I can't count the number of times I've come across an open source project online, and couldn't figure out what it was
When I worked at SourceForge, this was a major thing I worked on. I called it the "Yeah, but what does it *DO*" campaign, and I'd try to get projects to explain what their project was actually for, rather than saying that it was "an effort to build a fast, efficient, best of breed tool XYPDQ object-hierarchical framework" or whatever.
Turns out that a lot of people find this kind of thinking revolutionary. It's honestly eye-opening when you say some people might not know what their whizbang is used for.
Good documentation is typically not written by "most coders". It's written by writers. Some of us do indeed get a thrill from writing good documentation. I've been doing this for 20 years because it's fun, not because I'm paid for it, in much the same way that you have been coding, because it's fun. Different people find different things fun. The trick is to make it easier for these kinds of people to get access to the communities which are typically coder-dominated. (As you might guess, there's more about this in the article.)
Yes, there are plenty of counterexamples. And those communities - I presume you are referring to Linux? Or did you mean something else? - are remarkably hard for beginners to break into, unless they display a similarly belligerent attitude. Thus, this kind of attitude is self-perpetuating, and it makes it remarkably hard to improve the tone of the community over time. Monkey see, monkey do.
Look, I'm not declaring this to be a theory or a law of community organization. I'm saying that when you're nice to people, you tend to make it easier for them to solve problems.
From the article:... there are some amazing books out there that you should read if you care about this stuff. First, I'd recommend Conversation and Community, by Anne Gentle. And if you're looking for a conference about this stuff, there are two that I'd suggest: Write The Docs and OpenHelp.
As I mention in the article (you did read it, right?) is that there are different voices required for different types of documentation. There's a place for both the "straight to the point" (reference docs) and "conversational" (howtos, more learning-oriented exposition) voices, depending on who you're talking to, and how much they already know.
It makes sense to have the code stewarded outside of SourceForge, because it ensures that the development is completely open. We (SourceForge) value our projects' ability to own their own data, even if that means that they can move it somewhere else. By having Allura completely open, and even developed outside of SourceForge itself, we ensure that this right - the right to pack up and move - is 100% protected.
It also provides us access to innovation and ideas from outside of our own small organization, which, in turn, further benefits our projects.
Don't tell my corporate overlords, but I consider the health of these Open Source projects to be my highest goal when I go to work in the morning. I firmly believe that if those projects are more successful, then the company will be more successful. But it's the former, not the latter, that gets me to work every morning.
Taking Allura to the Apache Incubator is for the benefit of our projects. It gives us the opportunity to focus more sharply on the things that will make their developer experience better. And folks who haven't seen the new SourceForge, and are making their judgements based on old-style SourceForge projects that haven't upgraded, are selling everyone short.
I feel like an old friend has died, and I've been near tears several times today. I grew up on his stories. I deeply identified with his characters - especially Douglas Spaulding. I read Dandelion Wine almost every year, and it's always new.
He influenced my writing style more than anyone else, as well as his encouragement to write something every day, whether I want to or not.
His stories were always about more than just the setting - science fiction was simply a vehicle for him to communicate deep truths.
I've been remembering all day a scene in Dandelion Wine in which Great Grandmother says goodbye to her family, and then settles into bed to try to find the dream that was interrupted when she was born. I hope you find your dream, Ray. Sleep well, old friend.
Having said that, I have found that paying a professional has always been a worthwhile investment. I have a masters degree in mathematics, so it's not a question of the calculations, but my accountant knows things about tax law that I don't, and keeps me from getting audited while getting me the best refunds that the law allows.
Africa also has some of the richest soil in the world.
One of my favorite stories about my visit to Zaire (now Congo), is when we were taken to see the air strip.
We were visiting a little mission hospital on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, near Uvira, and one day they said that we were going to walk out to the air strip. They didn't get many planes in, and each time they were expecting a plane in, they'd send out some folks to make sure that it was clear.
But this was just after the rainy season, and there hadn't been a plane for almost two months, and we couldn't find the air strip at first because there were full-sized trees growing all over it. We found the markers, and it was clear where it had been, but it looked like a full-grown forest.
As others have mentioned, saying that Africa has some of the poorest soil in the world is absurd. So does the USA. It's a little like saying "Australia has some of the youngest people in the world."
Certainly not. Open Source is nothing if not self-defined. I get to define when my project is successful, and quality might be that definition, in my particular case. Fortunately, quality often leads to usage. But even when it doesn't, it's a worthwhile goal.
The focus on dramatic stories is misplaced. The simple loss of dignity in traveling should be sufficient. I'm tired of being assumed to be a criminal when I travel.
Slashdot Mirror
The Apache Software Foundation is now more than 300 projects. See https://projects.apache.org/
Absolutely.
I can't count the number of times I've come across an open source project online, and couldn't figure out what it was
When I worked at SourceForge, this was a major thing I worked on. I called it the "Yeah, but what does it *DO*" campaign, and I'd try to get projects to explain what their project was actually for, rather than saying that it was "an effort to build a fast, efficient, best of breed tool XYPDQ object-hierarchical framework" or whatever.
Turns out that a lot of people find this kind of thinking revolutionary. It's honestly eye-opening when you say some people might not know what their whizbang is used for.
Good documentation is typically not written by "most coders". It's written by writers. Some of us do indeed get a thrill from writing good documentation. I've been doing this for 20 years because it's fun, not because I'm paid for it, in much the same way that you have been coding, because it's fun. Different people find different things fun. The trick is to make it easier for these kinds of people to get access to the communities which are typically coder-dominated. (As you might guess, there's more about this in the article.)
Yes, there are plenty of counterexamples. And those communities - I presume you are referring to Linux? Or did you mean something else? - are remarkably hard for beginners to break into, unless they display a similarly belligerent attitude. Thus, this kind of attitude is self-perpetuating, and it makes it remarkably hard to improve the tone of the community over time. Monkey see, monkey do.
Look, I'm not declaring this to be a theory or a law of community organization. I'm saying that when you're nice to people, you tend to make it easier for them to solve problems.
From the article: ... there are some amazing books out there that you should read if you care about this stuff. First, I'd recommend Conversation and Community, by Anne Gentle. And if you're looking for a conference about this stuff, there are two that I'd suggest: Write The Docs and OpenHelp.
As I mention in the article (you did read it, right?) is that there are different voices required for different types of documentation. There's a place for both the "straight to the point" (reference docs) and "conversational" (howtos, more learning-oriented exposition) voices, depending on who you're talking to, and how much they already know.
"RTFM" is defined in the first sentence of the first paragraph of the article.
I'm still living in Lexington.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE3XsZaL-zo
Presumably so that other people can continue the development.
I've been talking with the developer in question this morning, and he'll be putting the code into Git this evening or this weekend, as he has time.
It makes sense to have the code stewarded outside of SourceForge, because it ensures that the development is completely open. We (SourceForge) value our projects' ability to own their own data, even if that means that they can move it somewhere else. By having Allura completely open, and even developed outside of SourceForge itself, we ensure that this right - the right to pack up and move - is 100% protected.
It also provides us access to innovation and ideas from outside of our own small organization, which, in turn, further benefits our projects.
Don't tell my corporate overlords, but I consider the health of these Open Source projects to be my highest goal when I go to work in the morning. I firmly believe that if those projects are more successful, then the company will be more successful. But it's the former, not the latter, that gets me to work every morning.
Taking Allura to the Apache Incubator is for the benefit of our projects. It gives us the opportunity to focus more sharply on the things that will make their developer experience better. And folks who haven't seen the new SourceForge, and are making their judgements based on old-style SourceForge projects that haven't upgraded, are selling everyone short.
Rob, that remark shows you to be somewhat uninformed about both SourceForge *and* Apache.
We've been talking about the incubator long before there was ever talk of selling.
I was talking about "walking." It was funny. Now it's not any more. Thanks a lot.
You could even use the power generated by your knees to travel from one place to another!
I feel like an old friend has died, and I've been near tears several times today. I grew up on his stories. I deeply identified with his characters - especially Douglas Spaulding. I read Dandelion Wine almost every year, and it's always new.
He influenced my writing style more than anyone else, as well as his encouragement to write something every day, whether I want to or not.
His stories were always about more than just the setting - science fiction was simply a vehicle for him to communicate deep truths.
I've been remembering all day a scene in Dandelion Wine in which Great Grandmother says goodbye to her family, and then settles into bed to try to find the dream that was interrupted when she was born. I hope you find your dream, Ray. Sleep well, old friend.
From the article:
While true Bessel beams are impossible to create, as they would require an infinite amount of energy, ...
This would seem like a good reason not to use them, even in a government project.
Here's one: https://sourceforge.net/projects/opentaxsolver/
Having said that, I have found that paying a professional has always been a worthwhile investment. I have a masters degree in mathematics, so it's not a question of the calculations, but my accountant knows things about tax law that I don't, and keeps me from getting audited while getting me the best refunds that the law allows.
Africa also has some of the richest soil in the world.
One of my favorite stories about my visit to Zaire (now Congo), is when we were taken to see the air strip.
We were visiting a little mission hospital on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, near Uvira, and one day they said that we were going to walk out to the air strip. They didn't get many planes in, and each time they were expecting a plane in, they'd send out some folks to make sure that it was clear.
But this was just after the rainy season, and there hadn't been a plane for almost two months, and we couldn't find the air strip at first because there were full-sized trees growing all over it. We found the markers, and it was clear where it had been, but it looked like a full-grown forest.
As others have mentioned, saying that Africa has some of the poorest soil in the world is absurd. So does the USA. It's a little like saying "Australia has some of the youngest people in the world."
Certainly not. Open Source is nothing if not self-defined. I get to define when my project is successful, and quality might be that definition, in my particular case. Fortunately, quality often leads to usage. But even when it doesn't, it's a worthwhile goal.
The focus on dramatic stories is misplaced. The simple loss of dignity in traveling should be sufficient. I'm tired of being assumed to be a criminal when I travel.
This is a really dangerous distinction. Crime is crime. Politically motivated crime is - what? Terrorism? I don't like where this is going.
Dress professionally. Keep regular hours. Work as though you were at work.
That's not true. In politics, if something fails, we sneak it into another bill a few months later.