Roy T. Fielding wrote:
>>> However I completely disagree that Python (or Perl or PHP) is
>>> a good choice for use in build systems.
>>
>>
>> As part of the configure process, I would agree with you, but as part of
>> buildconf, I disagree--not everyone needs to run buildconf--only
>> developers, and if you're a developer, it's *really* not asking that
>> much to have Python on your dev box.
>
>
> Sure it is. If I wasn't so busy I would have vetoed the change on
> the grounds that it causes httpd to no longer be buildable by developers
> on the Cray MP. And no, I don't care whether anyone else thinks that
> is an important requirement. Creating entry barriers is what prevents
> development on new platforms that you haven't even heard of yet.
Pay attention to keeping entry barriers low. This is a -really- important open source development
principle
that, by my observations, is under appreciated by most folks. That is my -single- biggest
complaint about our
use of libtool/autoconf. Let's not further complicate things further by propagating the languages
required to
do a build.
>
> We haven't been using sh/sed/awk as our build platform because we
> thought those were good languages. I'm sorry, but being too busy to
> maintain the existing scripts is no excuse for rewriting them in a
> less portable language. As soon as someone has the time to write
> it in a portable language, the python should be removed.
+1
Bill
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