[dschobel]

As the author points out, he's concerned about the future about dynamic languages on the .net platform in general. IronPython and IronRuby are just two implementations of it.

The reason you should care (assuming you're a .net developer) is that the DLR lets you do all sorts of cool things such as the following c# snippet calling python code:

    ScriptRuntime py = Python.CreateRuntime();
    dynamic random = py.UseFile("random.py");
 
    //Make an array of numbers
    var items = Enumerable.Range(1, 7).ToArray();
    random.shuffle(items);

(source: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/C4AndTheDynamicKeywordWhirlwin...)

Being able to have ruby, c#, python, et al all running in the same runtime with a clear stack you can inspect across the languages is awesome stuff.

[euroclydon]

I guess when I say "what's the point?" I mean, what's the point of really wasting so much time and effort getting Ruby running on .NET in general? And I say that as primarily an MS developer. It's all just a plot to sell expensive licenses and thus will never have good community backing. Look what this guy went through. He's talented. It's a shame he didn't work for a company like Google who embraces OSS more genuinely.

[Locke1689]

Eh, Google embraces OSS when it doesn't affect their bottom line.

Which is not to say that Microsoft embraces it. Even internally their policies are almost downright hostile.

[WalterGR]

Which is not to say that Microsoft embraces it. Even internally their policies are almost downright hostile.

How so?

[Locke1689]

Sorry, can't say.

[WalterGR]

Okay, then. Since neither of us wants to violate our NDAs, I'll just say: you're wrong.

[Locke1689]

I think it depends (like most everything at MS) on your team. Although actually what I'm referring is to legal restrictions on software we can actually use in production.