I can rarely afford to dip into Python-Dev. My head is exploding too much of the time as it is. Maybe I can help with the recent Tkinter discussions, though. 1. Tcl's going to be around for a long time. Here's the insider scoop on what the Ajuba Solutions announcement means: insiders don't know. That is, *nobody* is sure how Tcl will develop. It'll survive, though, for quite a while. Do NOT worry that it'll suddenly dry up and blow away. I'm working on a more detailed explanation of Tcl processes. It'll probably take a few weeks, though. In the meantime, just ignore the mess, and understand that the Tcl Core Team includes bright people who'll land on their feet somehow. 2. I agree that MacOS is the thorny problem for the standard Pysolution. I'd be happy to discuss the possibilities (Tkinter? wxWindows? Qt?!? GTK+?!!?!? ...) with a smaller group, and, of course, Fredrik, Robin, Guido, ... all are quite knowledgeable about these matters. There are a few things you should know about the Tcl side. The bad is that Tk is barely maintained for MacOS. It's really rather miserable. On the other hand, Jim Ingham is now an Apple employee, and things could change in a hurry, at any time. The good is that Tk starts far ahead of any competitor. It has already solved most of the hard problems. All it needs is a little maintenance. 3. Is there a way to have Tk without contamination by Tcl? More than ever. This is what makes me most cheerful about Tkinter's prospects. The Tcl Core Team has largely given up its hangups about co-operating with foreigners (or its hangups that barbarians have hangups about co- operating with Tcl). This is a *very* good time for someone like Fredrik to establish a working relationship, and get CVS access. I really think Tk can be maintained by a different group than Tcl. Perl, Ruby, ... folks are also receptive to the idea (I've talked with them). For pointers to some of what's happening in this area, see URL:http://starbase.neosoft.com/~claird/comp.lang.misc/core_enhancement.html Also, you should know that my favorite enhancement to Tk is a remodularization called TkGS. This should improve performance under Win*, make it more portable to BeOS, improve access by Python, and so on. 4. Greg's right that some publishers are dumping Tcl. Not all, though. If it matters, we can go into details. 5. Pango is indeed cool, but it's different from [text]. The world is probably moving to Pango and similar implementations. The world will be missing much of what [text] offers. 6. ANYONE with an urge to get out a Python-related idea should pursue it. *DDJ*'s a great outlet. It's far from the only one. If people have ideas about articles, but are held back by lack of time/ fluency/contacts/..., *please* get in touch with me. I'll find a way at least to give articles a fair chance at being published. Cameron Laird +1 281 996 8546 FAX http://starbase.neosoft.com/~claird/misc.writing/publications.html