language interpreters/ interpreted languages weaknesses?

[Gordon McMillan]

/F wrote:
> > that's what *you* think.  lots of people are running
> > Python programs without ever noticing, and without
> > ever seeing the source code.  you might have done
> > that, too.
Ian Clarke wrote:
> I am not talking about what the user notices, I am talking about
> what the developer does - and I would venture that most Python code
> is distributed with its source, where as this is rare with Java
> code.  Whether the end-user notices this is not relevant.

You can use a number of tools to package up Python apps in compiled 
form, (including freeze in the Tools directory). Both Fredrik and I 
are authors of utilities of this kind, and I can certainly assure you 
that many developers are using our tools. 

Arguing that there's a "social" component to the distinction between 
interpreted and compiled, and then arguing that it's what the 
'developer does', not what the 'user notices', indicates a fondness 
for disputation in excess of any regard for relevance.

- Gordon