Re: Lua as a scripting language in NetBSD

[Alan Barrett <apb%cequrux.com@localhost>]

On Sat, 17 Oct 2009, Marc Balmer wrote:
> I am suggesting to add the language Lua to the NetBSD base system as
> a scripting language for general use and as a scripting language to
> be embedded in applications in the base system.

I am sure Lua is very cool, and I am sure you can think of many
things you would like to script using Lua.  But you haven't given
any examples of things that need Lua to be in the base system, as
opposed to using Lua from pkgsrc.

Are there any tools currently in the base system that you would
like to extend using embedded Lua?  If so, which tools, and what
sort of actions would be facilitated by embedding a scripting
language?

Are there any parts of the base system that you would like to
rewrite in Lua instead of sh/awk/sed/whatever?  If so, which parts,
and what advantages would be gained?

Are there any features missing from the base system for which you
would like to provide implementations in Lua?  If so, what features,
and why do those featires need to be in base as opposed to pkgsrc?

> Lua would allow us to extend exisiting software in interesting ways,
> DHCP option processing in DHCP clients comes to my mind, or even the
> system installer, sysinst

These might turn into good examples, if you could add more details
about your ideas.

> (not to speak of the advantages of keeping airport codes up to date
> using Lua scripts...)

This is not a good example.  Whatever Lua script you want to keep
airport codes up to date could run off-line on a system that uses
Lua from pkgsrc, and the results could then be committed to the
base system's CVS repository without needing Lua in base.

> I have more ideas, but I want to discuss the general case of having
> Lua in base first, well aware that it is a chicken and egg problem:
> To use Lua in base, we need it in base.  To have Lua in base, we need
> software that makes use of it...

1) think Lua is very cool;
2) have good ideas for software that could make good use of Lua in base
   and that could not make use of Lua in pkgsrc;
3) explain the ideas from 2;
4) get people to believe the ideas and agree that they are worthwhile;
5) add Lua to base;
6) implement the ideas from 2/3/4.

So far, we seem to be stuck on step 1 or 2; steps 3 and 4 have not
been done.

--apb (Alan Barrett)