Re: [Webware-discuss] A new version is badly needed

[Michael P. <mp...@uw...>]

Hi all,

I think Matt said it very well - we need a capable volunteer who is in a 
position to spend serious time on this.
I don't know if this is a realistic idea, but on the main Python website 
they are soliciting grant proposals:

http://www.python.org/psf/call-2004.html

Since several well-known people are involved with Webware and the 
project is one of the most mature and feature-rich Python web 
frameworks, might there not be a chance that a grant could be obtained 
for an enhanced version? One could then pay someone to actually invest 
serious time into the new release. Most probably though, a maintenance 
and bug-fix release would not get funded - we would have to make the 
case that some new abilities in Webware would benefit the Python 
community at large.

I have neither the time nor the skills (being a self-tought hobbyist) to 
do the actual work on the release, but I could help with the grant 
writing; I have successfully applied for some half dozen science grants 
(o.k., so there were 2 failures, too).

Best, Michael

Matt Feifarek wrote:

> David London wrote:
>
>> I'd like to start the petition for the release of a new version.
>
> I understand your frustration, and I think that in sentiment, you'll 
> get nothing but agreement from this list, but it's not that simple, 
> I'm afraid.
>
> I'm certainly not one of the veterans here, but I've been around since 
> Ww 0.5, and this has been a problem since then.
>
> Since it basically works so well, the luminaries (Chuck, Geoff, Tavis, 
> Ian, etc.) don't seem to need to work on it. Lots of them may use CVS 
> or even self-hacked versions.
>
> Personally, my firm only uses the last release, for reasons similar to 
> what you describe, but as much as I'd love a current release, we're 
> really in no position to "demand" anything unless we step up 
> ourselves. And a "petition" is pretty much that: a demand.
>
> And I'm not comfortable demanding anything of these guys; they've 
> already given us so much. They don't owe us anything. In fact, we 
> probably owe them. If your firm deploys this code to paying clients, 
> why not make it a priority to volunteer some company resources to 
> getting a new release done?
>
> In the past, those guys have asked for volunteer release coordinators. 
> And in the past, people have stepped up to do that. Our firm has 
> considered doing it, but we don't really feel qualified, nor do we 
> have any concept of the time commitment involved. We've never done 
> anything like it before, and we're not such cracker-jack programmers.
>
> So, rather than demand a release from the original authors, let's talk 
> about what a new release would mean (which kits? what features? what 
> version of python is supported? etc.) and how we might go about 
> getting it done.
>
> Some ideas:
> * we could start a discussion about what should be included in the 
> next release, and what should not
> * we could take up a collection and *hire* one or more of the original 
> authors as consultants to cut a release for the community
> * we could again ask for a volunteer
>
> Here's a very out-dated release notes text:
> http://webware.sourceforge.net/oldsite/Webware-0.8.1/Docs/ReleaseProcedures.html 
>
>
>
> ... my 2 cents
>
>
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-- 

Michael Palmer
University of Waterloo
Dept. of Chemistry
200 University Ave. West
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
Canada

Email:  mp...@uw...
URL:    http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~mpalmer/
Phone:  (519) 888 4567 ext. 5100
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