From: "W. Kent Starr" <elderburn@...>
Date: 2001-08-01T05:30:47+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:18911] Re: Perl/Python/Ruby common backend

On Tuesday 31 July 2001 14:55, MikkelFJ wrote:

> I would be nice if all languages used the same bytecode language. It would
> also be nice with a runtime that was not governed by Microsoft - i.e. a
> parallel implementation like the parrot project. But I can see many
> benefits in leveraging the amount of work MS has put into designing a
> platform where languages can communicate. IMO it would be stupid to invent
> a third bytecode language unless there are some serious benefits in doing
> so.
>

A compelling reason, in a single word: nonproprietary!

The miniscule likelihood that either or both Microsoft and Sun will dry up 
and dirft away is irrelevent; the simple fact of that possiblilty poses 
sufficient danger of a total reliance upon proprietary core solutions.

Additionally, .net, and Java to a lesser extent, to the degree that the 
internet becomes reliant upon them and the world reliant upon the Internet, 
carries with a significant social danger as well. If one corporation 
essentially controls the prevalent means of global communication, it is not a 
far step (a penstroke actually) for one government to exert the same.

The open source community and the world at large are both in need of quality 
nonproprietary solutions as elegant and effective as those offered by more 
centralized sources; free speech, free choice and and the future of freedom 
in general depend upon it.

Regards,

Kent Starr
elderburn@mindspring.com