What does Python fix?

[Andrew Kuchling]

Courageous <jkraska at san.rr.com> writes:
> Another thing which cripples it is the paucity of online code bases
> to select from. These two together are enough to torpedo anyone
> with any sense.

Indeed.  In an interview with Kent Pitman on Slashdot, I was shocked
when he wrote:

	In my recent professional life, I have personally written
	several XML parsers, all in Lisp, for various employers and
	most recently for myself and my fledgling company.

(At http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/11/03/1726251)

I'm unable to understand why you wouldn't just write the code once and
make it available, rather than implementing the same thing over and
over.  Java seems to have a similar problem; people will write a new
Layout class, for example, and then want to charge $30 for it instead
of just tossing it on a Web page.  Presumably this is a cultural thing
that differs between the languages.  (And this is why Python not
compiling to a single executable by default is a good thing; it
doesn't strongly encourage the distribution of code without source.)

--amk                                                  (www.amk.ca)
The best-laid plans of mice and Kraals gang aft a-gley.
    -- The Doctor, in "The Android Invasion"