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[REBOL] Shell access for Rebol, was: zip file support

From: mat::eurogamer::net at: 19-Mar-2001 14:26

Heya Jamey, JC> Again, RT has the right to do anything they want with Rebol. Unfortunately, JC> programmers have the NEED to get their jobs done. I have already been forced JC> to scrap one application I was writing for work in Rebol and re-do it in JC> Tcl/Tk. Tcl allowed me to do the vital shell access I needed. I'd just like to add here that I'm going to side with the school of thought on Core having some sort of shell access. I've thought a bit about why RT are doing it the current way and I can see the benefit in having platform independence 100% with Core as it stands. However to my mind that's just 'nice' balanced against something which Rebol could *really* use to get a nice hook into the hobbyist as well as the professional development sectors. I believe there is a niche in a lovely little language like Rebol being able to do things on the PC rather like folks used to do things on the Amiga with Arexx. A powerful, easy to use language that ultimately had shell access. I know how good it could be because I have it in Rebol/Command and it's astoundingly useful. I think there's more than enough differentiation with Rebol/Command having direct DLL and ODBC access for the higher end developers. Ultimately a higher user-base would benefit RT more than the commercial exploitation of Command to those just wanting shell access. I think we all know folks that have run off to do things in Perl or TCL purely because they couldn't do things with Rebol. I think this is a great shame. I've done some amazing things to make my friends and colleagues go "Oooooo, I didn't know you were a ninja programmer". Yet I'd have a hard time evangelising it as it currently stands. Which is a shame. I like to evangelise things like Rebol because they're speechlessly cool. But this is a holding it back for much useful applications and a wider acceptance imo. -- Mat Bettinson - EuroGamer's Gaming Evangelist with a Goatee http://www.eurogamer.net | http://www.eurogamer-network.com