I have to say that I'm very disappointed in MacPerl.
MacPerl was the first tool I used to write MacOS (<10) apps, and I used it a lot to build applications written in Perl that used native Mac widgets/dialogs and did lots of cool regexp stuff (IMHO, always the biggest reason for using Perl) that would have been much slower to develop with other languages. I've been a longtime BSD user, and MacPerl was a fantastic tool under MacOS 8-9.
However - and please PLEASE development folks forgive me if I'm wrong or mischaracterizing this - as I followed the MacPerl mailing list and more and more people asked about OS X, the answer seemed to be, "that would be a huge amount of work, we're not using it, and that's just not something we're prepared to do."
That's certainly fair - I can't complain since I haven't contributed any work towards porting MacPerl to OS X. I don't know C++ and I'm not a good enought programmer to pick up Objective C quickly, which is both the reason I haven't worked on Carbonizing MacPerl or porting a version to Cocoa, as well as much of why I was using MacPerl in the first place. BUT it unfortunately removes my primary reason for using MacPerl, which was creating native apps using Perl. Of course, I can still create command-line-based apps using the standard *nix Perl that is part of MacOS X. But I can no longer use it to create native apps (to OS X; I no longer automatically launch the Classic environment, since I have the Photoshop 7 beta and the only Classic apps I use anymore are older games), which was my main reason for using MacPerl.
Again, I have no real right to complain, since I haven't done any work to fix this. But I really do wish that MacPerl's maintainers had been "on board" about migrating to the MacOS's best hope for catching up and beating the alternatives, OS X. Right now, the only alternative is OSXMacPerl 0.2, a Perl module that implements some of its important features (like DoAppleScript) but leaves out most of MacPerl's abilities to create real native Mac apps with native widgets, dialogs, etc.
I love the Mac, but I'm firmly convinced that the future is OS X, and thinking otherwise (there will be plenty of pre-OS X Macs around for a long time, but I'm talking about what we must do to advance and evolve) is just hiding your head in the sand. I'm just hoping that at some point either the current MacPerl developers (or a new group of developers) come in with enough interest to make MacPerl native to OS X. I'll still use Perl, and I'll still use Mac OS X; but it would be so nice to see them really merged, the way that MacPerl once did.
Just trying to update folks with the situation here... while the Comcast page isn't yet providing any new information, I *can* say that at least it's 1:30 (an hour and a half after the theoretical time of the potential shutdown) and my Comcast@Home service in MD is still working. Maybe there's hope... maybe not.
P.S. - For the people above who have said "Good riddance to @Home users" because, variously, that @Home subscribers are all spammers and/or cl00bi3 Windows users infected with Nimda, I just need to say - I apologize for the language and, I'm sure this will get me furiously modded down but I have to say it - f**k you.
I'm a Mac and BSD user. I don't spam. This is my home Internet connection, and I depend on it. Remind me to, when someday your ISP may cut you off for some reason through no fault of your own, say "good riddance" snidely as well.
One of my main goals in writing the article was to bring OpenBSD's work to light. After talking to Jordan Hubbard about FreeBSD, it's clear that their goal is to "eat OpenBSD's lunch" and move FreeBSD ahead in security reputation. However, I think that all comes down to a question of philosophy: "is security worth sacrificing features?"
My job at Boardwatch is to cover all free *nixes, but I'll admit that I prefer *BSD over Linux (for a variety of personal reasons). Which *BSD do I use for my personal servers? FreeBSD. But I see OpenBSD as being valuable for a number of reasons which return to the difference of philosophies.
I think that it boils down to this: OpenBSD is willing to miss out on the "latest and greatest" for various apps in order to maintain security. This is a very justifiable choice. Since, however, much of the user base I support demands the "latest and greatest," I use FreeBSD (but NetBSD on my Mac machines... I hope to switch to Darwin soon). I'll admit that I'm willing to sacrifice some level of security for new features (and hope that reading buqtraq will fill in the holes), but that's also because the users I support on my personal boxes don't demand absolute security (e.g., CinemArcade or SchnellNet).
So, I guess the moral of the story is: is security your number one concern? If so, then you are far better off with OpenBSD. If not, then Linux or Free/NetBSD is where you want to be. I'd be very happy to hear what others think about this, as well as comments on the article itself (or ideas for future people/projects to interview).
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I have to say that I'm very disappointed in MacPerl.
MacPerl was the first tool I used to write MacOS (<10) apps, and I used it a lot to build applications written in Perl that used native Mac widgets/dialogs and did lots of cool regexp stuff (IMHO, always the biggest reason for using Perl) that would have been much slower to develop with other languages. I've been a longtime BSD user, and MacPerl was a fantastic tool under MacOS 8-9.
However - and please PLEASE development folks forgive me if I'm wrong or mischaracterizing this - as I followed the MacPerl mailing list and more and more people asked about OS X, the answer seemed to be, "that would be a huge amount of work, we're not using it, and that's just not something we're prepared to do."
That's certainly fair - I can't complain since I haven't contributed any work towards porting MacPerl to OS X. I don't know C++ and I'm not a good enought programmer to pick up Objective C quickly, which is both the reason I haven't worked on Carbonizing MacPerl or porting a version to Cocoa, as well as much of why I was using MacPerl in the first place. BUT it unfortunately removes my primary reason for using MacPerl, which was creating native apps using Perl. Of course, I can still create command-line-based apps using the standard *nix Perl that is part of MacOS X. But I can no longer use it to create native apps (to OS X; I no longer automatically launch the Classic environment, since I have the Photoshop 7 beta and the only Classic apps I use anymore are older games), which was my main reason for using MacPerl.
Again, I have no real right to complain, since I haven't done any work to fix this. But I really do wish that MacPerl's maintainers had been "on board" about migrating to the MacOS's best hope for catching up and beating the alternatives, OS X. Right now, the only alternative is OSXMacPerl 0.2, a Perl module that implements some of its important features (like DoAppleScript) but leaves out most of MacPerl's abilities to create real native Mac apps with native widgets, dialogs, etc.
I love the Mac, but I'm firmly convinced that the future is OS X, and thinking otherwise (there will be plenty of pre-OS X Macs around for a long time, but I'm talking about what we must do to advance and evolve) is just hiding your head in the sand. I'm just hoping that at some point either the current MacPerl developers (or a new group of developers) come in with enough interest to make MacPerl native to OS X. I'll still use Perl, and I'll still use Mac OS X; but it would be so nice to see them really merged, the way that MacPerl once did.
Just trying to update folks with the situation here ... while the Comcast page isn't yet providing any new information, I *can* say that at least it's 1:30 (an hour and a half after the theoretical time of the potential shutdown) and my Comcast@Home service in MD is still working. Maybe there's hope ... maybe not.
P.S. - For the people above who have said "Good riddance to @Home users" because, variously, that @Home subscribers are all spammers and/or cl00bi3 Windows users infected with Nimda, I just need to say - I apologize for the language and, I'm sure this will get me furiously modded down but I have to say it - f**k you.
I'm a Mac and BSD user. I don't spam. This is my home Internet connection, and I depend on it. Remind me to, when someday your ISP may cut you off for some reason through no fault of your own, say "good riddance" snidely as well.
One of my main goals in writing the article was to bring OpenBSD's work to light. After talking to Jordan Hubbard about FreeBSD, it's clear that their goal is to "eat OpenBSD's lunch" and move FreeBSD ahead in security reputation. However, I think that all comes down to a question of philosophy: "is security worth sacrificing features?"
My job at Boardwatch is to cover all free *nixes, but I'll admit that I prefer *BSD over Linux (for a variety of personal reasons). Which *BSD do I use for my personal servers? FreeBSD. But I see OpenBSD as being valuable for a number of reasons which return to the difference of philosophies.
I think that it boils down to this: OpenBSD is willing to miss out on the "latest and greatest" for various apps in order to maintain security. This is a very justifiable choice. Since, however, much of the user base I support demands the "latest and greatest," I use FreeBSD (but NetBSD on my Mac machines ... I hope to switch to Darwin soon). I'll admit that I'm willing to sacrifice some level of security for new features (and hope that reading buqtraq will fill in the holes), but that's also because the users I support on my personal boxes don't demand absolute security (e.g., CinemArcade or SchnellNet).
So, I guess the moral of the story is: is security your number one concern? If so, then you are far better off with OpenBSD. If not, then Linux or Free/NetBSD is where you want to be. I'd be very happy to hear what others think about this, as well as comments on the article itself (or ideas for future people/projects to interview).