Why we chose not to use D for our Linux project

[Lars Ivar Igesund]

Bill Lear wrote:
 
> We came to a quick conclusion that D wasn't going to work, as the DBI code
> proffered on dsource has apparently been abandoned and does not come close
> to compiling with the current dmd (1.028 or 1.029) compiler.  We had a
> laborious run-around trying to figure out if DBI requires Tango or Phobos,
> wrestled with the "bud" make-ish system, and finally gave up in disgust
> --- it just wasn't going to work without serious effort.

I suppose you already made your decision, but as mentioned, a question in
the forum would have given you more information on this. DDBI has moved
very slowly over the last 18 months, but is being picked up again now, and
will hopefully have a new release soonish. DDBI in trunk is now Tango only,
but should work with DMD 1.028/29.

> We settled on ruby, after spending a short time installing the necessary
> components, coding up test routines, and deciding it fit the bill.
> 
> The sad thing is that D looks very promising, but the future for it does
> not, I'm afraid, unless the D community can produce a coherent set of
> tools that are used in the real world and that can be installed without
> developers being burdened with trying to figure out arcane install
> problems, incompatibility issues, and the like.  With ruby, we had just a
> few easy commands to run to install DBI and it was up and running, and we
> have had no problems with it since.

I won't critize your company for making the choice it did, as it obviosly
will need to earn money, but I don't see how you can expect the community
to do what you want it to do with getting involved yourself. At the very
least the community needs to know what you as a potential user needs from
the project, so that tasks can be prioritized. Most of D still being open
source, one cannot normally expect anything to happen without contributing
self at some level. Posting your summary here may or may not help, but
going to the specific project will always be best. Not all in the D
community follow these newsgroups regularly.

An example of how I think a company could get involved to help D move on, is
how the work I will do on DDBI is sponsored (part time) by a company that
plans to use D commerically. In light of that, now may be the right time to
get involved in that particular project.
 
> I think some serious attention needs to be focused on this, rather than
> the minutiae of the latest cool language feature.  I have been following D
> for some years now, hoping it would all come together --- and I hope it
> does, soon --- as it feels D is being left in the dust.

Tools situation may have stagnated, but I'm not sure you have followed Tango
too closely :)

-- 
Lars Ivar Igesund
blog at http://larsivi.net
DSource, #d.tango & #D: larsivi
Dancing the Tango