[Ids-devel] IDS Status

[Ashley M. K. <as...@pc...>]

    Hello folks,

    It's been a while since I posted anything, and it's about time I speak up.
As many of you may have noticed, I took over development of IDS from John
Moose.  A huge Thank You goes out to him for creating IDS in the first place.
I'm sure many of you are enjoying it.  Now onto other things.

    Life likes to throw us nasty curve balls sometimes.  And I'm afraid I've
caught one in the past several months.  After some 20+ years of working behind
computers, I now have what can be considered the beginnings of Repetitive
Strain Injury (RSI) which is causing me severe pain in both wrists which
consequently cuts down on the time I spend behind the screen.  Quite honestly
my workflow has gone from my usual 16 to 18 hours a day, to a mere 8, sometimes
a lot less.  This severely impacts what I can do on IDS, unfortunately.  I
would still like to continue the development of IDS, however it's now going at
a much, MUCH, slower pace than I originally had hoped for.

    Having said that, I'm hoping everyone here understands why there isn't much
going on in terms of development.  I am still answering to bug issues (and yes,
I am aware of a search problem with .82 right, and I have the solution, I just
haven't had a chance to check in a new tar ball yet), however I may take a
while to reply to general e-mail.  I'm sorry for this - can anyone make me some
robotic hands?  Fast, sleek, five fingers, opposable thumbs, and able to
perform just as well?  No?  Darnit.

    What I'm looking for at the moment: people willing to help.  As I cope with
my injury, I may not be able to get to a fix and/or patch as fast as I would
like to (or as fast as other people would like to), so I'm looking for someone
who's willing to step into the hot box with me and actively help out.  I may
even choose more than one person (however having too many is not a good thing
either, unless I start designating parts of IDS to specific teams of people,
and there is no need for that yet.)

    Do you feel up to the task?  Do you want to contribute to an exciting
project?  Are you willing to dedicate a small portion of your time to help a
cripple?  (ok, that was low... <grin>)  If so, please let me know.  It would
help if you're already on SourceForge, I will certainly put those candidate
first, however I will consider everyone who replies (even John himself. <grin>
)

    For the time being, I would like to thank everyone who has e-mailed me with
their patches for the various bugs they've found.  Thank you to everyone for
their suggestions and other comments.  Let's not forget those silent ones as
well, everyone in general, Thank You!

    AMK4  <am...@us...>

--
W | I haven't lost my mind; it's backed up on tape somewhere.
  +--------------------------------------------------------------------
  Ashley M. Kirchner <mailto:as...@pc...>   .   303.442.6410 x130
  IT Director / SysAdmin / WebSmith             .     800.441.3873 x130
  Photo Craft Laboratories, Inc.            .     3550 Arapahoe Ave. #6
  http://www.pcraft.com ..... .  .    .       Boulder, CO 80303, U.S.A.