Re: MacTCP vs OT (was) [MacPerl] calling Perl script fromapplescript (fwd)

["Paul J. Schinder" <schinder@pjstoaster.pg.md.us>]

mark@cheers.jsc.nasa.gov (Mark Manning/Muniz Eng.) writes:
}According to Matthias Ulrich Neeracher:
}> [We're starting to stray a bit from MacPerl again]
}*nod*
}
}> The performance and interface are good. OT as an implementation looks good
}> enough to switch. OT as an API, however, does not have much of a future,
}> as far as I know. Rhapsody will presumably have sockets.
}So MacPerl doesn't have any problems with OT that you are
}aware of.  I just set the thing up last night when I got
}home (late).  I'm going to be trying out some programs
}(MacPerl ones) tonight.  So I guess I'll see if there is
}any kind of a problem with MacPerl and OT.  :-)

I've been using OT since first it came out on my Powerbook 165, and on my
Performa 6400 since I got it, and have had no trouble using MacPerl with it
on either machine.  I didn't even think about it, since OT has MacTCP
emulation.

}
}Would it be a problem with MacTCP (and not MacPerl) which
}caused MacTCP to not connect to my ISP?  The only
}difference from before was that I upgraded to OS 7.6 (and
}now 7.6.1 last night).  So it is probable that I might have
}needed to download the latest and greatest version of
}MacTCP/IP rather than anything which MacPerl might have to
}do with it.  (ie: This is why the "Do I need to re-install
}MacPerl" question from before was asked.)

The "latest and greatest" MacTCP was 2.0.6.  I don't remember now, but is
it just on some machines or all machines that 7.6 blows away any trace of
MacTCP and installs OT 1.1.1 (which should be quickly replaced by 1.1.2)?
Your problem might be that you haven't set up the OT that you're
unwittingly using now.

}
}Ok, if the new OS is going to sockets, how would this
}affect MacPerl?  I remember reading that under the new OS
}MacPerl might be a thing of the past.  This would (to me)
}be a shame.  But if MacPerl is sticking around, would this
}entail a major re-write?  Or is it simpler to maintain
}because of the new OS being a flavor of Unix?  (Just
}wondering and trying to move this more back towards the
}MacPerl list.  :-) )

Matthias has done a wonderful job with MacPerl, but, for example, "perl
-MCPAN -e shell" (which I'm swiftly becoming very fond of) will never be
very useful under MacOS, if it even will work at all.  For that matter, you
can't really install any CPAN module under MacPerl in the way it was meant
to be installed.  That's a problem that none of us can really do much
about, since the choice was made to tie Perl's installation procedure to
tools provided by a specific operating system.

Personally I'm installing Rhapsody on my 6400/180 just as soon as I
possibly can, of course installing the full 4.4 BSD that's supposed to come
with it.  (But then I've been using Unix longer that I've been using
MacOS.)  "Native" Perl is just one of the many reasons.  I'm hoping that
Mac:: modules will still be available to control the Rhapsody GUI (or maybe
simply using PerlTK and whatever Sun puts out in the way of TK for Rhapsody
might be easier), and especially to send AppleEvents to the Blue Box and to
deal with MacOS files.  (And since I presume I'll be able to get a gcc for
Rhapsody, if it doesn't already come with a cc of its own, I'll be able to
contribute in a more substantive manner than I can now to getting Perl
working "right" under Rhapsody.)  But there's no point really worrying
about it now until we see what Apple actually releases in 6-12 months.
Developers will know sooner, of course, but the rest of us will have to
wait.

Ob MacPerl question:  How's the 5.004 port coming and what's the likely ETA
for a beta release?


--------
Paul J. Schinder
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 693
Greenbelt, MD 20770
schinder@pjstoaster.pg.md.us


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