Curl-ing, anyone?

[Christopher Barber]

Erik Max Francis <max at alcyone.com> writes:

> Resty Cena wrote:
> 
> > Is Curl (www.curl.com) a threat to Python (and Ruby, and Perl)?
> 
> Unlikely, for two reasons.  First, the purpose that it exists for is
> already solved by other client-side technologies -- namely Java and
> JavaScript -- which are already almost universally available. 

More like HTML + JavaScript + Java + Flash.

Yes, you can probably do much of what you can do in Curl using a combination
of those four technologies, but it is a lot easier to just use Curl.

> Second, the licensing model they chose is an immediate turn-off, 
> particularly when you note that those other preexisting technologies 
> are free.

Don't be so sure, Curl is totally free for non-commercial use and we don't
even charge anything for the development environment.  Furthermore, commercial
users do not have to pay a dime until they actually deploy a commercial
application and then must pay a small amount based on the size of the
application and how much it is used by their customers.  As long as your
application brings you revenue, then you should have no problem affording the
licensing fees.

> Curl the language seems neat, but neatness alone doesn't make something
> a success.  

Very true, but I am glad you think it's neat.

> Curl the business doesn't sound too appetizing.

I can see how really small shops that like to use free tools would be
reluctant to take advantage of Curl technology, but large software shops
already spend huge sums of money on licensing and maintenance fees, and should
not have the same misgivings.  Even small shops should not be afraid to try
the technology out: it only costs you as much time as you care to spend
checking it out, and the licensing fees are substantially lower for small
companies.

Regarding the original question, I don't really think that the Curl language
is going to be much of a threat in the short to medium term to the existing
non-web-based scripting technologies, such as Python, Ruby and Perl.  The
whole point of the technology was to make it easy to develop and deploy
web-based content, not to be yet-another-scripting-language.  Those other
technologies do a pretty good job on the server side and for standalone apps,
but anyone who has used client-side Java, JavaScript or Flash can tell you
that the existing alternatives on the client-side are far from ideal.

- Christopher