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mod_snake Is Dead

jayed_99 writes "mod_snake has been abandoned by its creater Jon Travis. He cites a lack of 'time or motivation.' Like mod_python, it embedds the Python interpreter into Apache. Unlike mod_python, it includes support for HTML-embedded python (a very nifty feature). It's still available here. Wouldn't you know this would happen two days after I decide to switch from mod_python to mod_snake?"

18 comments

  1. Wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I thought one of the big advantages to open source was that anybody could pick up a project after the creator decided to stop. Now he "kills" it instead of leaving it... wtf?

    1. Re:Wtf by Cow4263 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think by no longer hosting the file, he is saying that he no longer supports it and doesn't want a thousand emails from people who can't figure out why it doesn't work. Assuming that it was made released under the GPL, it could be picked up by another person or group. In all likely-hood, its not going to be picked up, as its a small apache module; which already has an established alternative.

      I think anyone willing to work on this project, would better spend their resources on mod_python instead.

    2. Re:Wtf by Jick · · Score: 4, Informative

      Anyone can pick it up if they like. The license
      is BSDish.

    3. Re:Wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think anyone willing to work on this project, would better spend their resources on mod_python instead.

      I think anyone willing to work on this project [Linux], would better spend their resources on minix instead. -- comp.os.minix post circa 1993.

  2. bye bye by DrSkwid · · Score: 3, Informative

    I was one of the people bugging him for updates, I could never get it to compile of FreeBSD for me.

    I ended up going over to mod_python.

    Shame because one of the premises of mod_snake was the concept of nested python interpreters. Like Apache itself mod_snake had one thread and then passed the request on to another python interpreter running as a sub thread so that you could maintain state between requests by using the same interpreter.

    It sounded interesting, but I never got the chance to find out.

    mod_python has the annoying attribute of requiring the whole python installation to be compiled as single threaded which means some modules don't work (urllib for instance - so you have to roll your own url en/decoder). Which then leaves you in the stick world of two python installations of you want to use sockets and threads in other applications.

    I've still not sussed out how to easily manage two installations :(

    mod_python does rule though, I much prefer using it to php or standard CGI and I'm so glad I dont have to learn any more of mod_perl than the rudimentrary stuff I picked from reading the O'Reilly mod_perl book.

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    1. Re:bye bye by jayed_99 · · Score: 1

      I did manage to get it compiled and installed on FreeBSD without much of a problem. I just couldn't get it to load any modules.

    2. Re:bye bye by smallpaul · · Score: 2

      mod_python has the annoying attribute of requiring the whole python installation to be compiled as single threaded which means some modules don't work (urllib for instance - so you have to roll your own url en/decoder).

      I am very surprised to hear that urllib has problems on a single-threaded interpreter. In fact I am somewhat doubtful that that is true!

    3. Re:bye bye by DrSkwid · · Score: 2, Informative

      oh dear my bad, I wonder what I was thinking

      In pennance for my mistake I embarked on the list of stuff from the standard distribution that failed on import $MODULE :

      dl : FAILED dl -- Call C functions in shared objects
      gdbm : FAILED -- GNU's reinterpretation of dbm
      mpz : FAILED -- GNU arbitrary magnitude integers (Deprecated since release 2.2.)

      and of course :
      thread : FAILED
      threading : FAILED

      I hope that repays my debt to society

      --
      There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter