[Opensim-dev] Should the core OpenSim distribution carry manyscripting languages?

[Chris Down]

+1 here.

I agree with everything Justin has said.

Regards

Chris Down
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: opensim-dev-bounces at lists.berlios.de [mailto:opensim-dev-
> bounces at lists.berlios.de] On Behalf Of Justin Clark-Casey
> Sent: 02 June 2008 01:44
> To: opensim-dev at lists.berlios.de
> Subject: [Opensim-dev] Should the core OpenSim distribution carry
> manyscripting languages?
> 
> Hi there,
> 
> Last week, Kinoc was kind enough to write an implementation of Yield
> Prolog where YP is translated into underlying C# for compilation (in the
> same manner as our current LSL support).  This patch was included in
> OpenSim in r4927.
> 
> I have nothing against Prolog (admittedly I have never had the chance to
> pick up) and certainly nothing against Kinoc.  However, I am concerned
> that by including many scripting languages in the OpenSim core
> distribution (if Prolog, why not Javascript, Ruby, Python, etc, etc.) we
> incur more negatives than positives.  Firstly, I'm concerned that a
> proportion of this code (particularly that which no core committer has
> an interest in) will at some point slip into decay, particularly if the
> original contributor has moved on to other things.  We've already seen
> this happen with other areas of the code, such as the MSSQL database
> support.
> 
> Secondly, if individual language modules do need to change in response
> to other OpenSim changes without a decay option (for example, in order
> that they can still compile), this places a higher burden on the core
> committers and makes it more costly to enhance the codebase in general.
> 
> Thirdly, I'm concerned that the more code we have of this nature
> (particular code which compiles script into c#), the more potential
> security holes we have.  This isn't too much of a concern right now but
> will be come more of an issue in the future.
> 
> Therefore, I would argue that OpenSimulator should only include in its
> core distribution support for a few scripting languages.  In my opinion
> these would be LSL, maybe C# and possibly one other (maybe Python).
> Support for other languages would come as optional plugins, available
> either directly from the author or from some satellite repository
> (perhaps similar to Perl's CPAN or PHP's PEAR).  I would personally
> prefer to see the core OpenSim distribution kept relatively lean and mean.
> 
> If necessary, I am happy to make any necessary infrastructure changes to
> make language plugins possible/easier (which probably also means making
> much needed enhancements to the plugin system).
> 
> What do other people think?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> --
> justincc
> Justin Clark-Casey
> http://justincc.wordpress.com
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