Re: roadmap for Lua

[Mike Schmitz <mschmitz@...>]

KHMan wrote:
> Miles Bader wrote:
>> KHMan <...> writes:
>>> busybox is a small and terribly useful bit of
>>> software, and Lua has those same attributes, so it makes sense to
>>> have Lua in there, at least for people on this list.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, we have to contend with religious/evangelist types
>>> brandishing other languages... the Lua community is however, not
>>> very skilled at creating and disseminating overblown hype, so we
>>> are at a disadvantage.
>> But practically speaking, is there any other language that can even
>> compete in this area (space-limited embedded systems)?
> 
> I don't think those planning these 'open' handphone specs is very
> concerned about RAM limitations. System memory will increase;
> Flash memory isn't a problem. Like Windows, they may be happy with
> using software bloat to drive hardware improvements. The handphone
> OS can be slim and trim, and putting busybox in to simplify the
> file hierarchy (which normal users will never touch anyway) makes
> sense, but apps can and will be bloated.
> 
> Lua being small isn't that big a 'win', and I think, say, Android
> sticking to Java is safer and more logical than going out on a
> limb with Lua or multiple native languages. IIRC, Maemo was using
> Gnome? Hardly slim and trim...
> 
>> All the popular alternatives I know about (e.g. perl, python) are huge
>> bloated pigs with [typically] complicated installations, all of which is
>> a pretty big disadvantage regardless of how much some people might like
>> the languages...
> 
> It didn't stop some from using a Linux kernel or a WinCE kernel
> and putting a Java ecosystem with many layers and many libraries
> in there. I guess most of us agree about bloat, but I don't think
> them bloated software are at much of a disadvantage in practice.
> 
> Perhaps this is a case where the best engineering solution(s) (in
> our eyes) have to take a back seat to other non-optimal
> engineering solutions (but which has the best business case and
> the bigger ecosystem, that is, a big corporation evangelizing it
> plus the commitment of masses of regular developers who are
> mono-lingual).
> 
> Still, it would be nice to script in Lua on a smartphone... but we
> are minority and it will probably only be possible as an
> additional install on an 'open' smartphone. I'm crossing my
> fingers for open smartphones...
> 

My openmoko phone is being shipped to me right now.  It is in an alpha
state at this point, but I hope a port of lua, which is my first goal
when I get it, can speed its development.

Mike