[MacRuby-devel] A Future for MacRuby

2011-12-20 Thread Dan Farrand
I would like to probe sentiment around the future for MacRuby ?  is there a 
future ?  I am drawn to it - I like Ruby as a language and development 
approach.  I appreciate the entrance it provides into Cocoa without having to 
sign up for Objective-C.  But where does it fit within Apple's longer term view 
?   Is MacRuby about to be Orphaned ?  It seems like something happened around 
march 2011.What are the groups within Apple that hate MacRuby and want to 
kill it as a threat to Objective-C ?  I am loath to invest a lot of time and 
coding in something that is a dead-end.  Would love to hear insights from 
anyone with better insight.


Dan Farrand
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Re: [MacRuby-devel] A Future for MacRuby

2011-12-21 Thread Dan Farrand
It's been great to read everyones thoughts on this subject.  It's helped me get 
a better perspective on what MacRuby is.

I am a Ruby newbie but have been working on Mac for a long time, mostly in the 
"business applications" space.

Here is my 2 cents.  I am very much a Mac fanboy and consequently an Apple 
advocate.  However, I think Apple's weak spot going into the future is 
Objective-C.  I view this issue as somewhat separate from Cocoa, but maybe 
folks who know more than I do will tell me that they are fused together.  

I don't actually find it pleasurable to code in Objective-C.  There just seems 
to be too much abstraction, syntax and long rambling class/method names 
cluttering up the the editor window.  I do find Ruby enjoyable to code in.  

I view Ruby as a way for Apple to provide more accessible pathways for would-be 
Mac and iOS developers.  I had thought this might even have been Apple's idea 
in supporting MacRuby,   But after hearing from everyone,  I'm guessing it's 
more of a "lets keep our options open" attitude and Apples support is real but 
speculative.  

There is certainly no indication that Apple sees a problem with it's dependence 
on Objective-C.  The Steve Jobs Apple probably sees it as a big plus because 
they effectively control the language.

If nothing else, it looks like MacRuby is a fun way to poke around inside Cocoa 
so it's worth pushing into.

thanks everyone for taking the time to respond to my original query.
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[MacRuby-devel] Re The Future of MacRuby

2012-04-05 Thread Dan Farrand
I am not a a contributor to MacRuby, but I have been interested in using it. 
Without Apple sponsorship, I have very little interest in MacRuby.  Without 
commitment and support from Apple, it will be a never ending scramble to just 
keep up with niggling changes to xcode, cocoa and the build process.  Every new 
release of anything by Apple will break stuff.  By offering no comment and no 
hook into the apple labyrinth the message from Apple is that, "it is not 
strategic to us".  

The broader message may also be that computing in general is less and less 
strategic to Apple.  

So sad to say,  I think it is goodby MacRuby.  Very sad, because if Apple does 
care about the computing side of the business, they are going to need to 
provide an alternative to ObjectiveC and the aging development approach they 
have been living off of for the last 10 years.I had hopped that MacRuby 
might have pointed the way, but apparently not.

danf


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Re: [MacRuby-devel] RubyMotion: Ruby for iOS

2012-05-03 Thread Dan Farrand
I like the idea that somebody is invested in Ruby for IOS to make money.  Open 
Source is great for projects that become very popular.  Projects related to 
Apple like MacRuby are inherently risky since Apple will be indifferent at best 
to weather it does something to break MacRuby, especially as they see it being 
a competitor for their preferred mindset.  If a company can make money ensuring 
that MacRuby  for Mac and IOS continue to survive Apple's passive aggressive 
ways, then it gives me greater incentive to invest my time using MacRuby.

On the other hand we have to serious consider Apple's commitment to computing 
at all.  As Apple ignores the computer market,  the point will come where none 
of the rest of it maters.  If the next computer I buy is not an Apple product,  
the likely hood grows that the next phone or tablet I buy will not be a MAC 
OS/iOS product.  As someone who makes a living from computing, it is the 
computer that leads not the other gadgets.
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