"classpath"
I guess the proper term would be class library. The path is only where you look for the libraries :).
It doesn't seem to be the Perl way to limit yourself to one option
only ("There's more than one way to do it"). Of course we wouldn't
want five different implementations of Unicode, and it makes sense to
ship _one_. However, people might want to use different GUIs --
e.g. wxWindows, TK, native Windows GUI, Aqua, ... Basic network
classes, on the other hand, might be something that might be shipped
with Parrot. Sound is a whole different beast -- implementations vary
wildly across systems, and I'm not sure whether it is possible to have
a high-performance cross-platform implementation that satisifes 90% of
users.
On the other hand, I don't think we only have the choice between shipping all libraries like Java and having a complicated install system (for the average GUI-loving end user) like CPAN. There's a couple of middle options:
For bytecode based packages:
- Parrot bytecode executables might be packages that contain the necessary libraries in bytecode format (e.g. wxWindows).
- Installers might include libraries (in bytecode) and install them if needed (install = simple copy)
For binary (platform-dependant) packages:
Usually, people just ship these statically linked against those libs
that can't be typically expected to be installed on the system.
So I guess for Parrot apps distributed in binary, there's not much of a problem. For apps shipped as bytecode, it still needs to be discussed what is going to be provided:
- Preferably a small package (< 5 - 10 MB) that lets people use Parrot apps quickly.
- A huge package complete with Perl/Python/PHP/Befunge/hq9+/... support so that everybody will have 95% of everything they are ever gonna need
- Or both?
Liebe Grüße, Christian (since you started the German greetings thingie ;-))
-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] - http://www.web42.com/crenz/ - http://www.web42.com/
"Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is." -- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
