[Info-vax] Python on VMS

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 1/16/19 8:34 AM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 1/16/2019 7:55 AM, Neil Rieck wrote:
>> Be very careful with Python. You would have thought that backward
>> compatibility would have been built in but you would be very wrong.
>> For example, almost all the stuff builtin to current Linux distros
>> requires ver 2.6 or 2.7 but newer versions can be installed to
>> co-exist with 2.x "if you are careful"
>>
>> Last year, someone on our team carelessly installed ver 3.5 which
>> broke YUM, the FIREWALL tool (both CLI and GUI) as well as some other
>> stuff.
>>
>> http://neilrieck.net/docs/openvms_notes_linux.html#realworldlinuxproblems
>>
>>  Just yesterday (2019-01-15), someone tried to cut over a new project
>> which failed. Why? Python needed to be upgraded to ver 3.6 to match
>> the new libraries required to do Active Directory authentication.
> 
> Yes. Some of that was discussed here recently.
> 
>> Comment-1: I have been installing run-time libraries into VAX, Alpha
>> and Itanium for 31-years and have never experienced any breakage with
>> compiled programs. Many of these systems just continue to run
>> forever. Systems requiring a specific version of Python are just one
>> careless upgrade away from failure.
> 
> There is nothing unusual in that new code does not run in old
> environment - that is standard.
> 
> But most like when old code continue to run in new environments.
> Apparently "most" does not include the Python guys.

And when I complained about this with PHP everyone who
heard it just said "So what, live with it".  Why would
you be surprised that YAEL (yet Another Ego Language)
would adopt the same attitude.

> 
>> Comment-2: Python is "very powerful" with interfaces into almost
>> everything including MySQL and MariaDB 
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)
> 
> That is not unique for Python.

True. In more ways than one.

> 
> But Python is let me call it "convenient" or "practical" - if
> one needs to get something done then it is usually very easy
> in Python.

It is not really any easier to do anything in Python than
in a real language.  But using a real language just wouldn't
be as cool.  The current nature of the industry.

bill