Does Tcl matter to system administrators?  Absolutely; in fact,
[CL] argues [http://findreference] that Tcl
is the single most useful language for them to learn.


[[... details ...]]




[[... Windows, too.  and MacOS.  And OpenVMS and OS/400! ...]]




[[ [Don Libes]' papers on sysad:  http://expect.nist.gov/doc/autoexpect.pdf ;
http://expect.nist.gov/doc/bgpasswd.ps ;
http://expect.nist.gov/doc/sysadm.ps ;
... others ...]]

----
Cameron Laird had this to say in comp.lang.tcl:

When people set up these bake-offs, I usually turn
away; it's just too easy for Perl to dominate in
the obvious "check-box" items.

I have particularly strong feelings about this role,
though.  In all the "Is {Java,Erlang,PHP,...} better
than {C++,Rexx,,Ada,...} for {Web scripting,COM auto-
mation,...}?" competitions, one of the easiest 
correct conclusions to draw is that Tcl is the single
most essential and desirable language for cross-plat-
form system administration.  Here's why:
1.  Expect is a Tcl extension.  Expect is
    absolutely crucial for SysAd.  Perl
    has an Expect.pm--but it's about a
    decade (slight exaggeration) behind 
    the original Expect in its polish.
2.  Tk is a Tcl extension.  Again, Perl
    has Perl/Tk, but the latter has seri-
    ous flaws on the Windows side.
3.  Tcl glues better than Perl.  Speci-
    fically, it's a lot easier to teach
    newcomers how to manage external
    processes with Tcl than with Perl.

    Some Perlites will argue this point.
    I've been studying it for a long
    time.  I'm right.
4.  Tcl Blend works.  The Java/Perl
    combinations mostly don't.
5.  Tcl has the strongest tradition of
    use as a testing language.  Is the
    pertinence of that to SysAd clear?
6.  Naive users take to Tcl at least as
    quickly as to Perl.

    I don't put too much weight on this
    proposition.  Season to taste, or,
    more specifically, apply as appropri-
    ate in your own situation.

In what language did Oracle develop its Oracle Enterprise
Manager sysad tool?  Tcl.  In what language did IBM develop
its WebSphere Control Program?  OK, Patrick, I know you
already know this answer.  Neither of these companies
particularly *likes* Tcl; I've talked with PR types with
both, and they're trained to hide Tcl's role.  Tcl's
technical virtues in these applications are unmistakeable,
though.