William Stein wrote: > On Dec 10, 2007 12:39 PM, root <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Steve, >> >>>> See *that* is exactly the point. When I talked with one of the Maple >>>> founders >>>> about why Maple started in the 1980's, it was precisely because the >>>> mathematicians working on the software didn't want to duplicate tapes and >>>> mail them around the country. We're no different. >>> What exactly is your message here? That a lack of concern with >>> logistics on the part of programmers has doomed collaborative projects >>> of the past to a closed-source commercial model? That mathematicians >>> working on Sage should be concerned with the logistics of software >>> distribution? >>> >>> The former is certainly true; the latter raises a question about the >>> effective allocation of resources. I expect that to get this >>> logistical stuff done, it'd a lot easier for Sage to recruit a >>> technically-adept fan of open source with a decent math background >>> than to teach an (arbitrary) mathematician about software >>> distribution. >>> >>> My point is that relinquishing control of logistics to non-experts >>> needn't be the death-knell of the project. Down the road you could >>> have a nonprofit "Sage Foundation" which does distrubution, handles >>> integrates and polices code coming in from academic institutions, but >>> does almost no real "development" itself. This model is not without >>> precedent. >> As a long term (since 1997) open source developer I have to make the >> comment that you have a bit of a "corporate bias" when you suggest >> "relinquishing control of logistics to non-experts". >> >> There are a lot of tasks that make up any software project and any >> given person has some task they do better than others (e.g. math). >> I often find people who say "I'm a mathematician" as a reason why >> they don't document, package, integrate, and maintain their code. >> I often find people who can't be bothered with source code control, >> patching, merging, or, in this case, polish-package-distribution tasks. >> >> My reaction has finally grown into "fine, let your work die". >> >> Almost every dead software project on sourceforge died because >> the originator or team felt that some task "was not their job". >> And that task was critical to the success of the project. As >> projects grow beyond one person the luxury of having others do >> things breeds the thought that some tasks become "not my job". >> >> Look left. Look right. Ask the net. See any volunteers? No? >> Then the task is on your desk. >> >> Is it important for the project? No? Ignore it. Yes? Do it. >> >> It's ALL your job. > > -1 > > Thanks for your perspective. However, I tend to disagree. > > The whole Sage development model is built on cooperation > and to a huge extent that means trusting other people to help out, > deciding on what people are good at and encouraging them > to do just that, etc. When somebody > comes to me and wants to contribute to Sage my top priority > is to understand precisely what they love and are good at, > instead of preaching to them about how everything is going > to be their job. Here's a verbatim log from an irc session 2 hours ago > to illustrate exactly: > > 09:38 < faik> I am student from Bosnia and Herzegovina. I found Sage > project on web and I'm interested to join. Can some one help me? > 09:38 < williamstein> hi faik. sure. > 09:38 < williamstein> What's your background / interest in math / computing? > 09:39 < faik> I'm studing Computer Science > 09:39 < williamstein> cool. > 09:39 < williamstein> The first thing you should do is work through > the sage tutorial, if you haven't already. > 09:40 < williamstein> Also, subscribe to or at least browse through > sage-devel (the google group). > 09:40 < williamstein> See what interests and excites you the most. > 09:40 < williamstein> Then offer to help with it. > 09:40 < williamstein> Sage development is all about working on things > that are interesting to you. > 09:42 < williamstein> Also, one useful thing would be if you could > write a short article / intro about sage in your native language. > 09:42 < faik> i have subscribe to google group > 09:42 < williamstein> ok. > 09:42 < williamstein> welcome. > 9:43 < faik> tnx :) > 09:44 < faik> sure I will write an article about Sage > 09:46 < williamstein> Thanks! > > +1 Not only students are likely to contribute! There are a lot of professionals contributing to sage. And even retired persons like me!
Cheers, Jaap --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://sage.scipy.org/sage/ and http://modular.math.washington.edu/sage/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
