From owner-freebsd-hackers Thu Nov 21 17:40:24 1996 Return-Path: owner-hackers Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id RAA04526 for hackers-outgoing; Thu, 21 Nov 1996 17:40:24 -0800 (PST) Received: from genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au [129.127.96.120]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id RAA04513 for ; Thu, 21 Nov 1996 17:40:12 -0800 (PST) Received: (from msmith@localhost) by genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (8.8.2/8.7.3) id MAA16254; Fri, 22 Nov 1996 12:10:03 +1030 (CST) From: Michael Smith Message-Id: <199611220140.MAA16254@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> Subject: Re: Who needs Perl? We do! In-Reply-To: <199611220128.SAA13712@rocky.mt.sri.com> from Nate Williams at "Nov 21, 96 06:28:42 pm" To: nate@mt.sri.com (Nate Williams) Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 12:10:02 +1030 (CST) Cc: msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au, nate@mt.sri.com, hackers@freebsd.org X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL28 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-hackers@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Nate Williams stands accused of saying: > > > > That's all well and good, but it presents a chicken-and-egg situation > > for anyone trying to work outside the decades-old BSD model. You may > > not consider this a problem; I do. Opinions differ. > > Yes, but anyone capable of developing a 'cool tool' with TCL that we > can't live w/out is capable of installing a port, and *then* showing me > how wonderful it is to justify bringing in TCL as part of the base > system. > > Put the cart *before* the horse. Chicken->egg, egg->chicken? I can say that I wouldn't have undertaken what I have if Tcl wasn't a part of the standard system - too many people would say "but it needs Tcl, and I don't want to install that because ...". I figure that once it is clear that Perl is intended to be a part of the base system, and that it's a stable item not going anywhere, people should pick up and start using it. And the ultimate comeback is; if I'm wrong, and after 12 months nothing has made use of it and everybody hates it, it can go away again. At that point, there can be (even though there would be 8) no argument. > Nate -- ]] Mike Smith, Software Engineer msmith@gsoft.com.au [[ ]] Genesis Software genesis@gsoft.com.au [[ ]] High-speed data acquisition and (GSM mobile) 0411-222-496 [[ ]] realtime instrument control. (ph) +61-8-8267-3493 [[ ]] Unix hardware collector. "Where are your PEZ?" The Tick [[