Semi-OT: LUA eating into the app scripting niche where Rexx would excel...

[Fernando Cassia-2]

See
http://sourceforge.net/projects/apexdc/

"pexDC™ is an innovative DC++ client based on StrongDC++. It features
external plugins and scripting through LUA"

I see more and more open source plug-ins (case in point, Videolan VLC
media player) featuring the LUA programming language used as internal
app scripting.

This annoys me not due to LUA but due to the missed opportunities for
REXX, as I remember on the Amiga where Rexx (ARexx) was used for app
scripting, so LUA is carving itself a niche where Rexx would excel.

So, don´t you think it´d be nice if the Rexx/NetRexx community got
more involved in getting Rexx (Regina?) / NetRexx as the app scripting
engine of choice for popular open source apps?. that certainly looks
like a way to get more people interested in the language.

Of course, it´s currently just wishful thinking on my side...

In any case, I´d love to see Regina Rexx / NetRexx "glue" code
integrated into Apache Open Office, Firefox, MPlayer (as VLC is taken
over by LUA already) and other popular open source apps... so one
could drive those apps from Rexx / NetRexx...

Certainly Apache OO looks like the best candidate, given IBMers´
contributions to the code base of what was previously known as Lotus
Symphony.

Just food for thought...
FC
--
During times of Universal Deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act
- George Orwell

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[Fernando Cassia-2]

On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 00:03, Fernando Cassia <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I see more and more open source plug-ins

Sorry, I meant "Open source projects".

FC

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[Rony G. Flatscher (wu-wien)]

On 21.03.2012 04:03, Fernando Cassia wrote:

See
http://sourceforge.net/projects/apexdc/

"pexDC™ is an innovative DC++ client based on StrongDC++. It features
external plugins and scripting through LUA"

I see more and more open source plug-ins (case in point, Videolan VLC
media player) featuring the LUA programming language used as internal
app scripting.

This annoys me not due to LUA but due to the missed opportunities for
REXX, as I remember on the Amiga where Rexx (ARexx) was used for app
scripting, so LUA is carving itself a niche where Rexx would excel.

So, don´t you think it´d be nice if the Rexx/NetRexx community got
more involved in getting Rexx (Regina?) / NetRexx as the app scripting
engine of choice for popular open source apps?. that certainly looks
like a way to get more people interested in the language.

Of course, it´s currently just wishful thinking on my side...

In any case, I´d love to see Regina Rexx / NetRexx "glue" code
integrated into Apache Open Office, Firefox, MPlayer (as VLC is taken
over by LUA already) and other popular open source apps... so one
could drive those apps from Rexx / NetRexx...

Certainly Apache OO looks like the best candidate, given IBMers´
contributions to the code base of what was previously known as Lotus
Symphony.

Just food for thought...
FC

Two thoughts:

• The LUA community has been extremely active in the past years to make LUA known and deployed wherever LUA people have been active (especially in the Linux world). I think LUA is even used in the latest Linux boot loaders as a scripting language,
  
  
• NetRexx and [oo]Rexx are able "to help each other", however it seems that in the heads of the two groups it is more like "it is NetRexx replacing [oo]Rexx" and "it is [oo]Rexx, who needs NetRexx?". So instead of realizing there is a win-win-situation, if either group also pushes the "other language", it is more like "ignore the others".
  
  Just an example: BSF4ooRexx bridges Java and NetRexx with ooRexx (BSF4Rexx has done the same for many years between Java/NetRexx and Rexx/ooRexx/Regina), however it seems that in the NetRexx camp there is no interest in it.
  
  An attempt for "teasers":
  
  
• BSF4Rexx and BSF4ooRexx have special support for OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice on board for many years already, did you ("you" meant for the entire NetRexx community) know? ooRexx can be used to write OOo/LO programs, however it is (a spectacular feature IMHO) also possible to use ooRexx as a macro language for OOo/LO. This has been working for years now!!
  (BTW, there is a code-snippet page for OOo, where ooRexx as a result of my student's work in the past years stands out prominently.)
  
  
• If accepted, then at the upcoming International Rexx Symposium there will be a talk about a new feature for the next version of BSF4ooRexx which allows Java/NetRexx programmers to configure multiple ooRexx interpreter instances (yes, you can even run multiple Rexx interpreter instances from Java/NetRexx in the same process, where each Rexx interpreter instance may have ooRexx programs executing in a multithreadable manner).
  
  What is needed though are Java/NetRexx programmers knowing Rexx/ooRexx to pick this functionality up and exploit it. (The LUA community would do that, and for years!)
  
  
• BSF4[oo]Rexx has been supporting the NetRexx Rexx datatype for many years now to allow a seemless integration between NetRexx and [oo]Rexx. To my knowledge this has not been exploited. (The LUA community would do that, and for many years!)
  
  
• There is one feature on board of BSF4[oo]Rexx which I pointed at in the past, but has not really made it into the "heads" of the NetRexx community: BSF has support for using NetRexx as a scripting language, very much like what gets exploited for Rexx/ooRexx. So for many years (almost ten years) NetRexx could be easily deployed as a scripting language using BSF, and it has been barely done, if at all. (The LUA community would do that, and for many years!)

Maybe, if this community works closer together and shares more of the knowledge a LUA-like community can evolve. But it needs every single member of this community to actively pursue the aim to get NetRexx and [oo]Rexx known again in the professional world. Especially on Linux.

The technology is there and gets updated and more and more powerful ...

---rony



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