netconf and python

[Colin Alston]

On 2007/09/19 10:15 AM David MacKinnon wrote:
> On 9/19/07, martin f krafft <madduck at debian.org> wrote:
> 
>> I am using Python only to prototype. netconf 1.0 will likely be
>> reimplemented in C.
> 
> So.. Hijacking the thread a bit. I understand why some people want
> netconf written in C (debian-base), but I also worry that the people
> most likely to want to contribute to netconf, won't, once it's in C,
> and that the project will stagnate thereafter.
> 
> I'm assuming here that the people most motivated to do stuff with
> netconf are SysAdmins, and while most I know are certainly familiar
> with C, it's often at "Oh, I did that at uni 5-10 years ago and never
> touched it since." level rather than somewhat proficient in python,
> perl, <insert other language>.

I personaly don't see any benefit in rewriting netconf in C. I'm pro 
it entering a rewrite phase after prototyping, but there is no reason 
it can't remain Python based. It's not a process that requires 
"performance" as such, it's simply doing some reconfigurations 
periodicaly. Lua is another alternative that I'm fairly fond of, but I 
still think great benefits could be had from sticking to Python and 
seeing what crazy modifications people in the wild come up with.