Why Python/Jython?

[Joshua Macy]

Alex Martelli wrote:
> 
> "Cameron Laird" <claird at starbase.neosoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1901D50DC30D30E4.16551C1AB0FB4363.C0D72E208759F8A7 at lp.airnews.net...
>     [snip]
> >     meaningful.  People do NOT start learning
> >     Java lightly; it often takes hours just to
> >     install and configure a minimal JDK, let
> 
> *blink* -- I'm hardly a Java-ite, myself, but
> "install and configure a minimal JDK" I would
> estimate as typically a 10-minute job (on, say,
> NT -- is it an order of magnitude harder on,
> say, Linux?!).  Maybe I misunderstand what
> you mean...?
>

  It only takes about 10 minutes to download a Win32 installer and run
it--but if by configure one means understand and implement workable
solutions to the cryptic and bizarre interaction between Java package
namespaces, classpaths, and the WinNT filesystem, I think an hour might
be an underestimate.  Most programmers I know who art trying to "get
into" Java end up either putting every jar in the world into their
CLASSPATH environment variable, or downloading and installing something
like SmartJ...but it takes them more than an hour to arrive at one of
those solutions unless they have someone to help them.

  Joshua