[python-advocacy] New python products supported?

[Stephan Deibel]

Roy Smith wrote:
> I noticed recently that Perforce released an officially supported version
> of their Python API to replace the previously distributed, but not
> supported, version
> (http://public.perforce.com/guest/robert_cowham/perforce/API/python/index.html).
> 
> I suspect this is a fairly common scenario.  Somebody inside a company
> does some kind of Python add-on for their company's main product.  The
> company half-pretends it doesn't exist for a while and after enough time
> goes by, they decide to turn it into a real supported product.  It would
> be interesting if we had a list of such "coming of age" Python events.  It
> would be a good way to show that the corporate world is starting to take
> Python seriously.

I think the corporate world is already taking Python seriously.  I see who's
buying licenses for Wing IDE and there's a distinct trend towards inclusion
of the big names / fortune 500 / etc.

In nearly 10 years we've gone from almost all individual sales (consultants
mostly, or individual employees buying on their own), then we saw the addition
of more and more smallish and startup companies to the mix, and finally in the
last 2-3 years now also the big corporations.

I doubt this is just due to the product improving, but rather think it reflects
the path by which Python has made its way into these companies.

In other words, I think the "secret sauce" aspect of Python is no longer
a secret.

That said, I'm sure there's plenty of room for expanding into companies
that don't use Python now, but I'm not sure that lack of credibility or
being taken seriously are the main barriers at this point.

- Stephan