From jeff at taupro.com Sun Sep 9 08:36:29 2007 From: jeff at taupro.com (Jeff Rush) Date: Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:36:29 -0500 Subject: [python-advocacy] A Couple of Browser-Related Additions to www.python.org Message-ID: <46E3946D.2080002@taupro.com> Things have been awfully quiet in here... Just FYI, I've added a couple of somewhat advocacy-related features to the Python website. First is an expansion from one to seven of the RSS feeds advertised, and displayed in your browser as a drop-down list from your browser URL input box of bookmarkable feeds. For a brief guide to how to add them to your browser and what the various feeds are, you can watch this 12-minute screencast: http://www.showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1170000&fromSeriesID=117 but essentially here are the feeds listed: 1. Community Events (news listed on frontpage of www.python.org) 2. Python Recipes from the Cookbook 3. Usergroup News 4. Python Screencasts (from showmedo.com) 5. Python Podcasts (from Python 411) 6. News from the Python Software Foundation 7. Python Enhancement Proposals I'd hoped to have a feed for watching the bug tracker but apparently that does not yet have an RSS feed capability. The second feature is OpenSearch. Some of you may not be aware of OpenSearch but it is a way of putting links into your pages that point to search filter descriptions that can be installed into a visitor's browser to enhance the browser search input box. I've added filters for: 1. Search under the www.python.org Domain 2. Search within the Python Wiki 3. Search within Python Books at Google Book Search 4. Search within the Python Documentation 5. Search for a Module in the Standard Library 6. Search for Packages inside the Cheeseshop (PyPI)" 7. Search Archives of the Main Python Mailing List I couldn't find a meaningful search expression for the bug tracker, that was of general use. I've put up a 7-min screencast outlining these filters as well but it isn't yet approved by the showmedo.com staff. When it is, you can find it at: http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1170010;fromSeriesID=117 I hope these are useful and suggestions of additional feeds/searches or improved search filter expressions are very welcome. The next screencast will be a guided tour of the available Python mailing lists, for those unaware of them. -Jeff From jeff at taupro.com Thu Sep 13 16:01:04 2007 From: jeff at taupro.com (Jeff Rush) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 09:01:04 -0500 Subject: [python-advocacy] Second-Term Status Report for Python Advocacy Message-ID: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> As we come to the end of my second six-month term as advocacy coordinator, I would like to report on what has been accomplished and what has not. First the detailed list of what I've done is maintained at: http://wiki.python.org/moin/AdvocacyAccomplishments but it can be hard to follow the specific directions so here is a summary. Screencasts =========== One aspect of the work for this term was to develop content resources that can be used to spread the word about Python. One form this took is screencasts, in cooperation with the showmedo.com website. Here is a list of those I produced, with the date of creation and the number of views recorded on the showmedo.com website so far. The first set was to get information out there to encourage others to create screencasts as well: Series: Casting Your Knowledge, With Style Jun-28 "Preparing for Screencasting" (146 views) Jun-28 "Giving Your Screencast" (54 views) followed by a series focused on 5-minute introductory talks. I had hoped to get contributions from the various sub-communities of Python but so far been unsuccessful. Besides these of mine, Ian Ozsvald also created one as well, and as of this weekend, I have firm interest from two members of the Jython community to produce at least one as well. Series: 5-Minutes with Python Jul-02 "Python and the Interactive Shell 'IPython'" (500 views) Jul-08 "A Demonstration of ReStructuredText" (20 views) Aug-22 "Python and the Image Manipulation Library" (46 views) I've also collected several existing screencasts of the appropriate length about Plone but am not sure they gently introduce the listener to the topic at hand, and could use some feedback. I've learned along the way that a 5-minute talk, although consisting of less material, is much harder to create than a 20-minute talk, due to the need to be precise and know exactly what you want to convey within that tight timeslot. To expand on the 5-minute talk about the IPython shell, I then produced a demonstration series showing off most of its features: Series: A Demonstration of the 'IPython' Interactive Shell Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 1" (691 views) Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 2" (38 views) Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 3" (25 views) Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 4" (133 views) Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 5" (147 views) And then to provide something different, in order to get some idea of what presentation format is most popular with the community, I started a series of source code reviews as you would experience in a development team. Series: Python Source Walkthrough Series Aug-23 "Python Walkthru of a Simple Text Line Matcher (grep)" (70 views) Sep-06 "Python Walkthru of a Twisted Webserver" (31 views) And last, I remembered discussions on the usergroup organizers chat meeting that people in the community often have trouble staying on top of the various happenings and sources of information, so I started a series to help with that: Series: Keeping in Touch with the Python Community Sep-06 "Watching the RSS Feeds" (32 views) Sep-08 "Searching the Python World (just went public) TBD "Joining Interesting Python Discussions" [An overview of what Python mailing lists exist and why certain ones may appeal to you.] The idea is to help those new to Python build stronger bonds with the overall community, especially as that community grows much larger. As a general evaluation of screencasting, the showmedo.com website seems to be an excellent way to reach those new to Python. By the statistics of all their talks, their audience seems to be those wanting introductory material, so it currently is not necessarily an ideal avenue for reaching IT departments. I think it reaches those who program as a hobby, students wanting help, and those just starting to check out Python at the office that don't yet have official buy-in. I hope to work with showmedo.com to broaden their offerings and draw in the more advanced Python programmers as well. Usergroups ========== Another focus of this advocacy term was to strengthen usergroups. I've helped several to form, and to support them I subscribe to their lists, help where I can and encourage the organizers. The youngest groups are: CentralOH (32-members since March 5, 2007) Portland Usergroup (29 members since May 18, 2007) Phoenix Usergroup (Sunpiggies) (6 members since July 27, 2007) Omaha Usergroup (?? members since March 24, 2007) Changes continue to trickle onto the usergroup roster on wiki.python.org, including the recent creation of the Norwegian Python Interest Group. One item created as part of the advocacy effort was a shared blog to which usergroup organizers can post, and be aggregated to the various planets. http://python-groups.blogspot.com/ Since starting this blog in April 2007, there have been 16 postings. Twelve usergroups have posting access but we need to encourage more to participate. Wiki Successes ============== http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonTraining The Python Training wiki page continues to see updates and new entries and seems to be a valuable resource. I've attached to the bottom a blurb encouraging trainers to show off their skills by creating screencasts but so far I don't know any who have done so. http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonWriters Since the creation of a Python Writers/Editors page in June, there have been 25 contributions, with 12 writers and 4 editors. Forrester Survey on Dynamic Languages ===================================== "Python Is An All-Purpose Leader; PHP And Perl Are Popular Options" http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,41386,00.html The Forrester Survey is complete and has been published for sale at $399 on their website. Initially they considered us a traditional for-profit client and we would have to pay to use anything from the report. I reminded them that in their initial meeting with us contributors, they said this was their first experience with the open source community and that they wanted to find a way for us to work together. After internal consideration they have granted each language community free citation of selected portions of the report. It is on my urgent to-do- list to extract quotes and pull it together into a press release the PSF can issue in the very near future. Python Unconference =================== The first Python Unconference (that I know of) will take place in Houston Sep 15-16. I'll blog about the results when I return. Self-Evaluation =============== Along with the above developments, I keep an advocacy blog at: http://python-advocacy.blogspot.com/ In 2007 there have been 14 postings related to Python advocacy. My ideas continue to run ahead of my abilities, as I'm sure they do for all of us. I'd hoped to do more for advocacy than I have but believe I have some good results to show as well. I continue to be unable to inspire much participation by others, a failing of mine as well as part of the job. The two lists most related to advocacy, advocacy at python.org and group-organizers at python.org remain excessively quiet, and my attempts to get the edu-sig community to contribute to advocacy have not found much traction. My real concern with this is whether others will carry on the advocacy steps we've put in place once I leave the office. On my task list was the writing of several whitepapers which I've failed to achieve due to a focus on other tasks, mostly screencasts. Andrew Kuchling has worked to make several of them happen (thanks Andrew) but I've not yet collected/linked his work into an overall promotion. I've also been remiss in creating the slideshow about how to start and run a usergroup. I plan to crank that out this week as I consider it urgent. In order to make use of the screencasts compiled so far, I have been placing sidebars onto www.python.org with commentary and links to screencasts related to the topic discussed near that spot. More work is needed here that I plan to continue incrementally. Toward the Future ================= Should the board be open to the idea, I would like to continue for one last 6-month term (Sep 15 - Mar 15), bringing us to a final report and closure at PyCon 2008. During that term I propose to continue work on the following tasks: 1. get citation of Forrester survey onto website and into news stream 2. produce more screencasts and draw others into doing so as well. 3. work with the PR firm potentially being hired for PyCon to see what opportunities exist for promoting Python in general 4. write the whitepapers listed on my second-term proposal On the other hand, if the board decides I've had my shot, I thank you and will contribute as my time permits to advocacy efforts. Or if there is someone else bubbling with ideas on how to get others involved who wants to step into the advocacy coordinator position, I'd be glad to play a supporting role. Python Advocacy Coordinator Jeff Rush From noah.gift at gmail.com Thu Sep 13 17:03:30 2007 From: noah.gift at gmail.com (Noah Gift) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:03:30 -0400 Subject: [python-advocacy] Second-Term Status Report for Python Advocacy In-Reply-To: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> References: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> Message-ID: Hi, I am not sure if it proper etiquette to respond to this email, but I would like to say that Jeff has been very helpful to the PyAtl group, http://python.meetup.com/46/. I think both the screencasts and the unconferences are great ideas as well. I know PyAtl is interested in copying the unconference idea and we planned on getting his help and feedback from the Houston Event to arrange something similar after PyCon 2008. Keep up the good work, Noah On 9/13/07, Jeff Rush wrote: > As we come to the end of my second six-month term as advocacy coordinator, I > would like to report on what has been accomplished and what has not. > > First the detailed list of what I've done is maintained at: > > http://wiki.python.org/moin/AdvocacyAccomplishments > > but it can be hard to follow the specific directions so here is a summary. > > Screencasts > =========== > > One aspect of the work for this term was to develop content resources that can > be used to spread the word about Python. One form this took is screencasts, > in cooperation with the showmedo.com website. Here is a list of those I > produced, with the date of creation and the number of views recorded on the > showmedo.com website so far. > > The first set was to get information out there to encourage others to create > screencasts as well: > > Series: Casting Your Knowledge, With Style > Jun-28 "Preparing for Screencasting" (146 views) > Jun-28 "Giving Your Screencast" (54 views) > > followed by a series focused on 5-minute introductory talks. I had hoped to > get contributions from the various sub-communities of Python but so far been > unsuccessful. Besides these of mine, Ian Ozsvald also created one as well, > and as of this weekend, I have firm interest from two members of the Jython > community to produce at least one as well. > > Series: 5-Minutes with Python > Jul-02 "Python and the Interactive Shell 'IPython'" (500 views) > Jul-08 "A Demonstration of ReStructuredText" (20 views) > Aug-22 "Python and the Image Manipulation Library" (46 views) > > I've also collected several existing screencasts of the appropriate length > about Plone but am not sure they gently introduce the listener to the topic at > hand, and could use some feedback. I've learned along the way that a 5-minute > talk, although consisting of less material, is much harder to create than a > 20-minute talk, due to the need to be precise and know exactly what you want > to convey within that tight timeslot. > > To expand on the 5-minute talk about the IPython shell, I then produced > a demonstration series showing off most of its features: > > Series: A Demonstration of the 'IPython' Interactive Shell > Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 1" (691 views) > Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 2" (38 views) > Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 3" (25 views) > Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 4" (133 views) > Jul-17 "The 'IPython' Interactive Shell - Part 5" (147 views) > > And then to provide something different, in order to get some idea of what > presentation format is most popular with the community, I started a series of > source code reviews as you would experience in a development team. > > Series: Python Source Walkthrough Series > Aug-23 "Python Walkthru of a Simple Text Line Matcher (grep)" (70 views) > Sep-06 "Python Walkthru of a Twisted Webserver" (31 views) > > And last, I remembered discussions on the usergroup organizers chat meeting > that people in the community often have trouble staying on top of the various > happenings and sources of information, so I started a series to help with > that: > > Series: Keeping in Touch with the Python Community > Sep-06 "Watching the RSS Feeds" (32 views) > Sep-08 "Searching the Python World (just went public) > TBD "Joining Interesting Python Discussions" > [An overview of what Python mailing lists exist and > why certain ones may appeal to you.] > > The idea is to help those new to Python build stronger bonds with the overall > community, especially as that community grows much larger. > > As a general evaluation of screencasting, the showmedo.com website seems to be > an excellent way to reach those new to Python. By the statistics of all their > talks, their audience seems to be those wanting introductory material, so it > currently is not necessarily an ideal avenue for reaching IT departments. I > think it reaches those who program as a hobby, students wanting help, and > those just starting to check out Python at the office that don't yet have > official buy-in. I hope to work with showmedo.com to broaden their offerings > and draw in the more advanced Python programmers as well. > > > Usergroups > ========== > > Another focus of this advocacy term was to strengthen usergroups. I've helped > several to form, and to support them I subscribe to their lists, help where I > can and encourage the organizers. The youngest groups are: > > CentralOH (32-members since March 5, 2007) > Portland Usergroup (29 members since May 18, 2007) > Phoenix Usergroup (Sunpiggies) (6 members since July 27, 2007) > Omaha Usergroup (?? members since March 24, 2007) > > Changes continue to trickle onto the usergroup roster on wiki.python.org, > including the recent creation of the Norwegian Python Interest Group. > > One item created as part of the advocacy effort was a shared blog to which > usergroup organizers can post, and be aggregated to the various planets. > > http://python-groups.blogspot.com/ > > Since starting this blog in April 2007, there have been 16 postings. Twelve > usergroups have posting access but we need to encourage more to participate. > > > Wiki Successes > ============== > > http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonTraining > > The Python Training wiki page continues to see updates and new entries and > seems to be a valuable resource. I've attached to the bottom a blurb > encouraging trainers to show off their skills by creating screencasts but so > far I don't know any who have done so. > > http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonWriters > > Since the creation of a Python Writers/Editors page in June, there have been > 25 contributions, with 12 writers and 4 editors. > > > Forrester Survey on Dynamic Languages > ===================================== > > "Python Is An All-Purpose Leader; PHP And Perl Are Popular Options" > http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,41386,00.html > > The Forrester Survey is complete and has been published for sale at $399 on > their website. Initially they considered us a traditional for-profit client > and we would have to pay to use anything from the report. I reminded them > that in their initial meeting with us contributors, they said this was their > first experience with the open source community and that they wanted to find a > way for us to work together. After internal consideration they have granted > each language community free citation of selected portions of the report. > > It is on my urgent to-do- list to extract quotes and pull it together into a > press release the PSF can issue in the very near future. > > > Python Unconference > =================== > > The first Python Unconference (that I know of) will take place in Houston Sep > 15-16. I'll blog about the results when I return. > > > Self-Evaluation > =============== > > Along with the above developments, I keep an advocacy blog at: > > http://python-advocacy.blogspot.com/ > > In 2007 there have been 14 postings related to Python advocacy. > > My ideas continue to run ahead of my abilities, as I'm sure they do for all of > us. I'd hoped to do more for advocacy than I have but believe I have some > good results to show as well. > > I continue to be unable to inspire much participation by others, a failing of > mine as well as part of the job. The two lists most related to advocacy, > advocacy at python.org and group-organizers at python.org remain excessively quiet, > and my attempts to get the edu-sig community to contribute to advocacy have > not found much traction. My real concern with this is whether others will > carry on the advocacy steps we've put in place once I leave the office. > > On my task list was the writing of several whitepapers which I've failed to > achieve due to a focus on other tasks, mostly screencasts. Andrew Kuchling > has worked to make several of them happen (thanks Andrew) but I've not yet > collected/linked his work into an overall promotion. I've also been remiss in > creating the slideshow about how to start and run a usergroup. I plan to > crank that out this week as I consider it urgent. > > In order to make use of the screencasts compiled so far, I have been placing > sidebars onto www.python.org with commentary and links to screencasts related > to the topic discussed near that spot. More work is needed here that I plan > to continue incrementally. > > > Toward the Future > ================= > > Should the board be open to the idea, I would like to continue for one > last 6-month term (Sep 15 - Mar 15), bringing us to a final report and closure > at PyCon 2008. During that term I propose to continue work on the following > tasks: > > 1. get citation of Forrester survey onto website and into news stream > 2. produce more screencasts and draw others into doing so as well. > 3. work with the PR firm potentially being hired for PyCon to see what > opportunities exist for promoting Python in general > 4. write the whitepapers listed on my second-term proposal > > On the other hand, if the board decides I've had my shot, I thank you and will > contribute as my time permits to advocacy efforts. Or if there is someone > else bubbling with ideas on how to get others involved who wants to step into > the advocacy coordinator position, I'd be glad to play a supporting role. > > Python Advocacy Coordinator > Jeff Rush > _______________________________________________ > Advocacy mailing list > Advocacy at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy > From d-beazley at sbcglobal.net Fri Sep 14 15:19:32 2007 From: d-beazley at sbcglobal.net (David Beazley) Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 08:19:32 -0500 Subject: [python-advocacy] Promotion for Python LISA Tutorial Message-ID: I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this, but as people may or may not know, I am teaching a tutorial "Python in Action" at the upcoming USENIX LISA conference in Dallas. This is a *major* conference and a great opportunity to introduce Python to a wider audience. Details on the course are available here: http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa07/training/tutonefile.html#f4 I'm not especially interested in self-promotion, but I *am* interested in promoting Python to a wider audience. What would be the best way to promote this class? Is it possible to get a link someplace on www.python.org? Who do I talk to about it? Cheers, Dave From goodger at python.org Fri Sep 14 16:06:19 2007 From: goodger at python.org (David Goodger) Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:06:19 -0400 Subject: [python-advocacy] Promotion for Python LISA Tutorial In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4335d2c40709140706u129c99aak4fc9b2aea662b8de@mail.gmail.com> On 14/09/2007, David Beazley wrote: > I'm not especially interested in self-promotion, but I *am* > interested in promoting Python to a wider audience. What would be > the best way to promote this class? Is it possible to get a link > someplace on www.python.org? Who do I talk to about it? You can add the event to http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonEvents, and we can add it to the front page as well. Send brief details (see http://www.python.org/) to pydotorg at python.org. Also, blog about it, and be sure to get your blog onto the Planet Python (http://planet.python.org/) and the Unofficial Planet Python (http://www.planetpython.org/) aggregators if it isn't already. Send email to pydotorg at python.org & trolocsis+python at gmail.com, respectively. -- David Goodger From sdeibel at wingware.com Fri Sep 14 16:29:18 2007 From: sdeibel at wingware.com (Stephan Deibel) Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:29:18 -0400 Subject: [python-advocacy] Promotion for Python LISA Tutorial In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <46EA9ABE.7040209@wingware.com> David Beazley wrote: > I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this, but as people may or > may not know, I am teaching a tutorial "Python in Action" at the > upcoming USENIX LISA conference in Dallas. This is a *major* > conference and a great opportunity to introduce Python to a wider > audience. Details on the course are available here: > > http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa07/training/tutonefile.html#f4 > > I'm not especially interested in self-promotion, but I *am* > interested in promoting Python to a wider audience. What would be > the best way to promote this class? Is it possible to get a link > someplace on www.python.org? Who do I talk to about it? In addition to what David said, it's probably not unreasonable to announce on CLPA and CLP (the conference as a whole, as well as your talk). - Stephan From goodger at python.org Fri Sep 14 16:21:02 2007 From: goodger at python.org (David Goodger) Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:21:02 -0400 Subject: [python-advocacy] Promotion for Python LISA Tutorial In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4335d2c40709140721i37f5420cv75722197c451898f@mail.gmail.com> There's also eventful.com, and probably others in the same vein. -- David Goodger From tleeuwenburg at gmail.com Sat Sep 15 05:54:49 2007 From: tleeuwenburg at gmail.com (Tennessee Leeuwenburg) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:54:49 +1000 Subject: [python-advocacy] Python Papers Reader Survey Message-ID: <43c8685c0709142054r170f24d7i9386c56f0be5df4@mail.gmail.com> Hi all... I have put together a survey designed to capture a little information about how I can better target "The Python Papers" towards the needs of its readers. This survey has been created as a part of my "Marketing Management" assignment for my Masters of Business Administration study. The results will be used to help create a marketing plan for The Python Papers and should also help a great deal in practical terms. It will help to guide our efforts when soliciting articles from potential authors and other content-generation activities. The questions relate to primarily to areas of interest and are non-personal. The survey can be found at http://freeonlinesurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=nhozmh9qv9hl2oe333133 . The survey is not a long one and I imagine could be completed in under five minutes. Thanks very much, -Tennessee Leeuwenburg (Editor-In-Chief, The Python Papers) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/advocacy/attachments/20070915/774db2d5/attachment.htm From goodger at python.org Thu Sep 20 17:34:33 2007 From: goodger at python.org (David Goodger) Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:34:33 -0400 Subject: [python-advocacy] Notes from OSCON (July 2007) Message-ID: <4335d2c40709200834t38bbf7d1p183725431953bae@mail.gmail.com> Below are notes I took at OSCON in July. They've been sitting in a file for too long; time to let them out. There are lots of good ideas here. Most did *not* come from me, but I didn't record many names. We had two Birds of a Feather sessions, one specifically on advocacy (intended perhaps to coordinate advocacy *at* OSCON, but not much happened), and one on general Python topics. Also I had conversations with individuals. -- David Goodger Advocacy BoF (2007-07-23) ------------------------- Present: David Goodger, Mike Pittaro (SnapLogic), Kevin Altis, Stephen Li (Motorola), Jason Kirtland (Portland PUG), Mike Biglan, Steve Wagner, Suran Thrift * conferences will give free booth space to dot-orgs * Python as "secret weapon" -- unknown? -- lots of code out there - s/b advocate's focus? * flyers & materials for conferences * Python: clean simple powerful agile readable maintainable (a lasting & wise investment) * ILM -- sponsor PyCon 2008? * stickers -- multiple slogans, colors - Python programmers having fun * cheat sheet * core message -- use Python: Why? * target audience - programmers - convert - managers - interest - newbies/students - choose - teachers - lesson plans * advocate has to have a positive $ effect - spend $ to get $ * "Who else uses Python?" * awareness * branding -- push to corporations * Motorola -- limited power, memory. Pointed to Nokia S60 work. * success stories -- promote more. What is compelling? Special? * literature -- consumable, well written * pay PR/marketing? expensive * HP/Compaq sponsor? * "Python is like the shy kid who has been living on the block for 10 years but nobody knows him." * home page rotation -- dynamic - monitor/measure click-throughs -- analysis * feedback form on website * improve docs -- pay for Django docs? * 5 minute demos - "wow" - showmedo - 10 topics - be inclusive - don't alienate projects not chosen * best of lightning talks on showmedo? * python web development page * wsgi -- roll into Apache's std. dist (+ mod_python) * need ambassador to Apache? (Greg Stein?) * Trac -- killer app * donation push * PyCon session: develop strategic vision for Python & PSF - spread the word - share the language, share the love * PyCon blog: fee structure -- transparent * CS majors in Chicago -- free registration in exchange for volunteering -- write up key points in lightning talks * record/capture lightning talks Hallway Track ------------- * Mark Shuttleworth via Kevin Altis: Python should be emphasizing Zope to the enterprise OSCON-specific -------------- Notes for 2008 etc. * conferences will give free booth space to dot-orgs * OSCON proposal submission -- announcement was late * Kevin Altis led Python track for OSCON -- lack of feedback * proposal info ready by end December * proposal submission system Jan-Feb * focus: tutorials & top sessions Python BoF (2007-07-25) ----------------------- * counter negative snake stereotypes -- embrace the snake - pythons have no teeth * perception of lack of Python programmers - counter with training creative programmers in 1 week * "Code smackdown" * prototyping -- the freedom to throw away code * "scripting language" vs. interpreted - Python is an application language, vs. C/C++/Java/C# which are system languages * concurrency projects: - BBC/Chameleon - Hive - shared memory module for Python? - SQLite queues (in memory) * "It's not the language, it's the library." * monkey patching -- seen as both good & bad thing -- embraced in Ruby I asked "What can the PSF do for you? (users groups, advocacy, etc.)" Replies: * links to T-shirts * speed up wiki & pypi * what are the benefits for non-US/NA (i.e. international) PSF members? * "Python software disorganization" * booth at OSCON - local volunteers - PSF should fund people for booth? * training - fund training materials development (1 day, 3 day, 1 week courses) - put videos on YouTube etc.? * certification - sells Python classes - sells managers on Python - exams - getting managers on board is hardest - certification is proof to managers that "Python is real" - required for enterprise acceptance - helps cross enterprise barrier - without certification, perception is "you're on your own" - "You can't cross the barrier to the enterprise without addressing the mediocracy." - docset navigation * "Java is the defective ... *de-FACTO* standard language" -- Mark Ramm-Christensen * incubator (like Apache) - like RubyForge - umbrella organization for projects to mature - end goal: stdlib inclusion or "blessed" 3rd party status (stamp of quality; reference/benchmark) - cheese grater - community rating? -- weighted -- rating per release -- reset on major release to remove stigma of early bad release - PSF blessing/vetting -- but not enough bandwidth/interest - how to delegate trust? * promote Cheese Shop * application index (as opposed to package/module index) * promote docs.python.org - as searchable (if it isn't already, make it searchable) - further separate manuals for easy searching? i.e. stdlib, stdref, C-ext * i18n of stdlib text * unittest needs reworking Van Lindberg 2007-07-26 ----------------------- Certification via apprenticeship: * akin to SoC -- master class * close bugs * demonstrate deep knowledge * rework a stdlib module that needs it * review code * community benefit * Dive Into Python as core of certification course? Misc ---- * Coverity -- David Maxwell - code static analysis tool/service - offering for CPython - currently run on head -- add branches too? - customized builds? * IEEE: Python 2 to 3 story? * OpenSolutionsAlliance.org: PSF as "friend" member? - goto Community -> OSCON - suitetwo.com * PSF could ask for sponsors for specific projects From fuzzyman at voidspace.org.uk Thu Sep 20 17:54:16 2007 From: fuzzyman at voidspace.org.uk (Michael Foord) Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:54:16 +0100 Subject: [python-advocacy] Notes from OSCON (July 2007) In-Reply-To: <4335d2c40709200834t38bbf7d1p183725431953bae@mail.gmail.com> References: <4335d2c40709200834t38bbf7d1p183725431953bae@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <46F297A8.5050107@voidspace.org.uk> David Goodger wrote: > * concurrency projects: > > - BBC/Chameleon > - Hive > - shared memory module for Python? > - SQLite queues (in memory) > Minor correction, I believe you mean 'BBC/kamaelia'. Michael Foord http://www.manning.com/foord From goodger at python.org Thu Sep 20 18:27:34 2007 From: goodger at python.org (David Goodger) Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:27:34 -0400 Subject: [python-advocacy] Notes from OSCON (July 2007) In-Reply-To: <46F297A8.5050107@voidspace.org.uk> References: <4335d2c40709200834t38bbf7d1p183725431953bae@mail.gmail.com> <46F297A8.5050107@voidspace.org.uk> Message-ID: <4335d2c40709200927pe0924fbn4e7dda2fa1655be@mail.gmail.com> On 20/09/2007, Michael Foord wrote: > David Goodger wrote: > > * concurrency projects: > > > > - BBC/Chameleon > > - Hive > > - shared memory module for Python? > > - SQLite queues (in memory) > > Minor correction, I believe you mean 'BBC/kamaelia'. Thanks. I probably heard or transcribed it wrong. -- David Goodger From mikeyp at snaplogic.org Thu Sep 20 22:37:14 2007 From: mikeyp at snaplogic.org (Michael Pittaro) Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:37:14 -0700 Subject: [python-advocacy] The new, pmproved ACM site is Python/Zope/Plone powered Message-ID: <46F2D9FA.7090607@snaplogic.org> The ACM has been updating their web presence for the past couple of months. The new site is Zope/Plone based. http://www.acm.org/ mike -- mikeyp at snaplogic.org http://www.snaplogic.org From tleeuwenburg at gmail.com Mon Sep 24 07:52:35 2007 From: tleeuwenburg at gmail.com (Tennessee Leeuwenburg) Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:52:35 +1000 Subject: [python-advocacy] Second-Term Status Report for Python Advocacy In-Reply-To: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> References: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> Message-ID: <43c8685c0709232252w29582e0cu9670dee3e82c7668@mail.gmail.com> Hi Jeff, Sorry for the long delay in replying to this. Better late than never, in my opinion. Screencasts > =========== > > One aspect of the work for this term was to develop content resources that > can > be used to spread the word about Python. One form this took is > screencasts, > in cooperation with the showmedo.com website. Here is a list of those I > produced, with the date of creation and the number of views recorded on > the > showmedo.com website so far. I think these are a great resource. People will continue to stumble across these for a long time. They have persistent value and as such make a good addition to the resource base. Usergroups > ========== > > Another focus of this advocacy term was to strengthen usergroups. I've > helped > several to form, and to support them I subscribe to their lists, help > where I > can and encourage the organizers. Is there any particular thing which is contributing to usergroup success or failure? > Python Unconference > =================== > > The first Python Unconference (that I know of) will take place in Houston > Sep > 15-16. I'll blog about the results when I return. This should be past now, I'd be interested to hear how it went. My ideas continue to run ahead of my abilities, as I'm sure they do for all > of > us. I'd hoped to do more for advocacy than I have but believe I have some > good results to show as well. I'd agree with that. Definitely some good results. I continue to be unable to inspire much participation by others, a failing > of > mine as well as part of the job. The two lists most related to advocacy, > advocacy at python.org and group-organizers at python.org remain excessively > quiet, > and my attempts to get the edu-sig community to contribute to advocacy > have > not found much traction. My real concern with this is whether others will > carry on the advocacy steps we've put in place once I leave the office. Yeah, I don't see much by way of a grassroots movement either. I see the same thing in The Python Papers. I've always seen TPP as a tool for advocacy also, or at least for community-building which is a related concept. If the money were available, I could see a real argument for paying three or four really talented people to focus on Python marketing projects. Unfortunately, I believe that a task like co-ordinating advocacy (or indeed running a magazine) is something that needs a *lot* of time spent on it building relationships and doing the hard work. I am not sure that such a task lends itself to a leaderless model. I think that Python could really benefit from some individuals to go out there and sell it to organisations, major groups and so forth. Python needs to get more mind-share from people currently outside the Python community, especially in business. Yes, I know there are a lot of success stories, but there is really no business portal to Python. There is not a lot there in academia, major software magazines or business journals which promote the use of Python. I think all of that will take a lot more than people's spare hours. Toward the Future > ================= > > Should the board be open to the idea, I would like to continue for one > last 6-month term (Sep 15 - Mar 15), bringing us to a final report and > closure > at PyCon 2008. During that term I propose to continue work on the > following > tasks: > > 1. get citation of Forrester survey onto website and into news stream > 2. produce more screencasts and draw others into doing so as well. > 3. work with the PR firm potentially being hired for PyCon to see what > opportunities exist for promoting Python in general > 4. write the whitepapers listed on my second-term proposal > > On the other hand, if the board decides I've had my shot, I thank you and > will > contribute as my time permits to advocacy efforts. Or if there is someone > else bubbling with ideas on how to get others involved who wants to step > into > the advocacy coordinator position, I'd be glad to play a supporting role. I think *somebody* needs to be the advocacy co-ordinator, or marketing manager, or business liaison officer. If Python could have more paid-up professionals, I think this would very quickly pay for itself in increased coverage. Jeff, I think you're a perfectly good somebody for the job. The screencasts are a huge achievement, especially since ShowMeDo is a website with exposure beyond the Python world. Cheers, -T -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/advocacy/attachments/20070924/95e92d14/attachment.htm From aahz at pythoncraft.com Mon Sep 24 17:45:37 2007 From: aahz at pythoncraft.com (Aahz) Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 08:45:37 -0700 Subject: [python-advocacy] Second-Term Status Report for Python Advocacy In-Reply-To: <43c8685c0709232252w29582e0cu9670dee3e82c7668@mail.gmail.com> References: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> <43c8685c0709232252w29582e0cu9670dee3e82c7668@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20070924154536.GA13706@panix.com> On Mon, Sep 24, 2007, Tennessee Leeuwenburg wrote: > > Yeah, I don't see much by way of a grassroots movement either. I > see the same thing in The Python Papers. I've always seen TPP as a > tool for advocacy also, or at least for community-building which is > a related concept. If the money were available, I could see a real > argument for paying three or four really talented people to focus on > Python marketing projects. Unfortunately, I believe that a task like > co-ordinating advocacy (or indeed running a magazine) is something > that needs a *lot* of time spent on it building relationships and > doing the hard work. I am not sure that such a task lends itself to > a leaderless model. I think that Python could really benefit from > some individuals to go out there and sell it to organisations, major > groups and so forth. Python needs to get more mind-share from people > currently outside the Python community, especially in business. Yes, > I know there are a lot of success stories, but there is really no > business portal to Python. There is not a lot there in academia, > major software magazines or business journals which promote the use of > Python. I think all of that will take a lot more than people's spare > hours. This is reminding me a bit of the current discussion about the GIL, where one person referred to Python's lack of built-in concurrency a "crisis". (I'm pointing particularly at "Python needs to get more mind-share".) While I think advocacy for Python is a Good Thing (prima facie evidence is my presence on this list; plus co-authoring _Python for Dummies_; plus...), I also believe that organized, formal advocacy is not essential for Python. Although I was (and to a certain extent am still) in favor of using the PSF's money to fund advocacy (speaking as a PSF member), I think that when you start saying that Python *needs* organized advocacy, you need to justify your statement. That goes double because many people in the Python community have even greater antipathy toward organized advocacy than I do. I suggest that in many ways a better purpose for this list is to focus on ways to get better advocacy out of the resources that present themselves rather than trying to get more resources for advocacy. -- Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com) <*> http://www.pythoncraft.com/ The best way to get information on Usenet is not to ask a question, but to post the wrong information. From sdeibel at wingware.com Tue Sep 25 03:37:49 2007 From: sdeibel at wingware.com (Stephan Deibel) Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:37:49 -0400 Subject: [python-advocacy] Second-Term Status Report for Python Advocacy In-Reply-To: <20070924154536.GA13706@panix.com> References: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> <43c8685c0709232252w29582e0cu9670dee3e82c7668@mail.gmail.com> <20070924154536.GA13706@panix.com> Message-ID: <46F8666D.9060906@wingware.com> Aahz wrote: > I suggest that in many ways a better purpose for this list is to focus on > ways to get better advocacy out of the resources that present themselves > rather than trying to get more resources for advocacy. This is a good point and has basically already happened -- Jeff and others did a great job with the Forrester Wave report on dynamic languages, and that was a resource that presented itself unexpectedly. I'm all for the PSF continuing to fund advocacy but it'll probably be more focused on specific projects like this. We'll continue to rely on people coming to us with proposals. The PSF board and members aren't really going to be able to identify and define the projects worth funding. - Stephan From jeff at taupro.com Tue Sep 25 04:09:52 2007 From: jeff at taupro.com (Jeff Rush) Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:09:52 -0500 Subject: [python-advocacy] Second-Term Status Report for Python Advocacy In-Reply-To: <46F8666D.9060906@wingware.com> References: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> <43c8685c0709232252w29582e0cu9670dee3e82c7668@mail.gmail.com> <20070924154536.GA13706@panix.com> <46F8666D.9060906@wingware.com> Message-ID: <46F86DF0.2000604@taupro.com> Stephan Deibel wrote: > Aahz wrote: > > I'm all for the PSF continuing to fund advocacy but it'll probably > be more focused on specific projects like this. > > We'll continue to rely on people coming to us with proposals. The PSF > board and members aren't really going to be able to identify and define > the projects worth funding. We might want to publicize this fact a bit more -- over the term I've had people come to me very surprised that just asking actually works. I had people who wanted subdomains of python.org who didn't realize you could get them and thought I had some special inside track. And the same with getting a mailing list created, and with the idea of making a proposal of use of funds to the PSF. They were waiting for the PSF to issue a call for such things. To everyone, if you need something from the PSF, put together a brief justification and plan, and ask for their support. -Jeff From tcp at mac.com Tue Sep 25 04:15:52 2007 From: tcp at mac.com (Ted Pollari) Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:15:52 -0700 Subject: [python-advocacy] Second-Term Status Report for Python Advocacy In-Reply-To: <46F86DF0.2000604@taupro.com> References: <46E942A0.8010006@taupro.com> <43c8685c0709232252w29582e0cu9670dee3e82c7668@mail.gmail.com> <20070924154536.GA13706@panix.com> <46F8666D.9060906@wingware.com> <46F86DF0.2000604@taupro.com> Message-ID: On Sep 24, 2007, at 7:09 PM, Jeff Rush wrote: > To everyone, if you need something from the PSF, put together a brief > justification and plan, and ask for their support. Please, please, put this on an easily found web-page, if it's not already =) -ted