Mobile Lua - coming on strong

[Stefan Reich <stefan.reich.maker.of.eye@...>]

Hi earthlings =)

OK, so I want to get very serious with this Mobile Lua idea now.

The execution core works. Hyperjumps work. Admin interface is functional too. (All in the next release.)

So it is time for some heavy duty marketing.

Here's what I know:

I know that the Mobile Lua concept is both innovative and sound; I know that the applications are boundless; and I pretty darn sure know that it is going to catch on pretty quickly.

What I am now looking for is a way to convince people of the advantages of code mobility.

Maybe you guys can help me out a little here.

For starters, I took a look at the list of the most popular programming languages and checked if they offer mobility. Here's the result (most popular languages listed first):

Language       Mobility
-------------------------
C              not mobile
Java           only in browser; not transitive
C++            not mobile
PHP            not mobile
_javascript_     only in browser; not transitive
Python         not mobile
C#             not mobile
Perl           not mobile
SQL            not mobile
Ruby           not mobile
Shell          not mobile
Visual Basic   only in browser (VBS); not transitive
Assembly       not mobile
ActionScript   only in browser; not transitive
Objective C    not mobile
Lisp           not mobile
Delphi         not mobile
Pascal         not mobile
Scheme         not mobile
Haskell        not mobile
Tcl            not mobile
Fortran        not mobile
Ada            not mobile
Lua            full transitive mobility (as Mobile Lua)

"Mobility", here, is defined as the ability of any program to move to another computer at any time while preserving its full inner state (code+data+threads). (Outside connections, naturally, may have to be recreated after moving.)

"Transitive mobility", then, is defined as the ability to move between computers more than once per script invocation.

(Note: There may be mobile agent frameworks for multiple languages listed above; but if they exist, they don't seem to be in widespread use. So it seems they are either too complicated, too heavy-weight or not practically usable for other reasons. I am very open for counterexamples if there are any!)

So it seems that Lua, with the advent of Mobile Lua, is now the only popular language offering full code mobility.

Question is: Are people aware of the advantages of code mobility? Are you aware? If not, what would it need for you to understand these advantages?

I have different ideas on how to demonstrate the possibilities of a mobile Lua - but I thought I'd check with you guys first to see if you have anything to say on this. I really hope that this list will prove a positive place and not one of "I want to criticize so I can bring you down".

-- Stefan

PS: Of course, the primary question for any new technology always is: Can it do porn? =) (I'll leave the answer to the readers, for now. =)