[aklug] Re: Drupal :: the real linux test

On 10/12/12 11:11 AM, Arthur Corliss wrote:
> On Fri, 12 Oct 2012, Marc Grober wrote:
>
>> I think you mistake what I am saying. The essentials in drupal are all
>> flat files that are used to manipulate a database. Drupal is a
>> collection of scripts. This is very much unix. The files employed are
>> easily manipulated to produce a result that is arguably greater than the
>> energy employed to produce it. There are entire backup and restore
>> packages built on basic unix utilities and some perl goue; are you
>> saying that these are un-unixlike? I can write a web server in
>> expect.... why would I if I have a better tool. I can call a perl
>> script from a Drupal script, but if the php does it just as well, why
>> bother. And if the php is not to your liking, then don;t invest in a set
>> of php scripts, lol.
>
> I think you're missing the point: whether or not drupal is a hodgepodge of
> scripts in a psuedo-UNIX fashion is not the issue. The issue is whether
> drupal, as a tool, works well and easily with other tools outside of its
> own
> code base.
>
> To wit: if drupal operates effectively as a monolithic application that
> can
> only operate within its own narrowly defined ecosystem, regardless of how
> it's constructed internally, it doesn't conform to the UNIX philosophy.
> If,
> on the other hand, it allows for various internal scripts to be replaced as
> individual components, or supports call-outs to external scripts as part of
> the process workflow agnostically, then it can be considered conforming.
>
> That's where your practical experience can be very educational for the rest
> of us. Does it support working with external tools?
>
> --Arthur Corliss
> Live Free or Die

Tag! Your it, Arthur, lol.

I think you are confusing the wonderful features of unix utilities with
the likewise wonderful creations that can be concocted from same, and
you under value in your comment (though I know you know better, lol) the
simplicity of the tab ;-)

Drupal is not a unix utility. Never was, never will be.
It is akin to similar piles o scripts which are endemic to unix.
The individual scripts tend to be small and relatively easy to parse.
They are open and easily tweaked. The use of php means that you can
easily interface existing scripts with scripts in whatever language you
wish to write in, though, as I tried to suggest, if you don't like the
Buick, don't buy it. It is unlikely that the effort spent trying to put
that Porsche suspension in it will pay off.....
Most importantly the underlying data can easily be employed by anything
you wish to use as everything is a text file or in the db

and an illustration of your concerns re system calls:
http://onlamp.com/pub/a/php/2003/08/28/php_foundations.html

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