From: ptkwt@...1.aracnet.com (Phil Tomson)
Date: 2003-05-06T10:23:35+09:00
Subject: Re: Standard Library Idea

In article <20030505231540.GB16415@mail.nbtsc.org>,
Aredridel  <aredridel@nbtsc.org> wrote:
>I haven't checked to see how easy this would be yet, but I was thinking
>that making the ObjectiveC-to-Ruby bridge functionality of RIGS a
>standard inclusion in the Ruby language would be very powerful:
>
>  * It would allow extensions to be written in an object-oriented C
>    language that has a huge and (now that Apple has released OS X)
>    rapidly growing developer base and professional toolset.
>  * It has a quick migration path for code that needs to be fast:
>    Methods can be migrated to ObjC as the need for speed rises.
>  * It's simple and elegant -- the code for RIGS is pretty small.
>  * It would allow GNUStep, OpenStep, MacOS X and Ruby programmers to
>    collaborate naturally, and it would give Ruby a high-profile
>    "something it does well" -- scripting in a highly object-oriented
>    user-interface environment.
>  * It would facilitate embedding Ruby in large applications, I think,
>    at least for applications that use the GNU toolchain.
>
>I'm sure there's other benefits, but that is what comes to mind
>immediately.  GNUStep is getting a big push from the OS X wave, and I
>think Ruby could ride that as well -- and if either Ruby or GNUStep hit
>the point of being highly visible like PHP, MySQL, GNOME, GTK or GIMP
>have been, the other projects closely attached would vault very high
>indeed.
>
>(As a parallel: GTK was nonexistant in 1995; in 1997-98, GIMP was
>released, and gained widespread notoriety as Linux was becoming known,
>and as a free alternative to a major app of the time -- Photoshop.
>Because of the boom, the free desktop project that adopted GTK also got
>major notoriety -- GNOME. Look at where GNOME is today and see that it
>worked.  I'm not saying it was intentional, but it happened...)
>
>At the moment, GNOME, GNUStep and KDE all lack a scripting language that
>can help tie them together the way AppleScript works on OS X and more.
>I can see Ruby filling that niche very nicely.  Having a general purpose
>language in there means that people learning GUI scripting can move on
>to actual app development and other kinds of programming with ease.
>Having scripts hanging around one's GUI is a sure way to lower the
>learning curve, too.  Starting with GNUStep might be the way to go, just
>because the API is so nice, the code exists (RIGS and RubyCocoa), and
>because once one GUI system has been nicely tackled, one can then work
>on porting the ideas to another.
>
>Anyway, just something to ponder.
>

Agreed, I've been thinking for some time now that Ruby would make a good 
cross-platform language for scripting GUI apps that would run on OSX 
(Cocoa) and Linux (GNUStep) (and Windows?  I think that there's a GNUSTep 
port for Windows, but not sure).  The GNUStep API is quite nice.

Phil