Speaking of support for Camel Bones

2007-05-08 Thread Tom Yarrish

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

This just came through on my RSS reader.

http://news.perl-foundation.org/2007/05/calls_for_proposals.html
-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (Darwin)

iD8DBQFGQOJ/ZWzkfeDiTw4RAuWJAKCBY29IOPUsmnDmn0QAXHLD5xToIgCghjlz
k+KGkHLfmAhKdBq6wnPCRrM=
=Dn6b
-END PGP SIGNATURE-


Re: Speaking of support for Camel Bones

2007-05-08 Thread Bruce Van Allen
On 5/7/07 Chris Nandor wrote:
>Have you considered a Perl Foundation Grant? 

On 5/7/07 Tim Bunce wrote:
>Seconded, FWIW.

On 5/8/07 Tom Yarrish wrote:
>This just came through on my RSS reader.
>http://news.perl-foundation.org/2007/05/calls_for_proposals.html

Let's get behind this. Sherm could do some work that moves CB forward,
maybe the ".scriptingbridge" metadata.

I can't send money right now -- I freelance and am also currently in a
trough. But I've done lots of editing and grant-writing, so if you need
that kind of help to tighten up a proposal, let me know. 

Also, I notice that the Perl Foundation guidelines don't mention letters
of support, but if Sherm submits a proposal, letters to vouch for him &
CB would probably help (now Chris, don't auto-bury them ;-). 

I think we can confidently answer the "Benefits to the Perl Community"
issue. 

Maybe Apple could make a grant to TPF -- tax-deductible 'n' all --
designated for this project...

Best,

- Bruce

__bruce__van_allen__santa_cruz__ca__


Re: Speaking of support for Camel Bones

2007-05-08 Thread Sherm Pendley

On May 8, 2007, at 5:23 PM, Bruce Van Allen wrote:


On 5/7/07 Chris Nandor wrote:

Have you considered a Perl Foundation Grant?


On 5/7/07 Tim Bunce wrote:

Seconded, FWIW.


On 5/8/07 Tom Yarrish wrote:

This just came through on my RSS reader.
http://news.perl-foundation.org/2007/05/calls_for_proposals.html


Let's get behind this. Sherm could do some work that moves CB forward,
maybe the ".scriptingbridge" metadata.

I can't send money right now -- I freelance and am also currently in a
trough. But I've done lots of editing and grant-writing, so if you  
need

that kind of help to tighten up a proposal, let me know.


That would certainly be a help. I've never written a proposal like  
this before. I'd like to learn, so I'd prefer to write at least the  
first draft myself, but feedback from someone with experience would  
be very valuable.


Also, I notice that the Perl Foundation guidelines don't mention  
letters
of support, but if Sherm submits a proposal, letters to vouch for  
him &

CB would probably help (now Chris, don't auto-bury them ;-).


I think he only does that for Red Sox polls. :-)


I think we can confidently answer the "Benefits to the Perl Community"
issue.


That's my biggest concern. CB is mostly of use to the subset of the  
community who are using Macs, and need to write GUI apps. My concern  
is whether that's a big enough subset to warrant a grant.



Maybe Apple could make a grant to TPF -- tax-deductible 'n' all --
designated for this project...


I'll ask my sponsor at Apple about it.

sherm--

Web Hosting by West Virginians, for West Virginians: http://wv-www.net
Cocoa programming in Perl: http://camelbones.sourceforge.net




Re: Speaking of support for Camel Bones

2007-05-08 Thread Tim Bunce
On Tue, May 08, 2007 at 05:38:42PM -0400, Sherm Pendley wrote:
> On May 8, 2007, at 5:23 PM, Bruce Van Allen wrote:
> 
> >I think we can confidently answer the "Benefits to the Perl Community"
> >issue.
> 
> That's my biggest concern. CB is mostly of use to the subset of the  
> community who are using Macs, and need to write GUI apps. My concern  
> is whether that's a big enough subset to warrant a grant.

Don't just think about the "Benefits to the Perl _Developer_ Community".

Also think in terms of increasing the size of the Perl _User_ Community
by enabling quality Mac apps to be implemented in/with perl.

Tim.


Re: Speaking of support for Camel Bones

2007-05-08 Thread David Cantrell

Sherm Pendley wrote:

On May 8, 2007, at 5:23 PM, Bruce Van Allen wrote:

I think we can confidently answer the "Benefits to the Perl Community"
issue.
That's my biggest concern. CB is mostly of use to the subset of the  
community who are using Macs, and need to write GUI apps. My concern  is 
whether that's a big enough subset to warrant a grant.


They've sponsored some projects with *very* small audiences in the past, 
such as pVoice.  I'm sure that Camelbones's audience outweighs pVoice's 
by at least a couple of orders of magnitude - although "helping trendy 
Mac users" is less press-worthy than "helping disabled people".


--
David Cantrell | Hero of the Information Age

More people are driven insane through religious hysteria than
by drinking alcohol.-- W C Fields


Re: Speaking of support for Camel Bones

2007-05-09 Thread Robert Hicks

Sherm Pendley wrote:

That's my biggest concern. CB is mostly of use to the subset of the 
community who are using Macs, and need to write GUI apps. My concern is 
whether that's a big enough subset to warrant a grant.




Yes, but think of the future. If this is funded and gets to be a "part" 
of OSX going forward then the community really is anyone who *may* 
program in Perl on OSX in the future. That could be a large number of 
people that would be helped by CB.


Evangelism is all that is needed.  : )

Robert


Re: Speaking of support for Camel Bones

2007-05-09 Thread Bruce Van Allen
On 5/8/07 Tim Bunce wrote:
>On Tue, May 08, 2007 at 05:38:42PM -0400, Sherm Pendley wrote:
>> On May 8, 2007, at 5:23 PM, Bruce Van Allen wrote:
>> >I think we can confidently answer the "Benefits to the Perl
Community" issue.
>> That's my biggest concern. CB is mostly of use to the subset of the  
>> community who are using Macs, and need to write GUI apps. My concern  
>> is whether that's a big enough subset to warrant a grant.
>Don't just think about the "Benefits to the Perl _Developer_
Community".
>
>Also think in terms of increasing the size of the Perl _User_ Community
>by enabling quality Mac apps to be implemented in/with perl.
>Tim.

Exactly. I don't have an actual count, but what comes to mind is the
"huge" number of people now dipping their toes into SQL and programmable
database systems simply because of the (L)AMP connection of mySQL and
PHP.

Appreciate what they're missing (besides being limited to a Web
framework): CB + DBI = the real thing. And there would be plenty of
other growth vectors opened up.

But moving past the "why", some work needs to be done before the sales
pitch/evangelism.

Sherm will need to write a proposal and submit it to the Perl
Foundation. The rest of this message has my suggestions for how this
could happen.

The next deadline for submissions is June 8, 2007. Per TPF guidelines,
the proposal needs to include some things that have to be thought
through and written out: 

- Synopsis
  A short description.

- Benefits to the Perl Community

- Deliverables
  Quantifiable results e.g. "Improve X modules in ways Y and Z",
  "Write 3 articles for X website".

- Project Details
  A more detailed description.

Additional non-trivial items are a schedule for the project and a
description of Sherm's background and qualifications to do the project.
  
A quick look at recently funded TPF grants suggests that this might take
a total of 2500 to 4000 words -- the length of a serious journal
article. To do this in one month, it would be handy to have some
milestones that give Sherm a timeline for writing, and provide those of
us who want to help a structure for some parallel processing. 
  
1. Project Definition.
To start, the "project" will need to be defined; in my view this should
be the realistic next set of steps in CB's development. The rest of the
proposal follows from the project definition. 
- Sherm's part: I imagine Sherm has next steps in mind, so the task now
would be for him to write out a description and circulate it. 
- Our part: We can help if he needs encouragement to think big or if he
needs to choose what to take _off_ the plate for now.

2. Outlines, lists, or blurts for the sections listed above.
This is just to get started; the point is to see what needs to be said
and where it should be said in the sections of the proposal.
- Sherm's part: Sherm should do this in whatever way he's most
comfortable putting ideas into words. Concreteness and clarity more
important than golden sentences. Ask for support where you have gaps.
- Our part: Review and especially check for what's missing/incomplete in
the _ideas_ for each section. Conceive of examples. Check references. 

3. Writing
Writing is re-writing.
- Sherm's part: Develop drafts. Write to an audience that is both
demanding of you and also believes in you.
- Our part: review drafts, feed back quickly, stay on topic.

4. Proposal Composition
The written pieces need to be strung together in order and printed out
in a format different from the previous composition, so the emerging
proposal may be read with fresh eyes.
- Sherm's part: Piece it together, send it out, and then take a break.
- Our part: Read, review, encourage, stay on topic.

5. Credentials
This is a part that is important but outside the particulars of the
proposed project, namely Sherm's qualifications. 
- Sherm's part: circulate something. Don't be modest, don't BS.
- Our part: Read and review; also write our own brief and focused
support notes/letters.

6. Project Schedule & Budget
The proposal will need a schedule for the project that makes sense, and
a budget for Sherm's time that is credible. At this starting point (May
9), I think attention should be on conceiving a sufficiently large
project to move CB forward -- but I don't know what that is, or how long
it would take. Looking at past TPF grants will give some context for
this. But focus on the project for now, and come back to this after
progress on the above steps.

OK, those are enough milestones for now. All meant in the spirit of
creating a framework, nothing rigid or "right" about it.

How about some dates?
1. Project Definition. 
Mon, May 14.
2. Outlines, lists, or blurts for the sections listed above. 
Fri May 18.
3. Writing
Fri May 25
4. Proposal Composition
Tues May 29
5. Credentials
Fri June 1
6. Project Schedule & Budget
Fri June 1

These dates are arbitrary, but if we get those things done, the
remaining week up to the Fri June 8 deadline should be suffi

Re: Speaking of support for Camel Bones

2007-05-10 Thread Jeremiah Foster
Well said Bruce. Count me in.

Jeremiah

Wed, May 09, 2007 at 09:30:33AM -0700:  Bruce Van Allen mangled some bits into 
this alignment:
> On 5/8/07 Tim Bunce wrote:
> >On Tue, May 08, 2007 at 05:38:42PM -0400, Sherm Pendley wrote:
> >> On May 8, 2007, at 5:23 PM, Bruce Van Allen wrote:
> >> >I think we can confidently answer the "Benefits to the Perl
> Community" issue.
> >> That's my biggest concern. CB is mostly of use to the subset of the  
> >> community who are using Macs, and need to write GUI apps. My concern  
> >> is whether that's a big enough subset to warrant a grant.
> >Don't just think about the "Benefits to the Perl _Developer_
> Community".
> >
> >Also think in terms of increasing the size of the Perl _User_ Community
> >by enabling quality Mac apps to be implemented in/with perl.
> >Tim.
> 
> Exactly. I don't have an actual count, but what comes to mind is the
> "huge" number of people now dipping their toes into SQL and programmable
> database systems simply because of the (L)AMP connection of mySQL and
> PHP.
> 
> Appreciate what they're missing (besides being limited to a Web
> framework): CB + DBI = the real thing. And there would be plenty of
> other growth vectors opened up.
> 
> But moving past the "why", some work needs to be done before the sales
> pitch/evangelism.
> 
> Sherm will need to write a proposal and submit it to the Perl
> Foundation. The rest of this message has my suggestions for how this
> could happen.
> 
> The next deadline for submissions is June 8, 2007. Per TPF guidelines,
> the proposal needs to include some things that have to be thought
> through and written out: 
> 
> - Synopsis
>   A short description.
> 
> - Benefits to the Perl Community
> 
> - Deliverables
>   Quantifiable results e.g. "Improve X modules in ways Y and Z",
>   "Write 3 articles for X website".
> 
> - Project Details
>   A more detailed description.
> 
> Additional non-trivial items are a schedule for the project and a
> description of Sherm's background and qualifications to do the project.
>   
> A quick look at recently funded TPF grants suggests that this might take
> a total of 2500 to 4000 words -- the length of a serious journal
> article. To do this in one month, it would be handy to have some
> milestones that give Sherm a timeline for writing, and provide those of
> us who want to help a structure for some parallel processing. 
>   
> 1. Project Definition.
> To start, the "project" will need to be defined; in my view this should
> be the realistic next set of steps in CB's development. The rest of the
> proposal follows from the project definition. 
> - Sherm's part: I imagine Sherm has next steps in mind, so the task now
> would be for him to write out a description and circulate it. 
> - Our part: We can help if he needs encouragement to think big or if he
> needs to choose what to take _off_ the plate for now.
> 
> 2. Outlines, lists, or blurts for the sections listed above.
> This is just to get started; the point is to see what needs to be said
> and where it should be said in the sections of the proposal.
> - Sherm's part: Sherm should do this in whatever way he's most
> comfortable putting ideas into words. Concreteness and clarity more
> important than golden sentences. Ask for support where you have gaps.
> - Our part: Review and especially check for what's missing/incomplete in
> the _ideas_ for each section. Conceive of examples. Check references. 
> 
> 3. Writing
> Writing is re-writing.
> - Sherm's part: Develop drafts. Write to an audience that is both
> demanding of you and also believes in you.
> - Our part: review drafts, feed back quickly, stay on topic.
> 
> 4. Proposal Composition
> The written pieces need to be strung together in order and printed out
> in a format different from the previous composition, so the emerging
> proposal may be read with fresh eyes.
> - Sherm's part: Piece it together, send it out, and then take a break.
> - Our part: Read, review, encourage, stay on topic.
> 
> 5. Credentials
> This is a part that is important but outside the particulars of the
> proposed project, namely Sherm's qualifications. 
> - Sherm's part: circulate something. Don't be modest, don't BS.
> - Our part: Read and review; also write our own brief and focused
> support notes/letters.
> 
> 6. Project Schedule & Budget
> The proposal will need a schedule for the project that makes sense, and
> a budget for Sherm's time that is credible. At this starting point (May
> 9), I think attention should be on conceiving a sufficiently large
> project to move CB forward -- but I don't know what that is, or how long
> it would take. Looking at past TPF grants will give some context for
> this. But focus on the project for now, and come back to this after
> progress on the above steps.
> 
> OK, those are enough milestones for now. All meant in the spirit of
> creating a framework, nothing rigid or "right" about it.
> 
> How about some dates?
> 1. Project Definition.