The Microsoft Platform Ahead by David Platt; thoughts about Python and Zope

[Carlos Ribeiro]

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 19:16:48 GMT, John Benson
<jsbenson at bensonsystems.com> wrote:
> Hi, I've been reading the above-titled book and it looks like some major
> Python and Zope features have been cherry-picked for pushing down into .NET,
> like application memory management (Python interpreter), and prefabricated
> website user management (Zope).

<irony>
I would be concerned if Microsoft was pushing for patents on things
previously implemented by Python or Zope.
</irony>

> Will the open-source web service frameworks suffer the same fate as the
> Netscape browser?

Microsoft has show with the IE 6 fiasco that they have no long-term
commitment. As soon as they think that they have obliterated
competition they stop developing. And their customers are learning it
too. For many companies older versions, such as NT4 and Win98 are
still quite usable... but as MS discontinues support, it *forces* them
to upgrade. Worse: there are applications written for older frameworks
that simply will not be supported in the long term. It's why so many
people are concerned about XForms, Avalon and stuff -- they have
bought MS technology previously, and they will have to buy it again,
with all the upgrade cost, just to keep working. Not a good way to run
a business.
 
> The most likely scenario I see is that Python will remain important as a
> standalone language and one of the Microsoft CLR (Common Language Runtime)
> language alternatives (like VB.NET and C#) but that great frameworks (like
> Zope and Twisted) will be crowded out as Microsoft appropriates and
> repackages their functionality. Comments?

Perhaps I'm a little paranoid, but I am afraid that the CLR version of
Python may lead to a split of sorts in the long term. Jython is always
a little behind, but as far as I know, it still follows C Python
steps. The CLR is a *big* library, and it's backed by Microsoft, which
makes it quite attractive for a number of developers. I'm afraid that
its direct use may lead to a distinct 'dialect' of sorts (due to the
use of the CLR) than C Python with the standard Python library. The
language is the same, but the programs would hardly be portable (I
don't place my bets on Mono either). But again, I may be just paranoid
:-)

-- 
Carlos Ribeiro
Consultoria em Projetos
blog: http://rascunhosrotos.blogspot.com
blog: http://pythonnotes.blogspot.com
mail: carribeiro at gmail.com
mail: carribeiro at yahoo.com