> Is it possible for the US to develop corporate
> acceptance for another
> language. I find Ruby to be 5-20% better than Perl
> based on what
> aspect of the languages we are talking about, but
> both languages
> are high-performers, almost like comparing the
> Yankees and the Mets or
> something. 
> 
> Thus, I don't see corporate America as looking for
> something to fill
> Perl's gap. 

I'm coming at ruby from a totally different
perspective. I've never used perl, and from the
snippets I've seen I wouldn't want to. Powerful,
perhaps, but just too cryptic.

I've also heard great things about smalltalk, but have
never been motivated enough to learn the unusual
syntax (backwards is everything almost).

Python seemed like a fun language, but I was put off
by the self-dot-this and self-dot-that everywhere. And
I don't like the indentation rules.

Suddenly, out of the mist, there's ruby. The power of
perl. Similar to Python, but pure OO. The concepts of
smalltalk, but with conventional syntax. As a C++ guy,
I feel right at home.

So I don't see existing perl users as the primary
target for ruby. I see C++ and Java folks who, for
whatever reason, want a dynamic language.

Kevin

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