[PyMOL] More on "A Few Good MacPyMOL OS X Beta Testers"

[Warren L. D. <wa...@de...>]

Sorry, a bit of confusion seems to have arisen over the MacPyMOL beta
test.  What is MacPyMOL?  See below.

> Subject: [PyMOL] A Few Good Mac PyMOL OS X Beta Testers
> Mac Users:
> 
> I have something new in the works for OS X/Aqua and need some beta 
> testers for the next couple of months.
> 
> Specifically, I am looking for users who:
> 
> 1) have experience with full PyMOL (under Fink, X11, or Windows).
> 2) are current PyMOL sponsors/subscribers.

2) Means: You voluntarily purchased a PyMOL license or support
subscription within the last 12 months.  (This has nothing to do with
mailing list subscriptions).

> 3) are running OS X 10.2.8 or 10.3.x
> 4) have QuickTime 6.4 installed.
> 5) would value a Mac-enhanced PyMOL derivative.
> 6) don't mind closed-source software.

6) Means: You're willing to use a closed-source variant to get the job
done when the open-source version falls short of the mark, as has been
the case with cross-platform PyMOL on the Mac due to OS X's continuing
inability to deliver usable Tcl/Tk under Python (without X11, Fink, or
other complicating dependencies).
  
> If you meet all of these qualifications, please email me.  If you 
> don't, then please sit tight for now -- more information will be 
> forthcoming in January.

(or now...)

Just to quell any potential anxiety, I do want to reassure everyone that
Open-Source PyMOL is alive and well and remains a central focus of
DeLano Scientific LLC.  We are committed to providing commercial-grade
solutions on top of OPEN SOURCE FOUNDATIONS that are themselves useful
in isolation and are accessible to virtually everyone.  

Our business model is to deliver valuable products and services at a
fair price while simultaneously generating useful free tools and
open-source code for the scientific community.  We can do that because
we answer only to our customers and ourselves -- no venture capitalists,
no outside shareholders, and no fiduciary obligation to maximize
profits.  This is not your typical American business, but we are
succeeding nonetheless thanks to you, our sponsors.

Over the past year or so, I have made no secret of our plans to deliver
extra rewards (Incentive Products) to PyMOL sponsors in order to
generate robust recurring funding for the project.  Thus you should
expect a variety of new benefits to appear for sponsors over coming
years in addition to steady progress on the open-source front.  Besides
improved documentation and training materials, sponsorship incentives
may include enhanced versions of PyMOL which:

- work inside of Internet Explorer and PowerPoint (ala Chime)...
- have protein sequence display and alignment (ala MOE)...
- provide simple user interfaces (ala WebLab/DSViewer)...
- include 2D chemical structure display (ala VIDA/ChemDraw)...
- have built-in energy minimization (ala MacroModel)...
- include better building tools (ala O/Quanta/MODELER)...
- provide live built-in tutorials (ala ???)...
- use platform-dependent tools (ala QuickTime/Clipboard/COM/AVI)...
- support molecular morphing (ala RigiMOL)...
- perform property analyses (ala Grasp/SiteFinder/HotPatch)...

Quite a list, but some things will take many person-years to complete.
What happens first depends on who provides what resources, when they do
so, and with what prioritization.  When the PyMOL vision is realized,
hopefully all of the above and more will be accessible from within the
suite, and as many of these components as possible will be Open-Source
and reusable.  

Every day, we do what we can given our current resources, given the
state of the code and documentation, and given the various platforms
that we have to work with.  So long as we keep making steady progress,
with your help, we will eventually reach many of these goals.  

With that important background, I am pleased to announce that MacPyMOL
is an Aqua-Based version of PyMOL for OS X that will be released
publicly in late January as our first software Incentive Product.  It
contains the complete PyMOL GUI and Menu Set along with a couple
features found nowhere else.  MacPyMOL is currently being beta tested by
a small group of PyMOL sponsors in order to work out the remaining
glitches.  Here are some details on it:  

  MacPyMOL outputs QuickTime movies straight away.
  MacPyMOL allows you to Copy and Paste images directly.
  MacPyMOL is fully compatible with Open-Source PyMOL.
  MacPyMOL usage incurs no additional cost for current PyMOL sponsors.
  MacPyMOL usage will be free for full-time students.
  MacPyMOL usage will be free for teaching.
  MacPyMOL usage will be free for use with public/published data (only).
  MacPyMOL is not open-source because it is an Incentive Product.
  MacPyMOL was specifically requested by several major PyMOL sponsors.

By the way, MacPyMOL has no significant implications for Open-Source
PyMOL on the Mac, which continues to be free and unrestricted
open-source software.  Because MacPyMOL is built on the Open-Source
PyMOL foundation, it will continue to evolve and improve in
synchronization with the cross-platform open-source version.

The beta test remains open through January for those who meet the six
qualifications.  

Cheers,
Warren
--
mailto:wa...@de...
Warren L. DeLano, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist
DeLano Scientific LLC
Voice (650)-346-1154 
Fax   (650)-593-4020