Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 00:10:08 -0700 From: "Michael L. VanLoon -- HeadCandy.com" <michaelv@HeadCandy.com> To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com> Cc: Stephen Fisher <lithium@cia-g.com>, Joerg Wunsch <joerg_wunsch@uriah.heep.sax.de>, FreeBSD hackers <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Adduser program in C Message-ID: <199605250710.AAA07315@MindBender.HeadCandy.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of Fri, 24 May 96 23:59:59 -0700. <2112.833007599@time.cdrom.com>
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>> However, I think you'd be doing yourself a real favor by learning perl
>> (and awk, sed, sh, grep, cut, etc.). It's The Right Thing To Do.
>> It's The Unix Way: use small simple tools that are very good at a
>> specific task, and combine them to make something better.
>I was with you right up through the awk, sed, sh, grep, cut.. You
>lost me at PERL. :-)
>P.S. I'm already well on record as saying that PERL is the anti-christ
>of computer languages, so I won't belabor that point here.. :-)
Well, I have to admit it was a stretch. But, perl *is* considered a
de facto Unix tool by most modern sysadmins.
Of course, it fails the "small" and "simple" tests of traditional Unix
tools. But you can't deny that it has a place that can't be dislodged
just because it has big warts. Consider it the emacs of scripting
languages. :-)
>Suffice it to say that I find PERL's syntax and structure highly
>objectionable. Give me a more structured language like TCL or LISP
>any day..
LISP. Ew. You can have it. :-) It's beautiful in its own way, yes.
So is the ugly child to his mother. :-) LISP is an interesting theory
thing that I find difficult to use in practice.
Stephen, Jordan brings up good points. I recommended learning perl
simply so you could expand yourself and learn new paradigms.
However, don't stop there! Get intimate with all the traditional Unix
tools (heaven knows, for most of the guys here, that's more intimate
than they'll get with the opposite sex anytime soon... ;-). My
personal NetBSD box is packed full of custom sh scripts that keep it
constantly busy and productive. The FreeBSD box I'm attempting to
assemble for our own mini-ISP work (an Internet co-op) as also
accumulating some of my sh scripts.
As I said, I'm learning perl mainly because I'll use it on Windows NT.
When it comes to my own Unix box, it's sh, awk, sed, and all the other
Unix tools that work together. I don't have any perl scripts, but
there are a few applications where perl would work well. Remember
another addage that applies especially well to Unix tools: The Right
Tool For The Right Job. There is no (or there shouldn't be any)
single tool that is used for every task.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael L. VanLoon michaelv@HeadCandy.com
--< Free your mind and your machine -- NetBSD free un*x >--
NetBSD working ports: 386+PC, Mac 68k, Amiga, Atari 68k, HP300, Sun3,
Sun4/4c/4m, DEC MIPS, DEC Alpha, PC532, VAX, MVME68k, arm32...
NetBSD ports in progress: PICA, others...
Roll your own Internet access -- Seattle People's Internet cooperative.
If you're in the Seattle area, ask me how.
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