sensible languages for younger contributors (was Re: lintian.debian.org off ?)
On Wed Sep 4, 2024 at 8:33 PM BST, Serafeim (Serafi) Zanikolas wrote:
> incidentally, lots of Debian native code is in perl, and like it or
> not, we should allow for, or even encourage [0] (partial) rewrites if
> we want to attract new contributors, especially below the average DD
> age
I have some sympathy with this idea, but I'd love to see a rigorous
exploration of it. I probably fall on the greybeard side of the dividing
line now, and my Perl is rusty (but not non-existent). Partly I wonder
if we are underestimating younger folk by suggesting that grokking old
stuff like Perl is Too Hard. Or maybe the issue isn't difficulty, but
that doing so is simply unattractive?
If we did have consensus that Perl should be retired, the question
should be replaced *with what*? I'd be very surprised if we could get
consensus on that; but I'd happily read people's suggestions. I guess
you'd advocate for Rust or Go, based on your slide deck.
What criteria are important for such a recommendation?
(Please, not Python :P)
> [0] see slide 6 of https://raw.githubusercontent.com/samueloph/personal_website_files/main/slides/samueloph_slides_2024_08_i_use_debian_btw.pdf
Slide 6 seems to be a picture of a Powerline terminal prompt.
Slide 7 seems relevant: since it's just two bullet points I'll reproduce
it here in its entirety:
Title: Rewrite in Golang/Rust BTW
* Rewrite the same thing using a different language OR...
* Start fresh with better defaults and UX
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👱🏻 Jonathan Dowland
✎ jmtd@debian.org
🔗 https://jmtd.net
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