Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Scripting on Windows

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:1/12/1999; 6:39:27 AM
Topic:Scripting on Windows
Msg #:2017
Prev/Next:2016 / 2018

Yesterday was an interesting day for a lot of reasons. First we got a pointer to that great piece by Carmack about the Mac development and runtime environment for his game server. Then shortly thereafter we learned about the "all-star cast" assembling at Apple to hear about where Apple is going. That really hurt, we've lost a lot in the transition to Jobs, at one time Apple would have wanted us in the loop.

But after taking a few deep breaths, more was revealed. The new SGI/NT machines certainly will compete with Apple's for the hearts of designers. I hope they sell well. Apple has certainly given me no incentive to want their boxes to sell. If they do, well, we'll hold the space for that, if it ever happens. OTOH, if anyone from SGI is tuned in, please get in touch. If you want to work with us to make your platform work better for Mac sysops wanting a deep pre-emptive server that runs the ported Mac standard apps, our door is open.

A note to sysops running Mac networks with happy users, our software is probably the only CMS that bridges Mac and Windows. If you want to run an NT server and Mac workstations, you should get to know Frontier. It'll make you much more powerful. It erases the differences between NT and the Mac OS, and it doesn't require that you install a new OS on the workstations.

Robert Hess

The day ended with a pointer to an article about Windows scripting by Robert Hess. I've known Robert for a few years. He was one of the first Microsoft people to get in our loop as we started moving Frontier to Windows. He's a Frontier user, he's done a few websites, and written some systems, enough to know how the scripting language and the object database connect together. But most of his Frontier work has been without the COM connections we now have, and certainly without the full scripting support we have on the Mac. Our COM connection is still in its infancy, where our support of Mac scripting is mature and market-leading.

Unlike Apple, Microsoft's door is open to our help, even leadership, in making Windows fully competitive in system-level scripting. As I would be happy to help Apple deepen their support for this technology on the Mac, my door is just as open with Microsoft. It's in our interest, and our customers' interest that Windows get better at building on the capabilities of our environment. One way to do that is to beef up the scripting support in the OS and in the apps. (The other way is for us to move our software forward, which we surely are doing.)

Why use Windows NT as a server platform?

Apps. That's the key. When people ask me why they should use NT over OpenStep or other Unixes, the answer is the apps. So much software already runs on NT, including the mainstays of the publishing world.

How to make Windows scripting better..?

So the question is this.. What's missing in app scripting on Windows? What apps are not scriptable that you wish were scriptable? What wires are missing in apps that already have some COM support? What would blow the doors open on Windows scripting for you?

It's OK to write pseudo-code that illustrates your point. It's OK to use VB Script syntax or JavaScript. It's also OK to send me private email. Help us do some planning. We want to do some evangelizing. Help set our direction. I'm sure that our readers are much more tuned into the issues than we are.



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