[Python-Dev] ActiveState & fork & Perl

[David Ascher]

On Tue, 8 Jun 1999, Mark Hammond wrote:

> When I first heard this, two things sprung to mind:
> a) Why shouldnt Python push for a similar deal?
> b) Something more interesting in the MS/Python space is happening anyway,
> so nyah nya nya ;-)
> 
> Getting some modest funds to (say) put together and maintain single
> core+win32 installers to place on the NT resource kit could only help
> Python.

How much money are we talking about (no, I'm not offering =)?

I wonder if one problem we have is that the folks with $$'s don't want to
advertise that they have $$'s because they don't want to be swamped with
vultures (and because "that isn't done"), and the people with skills but
no $$'s don't want to advertise that fact for a variety of reasons
(modesty, fear of being labeled 'commercial', fear of exposing that
they're not 100% busy, so "can't be good", etc.).

I've been wondering if a broker service like sourceXchange for Python
could work -- whether there are enough people who want something done to
Python and are willing to pay for an Open Soure project (and whether there
are enough "worker bees", although I suspect there are). I can think of
several items on various TODO lists which could probably be tackled this
way.  (doing things *within* sourceXchange is clearly a possibility in the
long term -- in the short term they seem focused on Linux, but time will
tell).

Guido, you're probably the point-man for such 'angels' -- do you get those
kinds of requests periodically?  How about you, Mark?

One thing that ActiveState has going for it which doesn't exist in the
Python world is a corporate entity devoted to software development and
distribution.  PPSI is a support company, or at least markets itself that
way.

--david