commands, but is generally more readable. That it has a REPL and Perl
MM> doesn't is also nice.

CORBA is good for (remote) compatibility with other langauges. If you
wan't remote work from Java to Java you can use RMI or Activation
(server side based on RMI). Since RMI doesn't have to work with other
languages it doesn't have the same limits as CORBA.

MM> The really cool tool is JPython, a Python implementation in Java. You
MM> get the Python REPL running in an environment with your Java objects
MM> loaded, so you can test them interactively, or use Python to build
MM> debugging trusswork.

Best regards,
 Alfatrion


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