Tcl/Python: Who was first?

Jean-Claude Wippler jcw at equi4.com
Wed Jul 21 07:20:02 EDT 1999


Dirk-Ulrich Heise wrote:
> 
> I just saw a message called
> 
> README: Tcl-URL! - the weekly guide to Tcl resources
> 
> on comp.lang.tcl.announce. (Reading it for the first time in my life)
> Did Python steal this (good) idea from Tcl or was it the other way round?

No and no.

This was first started for Tcl by yours truly last year, and quickly
caught on with the help of Cameron Laird, Mark Roseman, and Matt Newman.
 The archive for Tcl-URL! is stored and searchable on the "Tcl'ers Wiki"
(which is clearly another of those grand ideas by yours truly, now that
I'm into self-glorifying mode anyway):
	http://purl.oclc.org/thecliff/tcl/url.html
	http://purl.oclc.org/thecliff/tcl/wiki/

Tcl-URL! is also tracked and stored on the Scriptics site and on Linux
Weekly News, and a few others I believe.  If you scroll to the bottom of
the first URL page just mentioned, there is a little blurb about the
background of this.

Cameron and I, both multi-lingual and scripting enthousiasts by choice,
considered this simple idea to be easily graftable onto other scripting
communities.  So we started a similar setup for Python, but somehow it
never reached a stable weekly state.

Which is a big, big, pity if you ask me.  All it would take is for one
of the leading Pythoneers to take the Python-URL! stick for a month or
so, and I'm sure we'd be having Python-URL! back on track in no time. 
Soooo... GvR, TP, DA, MH, CT, GM, anyone want to bring this thing back
on track?  I'm sure many others would be more than happy to follow your
lead and take things from there later on.

If you're interested, please contact Cameron or me.  We can take care of
all the details and the mechanics, and I'd be happy to commit to do just
that for a long time, but the real issue here is that volunteers need to
be willing to come up with a list of 5 to 10 one-liners and URLs they
wish to highlight each Monday.

Tcl-URL! works well IMO, because it gives an interesting peek into what
key players choose and find important, and because it is gradually
building up a stable set of links to main topics, announcements, and
discussions.  It has become part of the Tcl folklore by now, I guess,
now that John Ousterhout has mentioned it on several occasions.

-- Jean-Claude




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