martincho

I am looking at this as a way to make things simpler:

https://github.com/JoshData/mailinabox

One small dedicated Linode instance for email.

Well, let's see if someone comes up with a real solution. Maybe we can chat after that. I hope this thread gets a real discussion going.

What is needed is a very high quality Python 2.x to 3.x migration or conversion tool to make library conversions trivial. If developers knew they could convert any 2.x code to 3.x code with no effort at all and with absolute certainty of proper operation they would probably migrate to the latest 3.x release en-masse.

How difficult would something like this be?

This might be really naive on my part. I haven't really taken the time to study the differences between 2 and 3. I have avoided 3.x out of entirely selfish reasons: I simply don't have the clock cycles to run into roadblocks.

These days languages are only as valuable as the breath and quality of the libraries around them. The issue with 3.x is that it created fear of not having access to small and large libraries developers leverage every day to be able to focus on their problem and not the problem addressed by the library. In that regard it is easy to be inclined to criticize Python leadership for approaching the transition with what might be perceived as a lack of consideration and understanding of the factors that might hinder it.

EDIT:

Just learned about 2to3:

http://docs.python.org/2/library/2to3.html

Not sure how good it is. A quick look at the page gave me the sense that it might be somewhat involved. A true converter would be something that is as easy to use as the the import statement. Something like:

    import2to3 <some_module>, <some_destination_directory>

It should not require any more thought than that and it should be 100% reliable.

Interesting book. Not sure how it might apply to what I am trying to do though. While I haven't used Forth for quite some time I did use it extensively for a number of years. This included bootstrapping in a couple of small processors. The process is surprisingly simple. From memory, a significant portion of the work was having to write drivers for the various I/O devices needing support.

I have a number of ideas for the minimum I/O set to support initially. Of course, this could easily be enhanced through expansion ports.

I am trying hard to limit the scope of the project. It's far too easy to complicate the heck out of it.

I tend to favor video as well. My kid is almost through with MIT 6.00.1x Intro to Computer Science with Python and he's done pretty well. I've helped him along the way but was happy to see him need less help as he progressed through the course.

Part of me thinks that starting at a much lower level might actually be easier in some ways. Not sure at this point.

Ah, that's important. I need to look at the other options and see if they all support custom URL's without .htaccess magic, as you put it.

Hide does look interesting.

Nice blog BTW. Any issues controlling comment spam?

I'm mostly interested in writing a series of programming and hardware design tutorials for my kid (and anyone else who might find them useful). I don't think I need anything fancy for this. Images, code with syntax highlighting and a few things. Not even sure if I want comments. He's been learning Python, so I'll use it as a way to expand his application of the language.

The rough curriculum I have in mind at the moment is:

    - Basic electronics concepts
    - Digital logic
    - Design a simple 8-bit microprocessor
    - Program it using the custom instruction set
    - Implement basic mass storage in Flash (perhaps via USB)
    - Implement a Threaded Interpretive Language (Forth)
    - Write a text editor using Forth
    - Design a number of I/O peripherals
        - 7-segment display
        - A/D and D/A
        - Dot matrix LED display
        - Various sensors
    - Build something useful, like a clock driving the n x m 
      LED display