Thomas Wouters <thomas@xs4all.net>:
About the only *real* problem I see with that is getting the whole farm of mexican jumping beans to figure-skate in unison... It'll be an interesting experience, with a lot of slippery falls and just-in-time recovering... not to mention quite a bit of ego-massaging :-) But I think it's just a manner of typing code and taking the time, and forget about optimizing the code the first couple of years.
This is just about exactly how I see it, too. The big problem isn't any of the technical challenges -- the discussion so far indicates these are surmountable, and in fact may be less daunting than many of us originally assumed. The big problem will be summoning the political will to make the right commitments and the right compromises. Making this work is going to take strong leadership from Larry and Guido. We're laying some of the technical groundwork now. More will have to be done. But I think the key moment, if it happens, will be the one at which Guido and Larry, each flanked by their three or four chief lieutenants, shake hands for the cameras and issue a joint ukase to their tribes. Tim, hosting that meeting will be your job, of course :-). -- <a href="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a> "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." -- John F. Kennedy