From carl at personnelware.com  Sun Apr  1 16:35:40 2007
From: carl at personnelware.com (Carl Karsten)
Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 09:35:40 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] py is fun
Message-ID: <460FC33C.9050307@personnelware.com>

Just saw this on a mail list.  seemed worth passing on.

Carl K

-------- Original Message --------
From: Matthew Turner <thshdwknws at hotmail.com>
To: vnc2swf-users at lists.sourceforge.net

For fun, - I don't know any python either :-) - I did some searching on the
net to see if I could come up with a way to stop the recording from the
command line I tried this:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
def SomeMethod(procname_ori):
     import win32api
     import win32pdh
     import win32con
     import win32pdhutil
     import sys
     print "killing " + procname_ori

     try:
         win32pdhutil.GetPerformanceAttributes('Process','ID
Process',procname_ori)
     except:
         pass

     pids = win32pdhutil.FindPerformanceAttributesByName(procname_ori)
     try:
         pids.remove(win32api.GetCurrentProcessId())
     except ValueError:
         pass

     if len(pids)==0:
         result = "Can't find %s" % procname_ori
     elif len(pids)>1:
         result = "Found too many %s's - pids=`%s`" % (procname,pids)
     else:
         handle = win32api.OpenProcess(win32con.PROCESS_TERMINATE, 0,pids[0])
         win32api.TerminateProcess(handle,0)
         win32api.CloseHandle(handle)
         result = ""

     return result


   SomeMethod = staticmethod(SomeMethod)



     elif k == "-q":
	Subprocess.SomeMethod("python")

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I started vnc2swf.py -n -o test.swf -t video

after the recording started I ran the new switch vnc2swf.py -n -q kill
it stopped the original vnc2swf.py thread but it terminated it before the
swf could be saved and it cuased corruption in the swf.


I also tried this code
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
   def Test(port_name):
   import socket
   Host = "localhost"
   Port = port_name

# reference time (in seconds since 1900-01-01 00:00:00)

# connect to server
   s = socket.socket (socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
   s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
   s.connect((Host, port_name))
   s.send("somthing")
   data = s.recv(1024)
   s.close ()
   print 'Received', repr(data)


myFunc = staticmethod(Test)


     elif k == "-q":
	Subprocess.Test(5900)

-------------------------------------------------------------
in the above code I'm not sure what to tell RFB, or if its even
communicating too RFB, to stop the communications on localhost :5900.


Even though I failed it was fun playing with python. I think I'm missing a
lot of things namely taking to the same thread that the recording is on.
Anyway maybe all this better explains what I'm trying to accomplish.

Thanks
Matt



>From: "Matthew Turner" <thshdwknws at hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: General discussion about vnc2swf 
><vnc2swf-users at lists.sourceforge.net>
>To: vnc2swf-users at lists.sourceforge.net
>Subject: [Vnc2swf-users] -Request- Quit command line option
>Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:08:48 -0700
>
>Hello
>Is there a command line parameter for vnc2swf.py to end a connection? If 
>not
>would be a difficult feature to add?
>
>I have automated some steps to connect remotely. Currently to end the
>connection and save the swf I remotely run an ultravnc command:
>
>winvnc -kill
>
>This works fine, however it also stops my vnc remote session. What I would
>like to do is pass a parameter to vnc2swf to safely stop the recording and
>save the file maybe something like
>
>vnc2swf.py -q
>
>I could then remotely start another recording without losing my vnc
>connection.
>
>Thanks for your work on this project,
>
>Matt
>
>
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT
>Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share 
>your
>opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys-and earn cash
>http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV
>_______________________________________________
>Vnc2swf-users mailing list
>Vnc2swf-users at lists.sourceforge.net
>https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/vnc2swf-users



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT
Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your
opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys-and earn cash
http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV
_______________________________________________
Vnc2swf-users mailing list
Vnc2swf-users at lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/vnc2swf-users



From amk at amk.ca  Tue Apr  3 19:09:39 2007
From: amk at amk.ca (A.M. Kuchling)
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 13:09:39 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] FaceBook uses Python
Message-ID: <20070403170939.GA14447@localhost.localdomain>

Facebook has released an internal RPC tool.  From the whitepaper at
http://developers.facebook.com/thrift/:

	Thrift currently supports five target languages: C++, Java, Python,
	Ruby, and PHP. At Facebook, we have deployed servers
	predominantly in C++, Java, and Python.

Does anyone want to do the legwork on getting a success story for
them?

--amk

From sdeibel at wingware.com  Tue Apr  3 21:29:55 2007
From: sdeibel at wingware.com (Stephan Deibel)
Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:29:55 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] FaceBook uses Python
In-Reply-To: <20070403170939.GA14447@localhost.localdomain>
References: <20070403170939.GA14447@localhost.localdomain>
Message-ID: <4612AB33.2030607@wingware.com>

A.M. Kuchling wrote:
> Facebook has released an internal RPC tool.  From the whitepaper at
> http://developers.facebook.com/thrift/:
> 
> 	Thrift currently supports five target languages: C++, Java, Python,
> 	Ruby, and PHP. At Facebook, we have deployed servers
> 	predominantly in C++, Java, and Python.
> 
> Does anyone want to do the legwork on getting a success story for
> them?

FYI, I created a mailing list for people working on the Python Success
Stories collection on pythonology.org:

http://wingide.com/mailman/listinfo/success

That's where I'm posting new stories that come in and where other
related work will be discussed.  Actually starting to actively pursue
stories again would be a good thing (I haven't done that in several
years now as I haven't had time).

Recently, David Turvene completed the first not-edited-by-me story:

http://pythonology.org/success&story=devil

This one hasn't been moved onto python.org yet, as we want to change
the system on python.org so they can be propagated automatically rather
than by hand.

- Stephan

From sdeibel at wingware.com  Thu Apr  5 00:35:41 2007
From: sdeibel at wingware.com (Stephan Deibel)
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:35:41 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] Article and book
Message-ID: <4614283D.4090509@wingware.com>

Hi,

Happened to see this:

http://public.wartburg.edu/trumpet/2007/04-03/python.html

It's both an advocacy piece and interesting/useful to know about
the text book.

- Stephan

From ziade.tarek at gmail.com  Sat Apr  7 17:41:40 2007
From: ziade.tarek at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Tarek_Ziad=E9?=)
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 17:41:40 +0200
Subject: [python-advocacy] French Python Days - Paris - 2/3 June
Message-ID: <94bdd2610704070841y9811790oc16485de9deb7ad9@mail.gmail.com>

Hello

just to let you known: France loves Python ;)

The Afpy (French Python User Group - http://afpy.org ) organizes the "french
python days" in Paris

website: http://journees.afpy.org/

There will be many conferences (in french) and lightnings talks

Tarek

-- 
Tarek Ziad? | Association AfPy | www.afpy.org
Blog FR | http://programmation-python.org
Blog EN | http://tarekziade.wordpress.com/
-------------- next part --------------
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From amk at amk.ca  Sun Apr  8 16:26:35 2007
From: amk at amk.ca (A.M. Kuchling)
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2007 10:26:35 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] Penguin Day DC
Message-ID: <20070408142635.GB15028@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>

Today I went to <a
href="http://penguinday.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Penguin_Day_Agenda">Penguin
Day DC</a> wearing my Python Software Foundation outreach hat.  About
80 people attended Penguin Day, which was held on the Saturday after
the 3-day <a href="http://nten.org/ntc">Non-Profit Technology
Conference</a>, and was organized by the 
<a href="http://www.nosi.net/">NonProfit Open Source Initiative</a>,
which encourages the use of open source software in the nonprofit sector.

To some degree the PSF is at the wrong level for this audience.  The
Penguin Day attendees are interested in using open source technology
for their non-profit organization, but most of them are not developers
and are not interested in programming but in applications that may
happen to be written in Python.  They're often interested in CMSes so
Plone was mentioned a lot, for example.

Non-profits seem to care most about two areas:
* Content management: Joomla and Drupal were the CMSes
  mentioned most often.
* Member management: discussion forums, mailing lists, member databases.
  (Most commonly used database: MS Access.)

A note on member management: lots of people recognized Mailman's name;
non-profits use a lot of mailing lists and spend a lot of time
gardening and moderating them.  Later I'll record some suggestions for
Mailman.

Non-profits are concerned about:
* cost
* ability to maintain applications and to keep them running reliably.
* finding people to work on their applications (both paid consultants/staff
  and to a lesser degree volunteers).

Reasons for not using open source include:
* Commercial software makes it very easy to get a non-profit price.
  There's suspicion of free software; if it's free, how trustworthy can it be?
* Fear that the software, or the organization/community surrounding it,
  will vanish.  Companies are thought to be more stable.
* Lack of knowledge about the open source alternatives.
* Documentation not good enough; missing intermediate documentation
  (between beginner & expert level) was mentioned.
* Case studies are very helpful, not so much as a blueprint
  but to reassure managers that the software is a safe choice.

Case studies should:
* Mention resulting cost.
* Mention ancillary requirements such as training.
* Should cover the whole life cycle from making the decision through
  implementation, deployment, and lessons learned.
* Should mention errors or problems that were encountered and solved.

One interesting thing: few attendees seem to listen to podcasts (too
time-consuming).  Webinars (presentations + audio) were preferred
because you learn more and can use just the audio or just the slides.

There was a reference to some Mark Shuttleworth-related group 
(Canonical?  Shuttleworth Foundation?) that made seven half-hour 
programs about open source.  Anyone know anything about this?

Spectrograms
-------------------

As an initial getting-familiar step, all the attendees introduced
themselves.  There were people from DC, California, New York, Boston,
North Carolina, Texas, Toronto, Belgium, Kenya -- a pretty wide range.

Alan Gunn, the facilitator, then did an interesting exercise called
"spectrograms".

Here's how it worked.  Tape out a line the length of the room.  One
end is "strongly agree", the other is "strongly disagree".  The
facilitator then reads a question, and everyone moves to the place on
the line that represents their answer.  Some of the questions were:

    * Non-profits should use open source not just out of practicality,
      but also for philosophical reasons.

    * Open source is too difficult to use for non-profits.

    * It's not OK to use open source without also participating in the
      community.  (The two negatives in this question confused people,
      I think.)

Everyone stands for a bit while the facilitator leads a discussion.
In the discussion it's easy to represent both sides, because you can
ask people at either end to explain their position, and you can also
ask people in the middle.  This might be useful at PSF meetings:
imagine asking "The PSF is too centered on North America", for
example.


Speedgeeking
----------------------

<a
href="http://www.facilitation.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Facilitation:SpeedGeeking">Speedgeeking</a>
is like lightning talks in parallel.  You round up N speakers, who
will have 4 minutes for their talk; each speaker is placed at a
station.  The audience is divided into N groups, and the groups rotate
around the room so that they see all the talks; when the four minutes
are up, they *must* move on.  Speakers therefore deliver their talk N
times; today N equalled 9.

4 minutes is *hard*. I thought my talk was really short, but on the
first iteration it only left about 30 seconds for questions.  So I
began leaving stuff out, and finally got to have about 90 seconds for
questions.

The outline I spoke from is an appendix below, with a few comments
about stuff people seemed particularly interested in.

Most common question (3 times): "How does Python compare with PHP?"
My answer was: "Python's language design aims at remaining readable.
And Python is used in lots of different applications: web apps, but
also GUI prototypes, education, scientific programming, etc."  How
could I have answered this question better?  Only one person mentioned
Ruby or Rails, IIRC.


Mailman suggestions
---------------------------

Non-profits spend a lot of effort on their mailing lists and
discussion forums.  They worry if lists aren't lively, prod people to
write FAQs, actively move around postings and threads, and work to
encourage frequent helpful posters.  For example, on web-based forums,
frequent posters may get stars next to their name.

Comments on Mailman:

* attendees thought it *worked* fine...
* ... but *looked* old...
* ... and the HTML wasn't easily customizable.
* Doesn't keep many admin statistics (# of posts sent, # bounced, #
  of domains accessed, which lists are quiet and which are busy)
* can't delete archived posts easily, or move threads into another list.


Random ideas & action items
------------------------------

The PSF should talk to NOSI about collaborating where appropriate.
For example, NOSI talks about using Linux and OpenOffice for desktops;
perhaps the PSF could write a white paper about PyUno.

Suggestion for python.org: write a page about the history of the
software.  In one session there was a lengthy explanation of the early
history of Joomla, and someone commented that this was interesting
material.  I don't think we have such a page currently.

Write a comparison of Python and PHP.

The venue
--------------------

The conference was held at the <a
href="http://www.washingtonparks.net/parkscenter.html">Josephine
Butler Parks Center</a>, a mansion owned by the Washington DC Parks
system.  A few pictures of the interior are in my Flickr photostream;
see http://www.flickr.com/photos/44165698 at N00/450081959/, for example.

I talked to Heather, who organized the logistics.  The mansion cost
$1000 to rent 3 rooms in it for the day.  The venue has wireless that
was installed on Friday, so there were still some problems with it
today (or maybe all the techies overwhelmed it).  If the PSF ever
wants a DC-area sprint, it would be a nice location; maybe a sponsor
could be found to cover the cost.

--amk


Appendix: talk outline
-------------------------

Intro:
I'm from the PSF, responsible for the open-source Python programming language.
This will be a high-level intro to the language & its community.

Python:
Was designed to be 1) easy-to-learn, 2) readable, 3) powerful.
Applied in many different fields.

Web applications:
Various CMSes exists; Plone is the best-known.
Also: the Mailman listserv software.
      the MoinMoin wiki.
Various web frameworks exist for writing new custom web apps.

[[Lots of people knew Mailman.  Many people at the meeting use
  'listserv' as a term for list management software, so I used it too,
  even though it's actually a trademark.]]

Educational uses:
Because it's easy to learn, Python is making inroads in education:
* high school level (example being Yorktown High School in Arlington)
* college level (some schools use Python in their 101 CS intros)
* MIT experimenting with an introductory course using Java & Python

[[Mentioning MIT impressed people considerably.]]

Also used for rapid development, prototyping, & adding scripts to apps/systems:
* Both Maya (commercial) and Blender (free software) use Python scripting.
* Corporate usage: all of ILM, Pixar, DreamWorks use Python in their 
  animation workflows.

[[This section was originally longer, but I dropped material to gain time.
  The corporate usage impressed people.]]

Active community:
* Package index contains ~2200 entries
* Have been holding annual conferences since 1994
* Many local user groups; for more info, I suggest attending a user
  group meeting.

From brad at allendev.com  Mon Apr  9 07:40:56 2007
From: brad at allendev.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 00:40:56 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Penguin Day DC
In-Reply-To: <20070408142635.GB15028@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>
References: <20070408142635.GB15028@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>
Message-ID: <a0623090ec23f80514df2@[10.0.16.99]>

Very interesting read Andrew; thanks.

The need for a comparison with PHP seems to come up often; I think 
there are a lot of PHP programmers who are frustrated and looking for 
something better (I was one of those about 3-4 years ago).

At 10:26 AM -0400 4/8/07, A.M. Kuchling wrote:
>Today I went to <a
>href="http://penguinday.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Penguin_Day_Agenda">Penguin
>Day DC</a> wearing my Python Software Foundation outreach hat.  About
>80 people attended Penguin Day, which was held on the Saturday after
>the 3-day <a href="http://nten.org/ntc">Non-Profit Technology
>Conference</a>, and was organized by the
><a href="http://www.nosi.net/">NonProfit Open Source Initiative</a>,
>which encourages the use of open source software in the nonprofit sector.
>
>To some degree the PSF is at the wrong level for this audience.  The
>Penguin Day attendees are interested in using open source technology
>for their non-profit organization, but most of them are not developers
>and are not interested in programming but in applications that may
>happen to be written in Python.  They're often interested in CMSes so
>Plone was mentioned a lot, for example.
>
>Non-profits seem to care most about two areas:
>* Content management: Joomla and Drupal were the CMSes
>   mentioned most often.
>* Member management: discussion forums, mailing lists, member databases.
>   (Most commonly used database: MS Access.)
>
>A note on member management: lots of people recognized Mailman's name;
>non-profits use a lot of mailing lists and spend a lot of time
>gardening and moderating them.  Later I'll record some suggestions for
>Mailman.
>
>Non-profits are concerned about:
>* cost
>* ability to maintain applications and to keep them running reliably.
>* finding people to work on their applications (both paid consultants/staff
>   and to a lesser degree volunteers).
>
>Reasons for not using open source include:
>* Commercial software makes it very easy to get a non-profit price.
>   There's suspicion of free software; if it's free, how trustworthy can it be?
>* Fear that the software, or the organization/community surrounding it,
>   will vanish.  Companies are thought to be more stable.
>* Lack of knowledge about the open source alternatives.
>* Documentation not good enough; missing intermediate documentation
>   (between beginner & expert level) was mentioned.
>* Case studies are very helpful, not so much as a blueprint
>   but to reassure managers that the software is a safe choice.
>
>Case studies should:
>* Mention resulting cost.
>* Mention ancillary requirements such as training.
>* Should cover the whole life cycle from making the decision through
>   implementation, deployment, and lessons learned.
>* Should mention errors or problems that were encountered and solved.
>
>One interesting thing: few attendees seem to listen to podcasts (too
>time-consuming).  Webinars (presentations + audio) were preferred
>because you learn more and can use just the audio or just the slides.
>
>There was a reference to some Mark Shuttleworth-related group
>(Canonical?  Shuttleworth Foundation?) that made seven half-hour
>programs about open source.  Anyone know anything about this?
>
>Spectrograms
>-------------------
>
>As an initial getting-familiar step, all the attendees introduced
>themselves.  There were people from DC, California, New York, Boston,
>North Carolina, Texas, Toronto, Belgium, Kenya -- a pretty wide range.
>
>Alan Gunn, the facilitator, then did an interesting exercise called
>"spectrograms".
>
>Here's how it worked.  Tape out a line the length of the room.  One
>end is "strongly agree", the other is "strongly disagree".  The
>facilitator then reads a question, and everyone moves to the place on
>the line that represents their answer.  Some of the questions were:
>
>     * Non-profits should use open source not just out of practicality,
>       but also for philosophical reasons.
>
>     * Open source is too difficult to use for non-profits.
>
>     * It's not OK to use open source without also participating in the
>       community.  (The two negatives in this question confused people,
>       I think.)
>
>Everyone stands for a bit while the facilitator leads a discussion.
>In the discussion it's easy to represent both sides, because you can
>ask people at either end to explain their position, and you can also
>ask people in the middle.  This might be useful at PSF meetings:
>imagine asking "The PSF is too centered on North America", for
>example.
>
>
>Speedgeeking
>----------------------
>
><a
>href="http://www.facilitation.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Facilitation:SpeedGeeking">Speedgeeking</a>
>is like lightning talks in parallel.  You round up N speakers, who
>will have 4 minutes for their talk; each speaker is placed at a
>station.  The audience is divided into N groups, and the groups rotate
>around the room so that they see all the talks; when the four minutes
>are up, they *must* move on.  Speakers therefore deliver their talk N
>times; today N equalled 9.
>
>4 minutes is *hard*. I thought my talk was really short, but on the
>first iteration it only left about 30 seconds for questions.  So I
>began leaving stuff out, and finally got to have about 90 seconds for
>questions.
>
>The outline I spoke from is an appendix below, with a few comments
>about stuff people seemed particularly interested in.
>
>Most common question (3 times): "How does Python compare with PHP?"
>My answer was: "Python's language design aims at remaining readable.
>And Python is used in lots of different applications: web apps, but
>also GUI prototypes, education, scientific programming, etc."  How
>could I have answered this question better?  Only one person mentioned
>Ruby or Rails, IIRC.
>
>
>Mailman suggestions
>---------------------------
>
>Non-profits spend a lot of effort on their mailing lists and
>discussion forums.  They worry if lists aren't lively, prod people to
>write FAQs, actively move around postings and threads, and work to
>encourage frequent helpful posters.  For example, on web-based forums,
>frequent posters may get stars next to their name.
>
>Comments on Mailman:
>
>* attendees thought it *worked* fine...
>* ... but *looked* old...
>* ... and the HTML wasn't easily customizable.
>* Doesn't keep many admin statistics (# of posts sent, # bounced, #
>   of domains accessed, which lists are quiet and which are busy)
>* can't delete archived posts easily, or move threads into another list.
>
>
>Random ideas & action items
>------------------------------
>
>The PSF should talk to NOSI about collaborating where appropriate.
>For example, NOSI talks about using Linux and OpenOffice for desktops;
>perhaps the PSF could write a white paper about PyUno.
>
>Suggestion for python.org: write a page about the history of the
>software.  In one session there was a lengthy explanation of the early
>history of Joomla, and someone commented that this was interesting
>material.  I don't think we have such a page currently.
>
>Write a comparison of Python and PHP.
>
>The venue
>--------------------
>
>The conference was held at the <a
>href="http://www.washingtonparks.net/parkscenter.html">Josephine
>Butler Parks Center</a>, a mansion owned by the Washington DC Parks
>system.  A few pictures of the interior are in my Flickr photostream;
>see http://www.flickr.com/photos/44165698 at N00/450081959/, for example.
>
>I talked to Heather, who organized the logistics.  The mansion cost
>$1000 to rent 3 rooms in it for the day.  The venue has wireless that
>was installed on Friday, so there were still some problems with it
>today (or maybe all the techies overwhelmed it).  If the PSF ever
>wants a DC-area sprint, it would be a nice location; maybe a sponsor
>could be found to cover the cost.
>
>--amk
>
>
>Appendix: talk outline
>-------------------------
>
>Intro:
>I'm from the PSF, responsible for the open-source Python programming language.
>This will be a high-level intro to the language & its community.
>
>Python:
>Was designed to be 1) easy-to-learn, 2) readable, 3) powerful.
>Applied in many different fields.
>
>Web applications:
>Various CMSes exists; Plone is the best-known.
>Also: the Mailman listserv software.
>       the MoinMoin wiki.
>Various web frameworks exist for writing new custom web apps.
>
>[[Lots of people knew Mailman.  Many people at the meeting use
>   'listserv' as a term for list management software, so I used it too,
>   even though it's actually a trademark.]]
>
>Educational uses:
>Because it's easy to learn, Python is making inroads in education:
>* high school level (example being Yorktown High School in Arlington)
>* college level (some schools use Python in their 101 CS intros)
>* MIT experimenting with an introductory course using Java & Python
>
>[[Mentioning MIT impressed people considerably.]]
>
>Also used for rapid development, prototyping, & adding scripts to 
>apps/systems:
>* Both Maya (commercial) and Blender (free software) use Python scripting.
>* Corporate usage: all of ILM, Pixar, DreamWorks use Python in their
>   animation workflows.
>
>[[This section was originally longer, but I dropped material to gain time.
>   The corporate usage impressed people.]]
>
>Active community:
>* Package index contains ~2200 entries
>* Have been holding annual conferences since 1994
>* Many local user groups; for more info, I suggest attending a user
>   group meeting.
>_______________________________________________
>Advocacy mailing list
>Advocacy at python.org
>http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy


From amk at amk.ca  Mon Apr  9 15:29:09 2007
From: amk at amk.ca (A.M. Kuchling)
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 09:29:09 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] Wanted: C wrapper examples
Message-ID: <20070409132909.GB8004@localhost.localdomain>

I'm working on the "Python as a Glue Language" white paper (draft at 
http://wiki.python.org/moin/AdvocacyWritingTasks/GlueLanguage) 
and need help finding small examples for using:

	* ctypes
	* Pyrex
	* Swig

If you can suggest better examples than the ones I already have for
SIP and the Python C API, I'm all ears.

Thanks!

--amk



From tennessee at tennessee.id.au  Tue Apr 10 01:21:19 2007
From: tennessee at tennessee.id.au (Tennessee Leeuwenburg)
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:21:19 +1000
Subject: [python-advocacy] Penguin Day DC
In-Reply-To: <a0623090ec23f80514df2@10.0.16.99>
References: <20070408142635.GB15028@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>
	<a0623090ec23f80514df2@10.0.16.99>
Message-ID: <43c8685c0704091621j3e126868u34831b005e0652e0@mail.gmail.com>

This isn't centrally related to advocacy, but was triggered by the above
posts.

<offtopic-ish>

Several years ago now, before starting my career, I considered starting my
own business. The idea was "SMOP" -- the small organisation portal. Having
been involved with many small and volunteer organisations before and since,
the need is still as great today as it was then.

As editor of The Python Papers I have had to confront the realities of
running a small organisation on no budget all over again. The same issues
remain.

What is required is an 'organisation-in-a-box', which will allow absolutely
brain-dead management of memberships, events, publications, mailing list,
internal documents, shared documents, committee processes, email address and
if possible, billing. (Not that I have any billing with TPP, but generally).

I believe that many organisation are already ideologically committed to the
principles open-source. However, it needs to be possible for time-poor
individuals to use software, and money-poor individuals to install and
configure it. Blogger (and others) did this for the vanity website. Click
the box, edit the text, upload the photo. Enter flickr, tag clouds.

The same thing could be done for organisation management. If an
install-and-run web CMS came with big friendly buttons for common small
organisation processes, I believe it would come to be adopted.

Just my 2c.

</offtopic>

On 4/9/07, Brad Allen <brad at allendev.com> wrote:
>
> Very interesting read Andrew; thanks.
>
> The need for a comparison with PHP seems to come up often; I think
> there are a lot of PHP programmers who are frustrated and looking for
> something better (I was one of those about 3-4 years ago).
>
> At 10:26 AM -0400 4/8/07, A.M. Kuchling wrote:
> >Today I went to <a
> >href="http://penguinday.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Penguin_Day_Agenda
> ">Penguin
> >Day DC</a> wearing my Python Software Foundation outreach hat.  About
> >80 people attended Penguin Day, which was held on the Saturday after
> >the 3-day <a href="http://nten.org/ntc">Non-Profit Technology
> >Conference</a>, and was organized by the
> ><a href="http://www.nosi.net/">NonProfit Open Source Initiative</a>,
> >which encourages the use of open source software in the nonprofit sector.
> >
> >To some degree the PSF is at the wrong level for this audience.  The
> >Penguin Day attendees are interested in using open source technology
> >for their non-profit organization, but most of them are not developers
> >and are not interested in programming but in applications that may
> >happen to be written in Python.  They're often interested in CMSes so
> >Plone was mentioned a lot, for example.
> >
> >Non-profits seem to care most about two areas:
> >* Content management: Joomla and Drupal were the CMSes
> >   mentioned most often.
> >* Member management: discussion forums, mailing lists, member databases.
> >   (Most commonly used database: MS Access.)
> >
> >A note on member management: lots of people recognized Mailman's name;
> >non-profits use a lot of mailing lists and spend a lot of time
> >gardening and moderating them.  Later I'll record some suggestions for
> >Mailman.
> >
> >Non-profits are concerned about:
> >* cost
> >* ability to maintain applications and to keep them running reliably.
> >* finding people to work on their applications (both paid
> consultants/staff
> >   and to a lesser degree volunteers).
> >
> >Reasons for not using open source include:
> >* Commercial software makes it very easy to get a non-profit price.
> >   There's suspicion of free software; if it's free, how trustworthy can
> it be?
> >* Fear that the software, or the organization/community surrounding it,
> >   will vanish.  Companies are thought to be more stable.
> >* Lack of knowledge about the open source alternatives.
> >* Documentation not good enough; missing intermediate documentation
> >   (between beginner & expert level) was mentioned.
> >* Case studies are very helpful, not so much as a blueprint
> >   but to reassure managers that the software is a safe choice.
> >
> >Case studies should:
> >* Mention resulting cost.
> >* Mention ancillary requirements such as training.
> >* Should cover the whole life cycle from making the decision through
> >   implementation, deployment, and lessons learned.
> >* Should mention errors or problems that were encountered and solved.
> >
> >One interesting thing: few attendees seem to listen to podcasts (too
> >time-consuming).  Webinars (presentations + audio) were preferred
> >because you learn more and can use just the audio or just the slides.
> >
> >There was a reference to some Mark Shuttleworth-related group
> >(Canonical?  Shuttleworth Foundation?) that made seven half-hour
> >programs about open source.  Anyone know anything about this?
> >
> >Spectrograms
> >-------------------
> >
> >As an initial getting-familiar step, all the attendees introduced
> >themselves.  There were people from DC, California, New York, Boston,
> >North Carolina, Texas, Toronto, Belgium, Kenya -- a pretty wide range.
> >
> >Alan Gunn, the facilitator, then did an interesting exercise called
> >"spectrograms".
> >
> >Here's how it worked.  Tape out a line the length of the room.  One
> >end is "strongly agree", the other is "strongly disagree".  The
> >facilitator then reads a question, and everyone moves to the place on
> >the line that represents their answer.  Some of the questions were:
> >
> >     * Non-profits should use open source not just out of practicality,
> >       but also for philosophical reasons.
> >
> >     * Open source is too difficult to use for non-profits.
> >
> >     * It's not OK to use open source without also participating in the
> >       community.  (The two negatives in this question confused people,
> >       I think.)
> >
> >Everyone stands for a bit while the facilitator leads a discussion.
> >In the discussion it's easy to represent both sides, because you can
> >ask people at either end to explain their position, and you can also
> >ask people in the middle.  This might be useful at PSF meetings:
> >imagine asking "The PSF is too centered on North America", for
> >example.
> >
> >
> >Speedgeeking
> >----------------------
> >
> ><a
> >href="
> http://www.facilitation.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Facilitation:SpeedGeeking
> ">Speedgeeking</a>
> >is like lightning talks in parallel.  You round up N speakers, who
> >will have 4 minutes for their talk; each speaker is placed at a
> >station.  The audience is divided into N groups, and the groups rotate
> >around the room so that they see all the talks; when the four minutes
> >are up, they *must* move on.  Speakers therefore deliver their talk N
> >times; today N equalled 9.
> >
> >4 minutes is *hard*. I thought my talk was really short, but on the
> >first iteration it only left about 30 seconds for questions.  So I
> >began leaving stuff out, and finally got to have about 90 seconds for
> >questions.
> >
> >The outline I spoke from is an appendix below, with a few comments
> >about stuff people seemed particularly interested in.
> >
> >Most common question (3 times): "How does Python compare with PHP?"
> >My answer was: "Python's language design aims at remaining readable.
> >And Python is used in lots of different applications: web apps, but
> >also GUI prototypes, education, scientific programming, etc."  How
> >could I have answered this question better?  Only one person mentioned
> >Ruby or Rails, IIRC.
> >
> >
> >Mailman suggestions
> >---------------------------
> >
> >Non-profits spend a lot of effort on their mailing lists and
> >discussion forums.  They worry if lists aren't lively, prod people to
> >write FAQs, actively move around postings and threads, and work to
> >encourage frequent helpful posters.  For example, on web-based forums,
> >frequent posters may get stars next to their name.
> >
> >Comments on Mailman:
> >
> >* attendees thought it *worked* fine...
> >* ... but *looked* old...
> >* ... and the HTML wasn't easily customizable.
> >* Doesn't keep many admin statistics (# of posts sent, # bounced, #
> >   of domains accessed, which lists are quiet and which are busy)
> >* can't delete archived posts easily, or move threads into another list.
> >
> >
> >Random ideas & action items
> >------------------------------
> >
> >The PSF should talk to NOSI about collaborating where appropriate.
> >For example, NOSI talks about using Linux and OpenOffice for desktops;
> >perhaps the PSF could write a white paper about PyUno.
> >
> >Suggestion for python.org: write a page about the history of the
> >software.  In one session there was a lengthy explanation of the early
> >history of Joomla, and someone commented that this was interesting
> >material.  I don't think we have such a page currently.
> >
> >Write a comparison of Python and PHP.
> >
> >The venue
> >--------------------
> >
> >The conference was held at the <a
> >href="http://www.washingtonparks.net/parkscenter.html">Josephine
> >Butler Parks Center</a>, a mansion owned by the Washington DC Parks
> >system.  A few pictures of the interior are in my Flickr photostream;
> >see http://www.flickr.com/photos/44165698 at N00/450081959/, for example.
> >
> >I talked to Heather, who organized the logistics.  The mansion cost
> >$1000 to rent 3 rooms in it for the day.  The venue has wireless that
> >was installed on Friday, so there were still some problems with it
> >today (or maybe all the techies overwhelmed it).  If the PSF ever
> >wants a DC-area sprint, it would be a nice location; maybe a sponsor
> >could be found to cover the cost.
> >
> >--amk
> >
> >
> >Appendix: talk outline
> >-------------------------
> >
> >Intro:
> >I'm from the PSF, responsible for the open-source Python programming
> language.
> >This will be a high-level intro to the language & its community.
> >
> >Python:
> >Was designed to be 1) easy-to-learn, 2) readable, 3) powerful.
> >Applied in many different fields.
> >
> >Web applications:
> >Various CMSes exists; Plone is the best-known.
> >Also: the Mailman listserv software.
> >       the MoinMoin wiki.
> >Various web frameworks exist for writing new custom web apps.
> >
> >[[Lots of people knew Mailman.  Many people at the meeting use
> >   'listserv' as a term for list management software, so I used it too,
> >   even though it's actually a trademark.]]
> >
> >Educational uses:
> >Because it's easy to learn, Python is making inroads in education:
> >* high school level (example being Yorktown High School in Arlington)
> >* college level (some schools use Python in their 101 CS intros)
> >* MIT experimenting with an introductory course using Java & Python
> >
> >[[Mentioning MIT impressed people considerably.]]
> >
> >Also used for rapid development, prototyping, & adding scripts to
> >apps/systems:
> >* Both Maya (commercial) and Blender (free software) use Python
> scripting.
> >* Corporate usage: all of ILM, Pixar, DreamWorks use Python in their
> >   animation workflows.
> >
> >[[This section was originally longer, but I dropped material to gain
> time.
> >   The corporate usage impressed people.]]
> >
> >Active community:
> >* Package index contains ~2200 entries
> >* Have been holding annual conferences since 1994
> >* Many local user groups; for more info, I suggest attending a user
> >   group meeting.
> >_______________________________________________
> >Advocacy mailing list
> >Advocacy at python.org
> >http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>
> _______________________________________________
> Advocacy mailing list
> Advocacy at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>
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From ctrachte at gmail.com  Tue Apr 10 04:20:30 2007
From: ctrachte at gmail.com (Carl Trachte)
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 19:20:30 -0700
Subject: [python-advocacy] Wanted: C wrapper examples
In-Reply-To: <20070409132909.GB8004@localhost.localdomain>
References: <20070409132909.GB8004@localhost.localdomain>
Message-ID: <426ada670704091920gc50550cgcdcdb1c38a8c15a7@mail.gmail.com>

Andrew,

Mike Mueller covered some of these in his tutorial at Pycon.  They were
based on a common science/engineering example.  He might be willing to share
it if you're interested.

Carl T.

On 4/9/07, A.M. Kuchling <amk at amk.ca> wrote:
>
> I'm working on the "Python as a Glue Language" white paper (draft at
> http://wiki.python.org/moin/AdvocacyWritingTasks/GlueLanguage)
> and need help finding small examples for using:
>
>         * ctypes
>         * Pyrex
>         * Swig
>
> If you can suggest better examples than the ones I already have for
> SIP and the Python C API, I'm all ears.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --amk
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Advocacy mailing list
> Advocacy at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>
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From goodmansond at gmail.com  Tue Apr 10 15:25:46 2007
From: goodmansond at gmail.com (DeanG)
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:25:46 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Daily Python-URL activity?
Message-ID: <f5c6a5400704100625m2d54efabg5774ccdff42a3449@mail.gmail.com>

I'm interested in why the "Daily Python-URL" has been dormant.
http://www.pythonware.com/daily/

I've sent an email through the feedback address but have not heard.

This is a very popular site, and a very useful advocacy medium.  The
success of the similar "The Daily Grind" Microsoft centric site.
http://larkware.com/  , and also the weekly Python-URL! email which
Cameron Laird administers are my only references here. The O'Reilly
Network also displays the Daily Python-URL feed on their Python home.
http://www.onlamp.com/python/

- Dean

From amk at amk.ca  Tue Apr 10 15:56:11 2007
From: amk at amk.ca (A.M. Kuchling)
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:56:11 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] Penguin Day DC
In-Reply-To: <43c8685c0704091621j3e126868u34831b005e0652e0@mail.gmail.com>
References: <20070408142635.GB15028@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>
	<a0623090ec23f80514df2@10.0.16.99>
	<43c8685c0704091621j3e126868u34831b005e0652e0@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20070410135611.GA6794@localhost.localdomain>

On Tue, Apr 10, 2007 at 09:21:19AM +1000, Tennessee Leeuwenburg wrote:
> Several years ago now, before starting my career, I considered starting my
> own business. The idea was "SMOP" -- the small organisation portal. Having
> been involved with many small and volunteer organisations before and since,
> the need is still as great today as it was then.

There were a few flyers floating around for non-profit hosting
services.  I didn't look very closely, but I think you got
preinstalled wiki, list manager, CMS, etc.

--amk

From pkropf at gmail.com  Tue Apr 10 17:25:07 2007
From: pkropf at gmail.com (Peter Kropf)
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:25:07 -0700
Subject: [python-advocacy] Fwd: Open Source Developers @ Google Speaker
	Series: Alex Martelli - Rmail
In-Reply-To: <39f001c77b48$4b992d20$96dfaecc@shrca.vanca.win2003.hostway>
References: <39f001c77b48$4b992d20$96dfaecc@shrca.vanca.win2003.hostway>
Message-ID: <a82855df0704100825i4828d84esf9aa58cff01db739@mail.gmail.com>

Any way we can use this for some more advocacy?

- Peter


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Google Code - Updates <alert at r-mail.org>
Date: Apr 10, 2007 1:14 AM
Subject: Open Source Developers @ Google Speaker Series: Alex Martelli -
Rmail
To: pkropf at gmail.com

Open Source Developers @ Google Speaker Series: Alex
Martelli<http://google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2007/04/open-source-developers-google-speaker.html>
Posted by Leslie Hawthorn, Open Source Team

Alex Martelli, author of *Python in a Nutshell* and one of the editors of
the *Python Cookbook*, will be speaking on "Python for Programmers" tomorrow
evening, April 10th. Ideal for programmers who have not had much exposure to
Python, the talk will provide a rapid overview of the main characteristics
of the language plus a brief synopsis of its main implementations, its
standard library and its third-party extension packages.

As with all sessions of the Open Source Developers @ Google Speaker Series,
Alex's presentation will be open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM at our
Mountain View campus <http://code.google.com/events/visitors/>; guests
should plan to sign in at Building 42 reception upon arrival. Refreshments
will be served and all are welcome and encouraged to attend. Alex's
presentation will also be taped and published on Google
Video<http://video.google.com/>
.

For those of you who were unable to attend Jeremy Allison's recent
presentation on the "The Current State of Samba," you can check out the
video <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5168374991118478299>.
Link<http://google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2007/04/open-source-developers-google-speaker.html>-
Feed
(14 subs)<http://www.r-mail.org/profiles.aspx/code.google.com/feeds/updates.xml>
------------------------------
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unsubscribe from Google
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.
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From sdeibel at wingware.com  Tue Apr 10 23:31:13 2007
From: sdeibel at wingware.com (Stephan Deibel)
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:31:13 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] Daily Python-URL activity?
In-Reply-To: <f5c6a5400704100625m2d54efabg5774ccdff42a3449@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f5c6a5400704100625m2d54efabg5774ccdff42a3449@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <461C0221.1070906@wingware.com>

DeanG wrote:
> I'm interested in why the "Daily Python-URL" has been dormant.
> http://www.pythonware.com/daily/

I suspect the editor, Hamish Lawson, would know.  Maybe he's
on vacation or needs someone to take over.  There's a comments
link at the bottom (a mailto: link) that seems like the place to
start.

- Stephan

From sdeibel at wingware.com  Tue Apr 10 22:13:02 2007
From: sdeibel at wingware.com (Stephan Deibel)
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:13:02 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Fwd: any interest in having a PSF/Python
 presence at	"LinuxWorld's .org Pavillion" (in SF, Aug 6-9)?]
Message-ID: <461BEFCE.7000602@wingware.com>

This was sent to psf-members but someone outside of the PSF could certainly
pursue it.

- Stephan
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From: "Alex Martelli" <aleaxit at gmail.com>
Subject: [PSF-Members] any interest in having a PSF/Python presence at
	"LinuxWorld's .org Pavillion" (in SF, Aug 6-9)?
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:09:28 -0700
Size: 5066
Url: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/advocacy/attachments/20070410/ec51d04c/attachment.mht 

From brad at allendev.com  Wed Apr 11 16:43:16 2007
From: brad at allendev.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 09:43:16 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Fwd: Open Source Developers @ Google Speaker
 Series: Alex Martelli - Rmail
In-Reply-To: <a82855df0704100825i4828d84esf9aa58cff01db739@mail.gmail.com>
References: <39f001c77b48$4b992d20$96dfaecc@shrca.vanca.win2003.hostway>
	<a82855df0704100825i4828d84esf9aa58cff01db739@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <a06230912c242a0ed337f@[10.0.16.99]>

At 8:25 AM -0700 4/10/07, Peter Kropf wrote:
>Any way we can use this for some more advocacy?

Web videos of Python-related lectures are great for showing at user 
groups when no one has had time to put together a presentation.  The 
forthcoming user group resources page ought to have a prominently 
posted link to a list of online videos. Here is the list I've been 
putting together:

http://del.icio.us/bradallen/python+video

Also, your posting prompted me to search for Alex Martelli on Google 
video and I noticed he has a new two-part lectures on Python design 
patterns.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3035093035748181693&q=Alex+Martelli

I have posted this URL at Digg. If you have a Digg account, please 
digg this story to increase its popularity and visibility:

http://digg.com/programming/Video_Lecture_on_Python_Design_Patterns



From pkropf at gmail.com  Wed Apr 11 16:57:12 2007
From: pkropf at gmail.com (Peter Kropf)
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 07:57:12 -0700
Subject: [python-advocacy] Fwd: Open Source Developers @ Google Speaker
	Series: Alex Martelli - Rmail
In-Reply-To: <a06230912c242a0ed337f@10.0.16.99>
References: <39f001c77b48$4b992d20$96dfaecc@shrca.vanca.win2003.hostway>
	<a82855df0704100825i4828d84esf9aa58cff01db739@mail.gmail.com>
	<a06230912c242a0ed337f@10.0.16.99>
Message-ID: <a82855df0704110757w58bb9ac5o8caf718f3549534b@mail.gmail.com>

On 4/11/07, Brad Allen <brad at allendev.com> wrote:
> At 8:25 AM -0700 4/10/07, Peter Kropf wrote:
> >Any way we can use this for some more advocacy?
>
> Web videos of Python-related lectures are great for showing at user
> groups when no one has had time to put together a presentation.  The
> forthcoming user group resources page ought to have a prominently
> posted link to a list of online videos. Here is the list I've been
> putting together:
>
> http://del.icio.us/bradallen/python+video
>
> Also, your posting prompted me to search for Alex Martelli on Google
> video and I noticed he has a new two-part lectures on Python design
> patterns.
>
> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3035093035748181693&q=Alex+Martelli
>
> I have posted this URL at Digg. If you have a Digg account, please
> digg this story to increase its popularity and visibility:
>
> http://digg.com/programming/Video_Lecture_on_Python_Design_Patterns

Done.

From chris.mcavoy at gmail.com  Thu Apr 12 00:56:23 2007
From: chris.mcavoy at gmail.com (Chris McAvoy)
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:56:23 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] The first of what should be millions of advocates
	have been armed.
Message-ID: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>

http://news.com.com/2300-1041_3-6175025-4.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

Just think of all the little Pythonistas running around out there in
the world.  It's going to be great.

We talked briefly about this a the Advocacy BoF, but this kind of news
is what (to me) should go on the python.org "news" page.  It's
something that has the potential to grab someone when they go to
python.org.  As it stands, news typically consists of new releases.

If the only place that this sort of story gets tied back to Python is
daily-python-url, we're in trouble, as that's the definition of
preaching to the choir.  That picture, along with a blurb about "did
you know that thing runs python?" would be a great news item.

Chris

From carl at personnelware.com  Thu Apr 12 01:21:10 2007
From: carl at personnelware.com (Carl Karsten)
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:21:10 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] The first of what should be millions of
 advocates have been armed.
In-Reply-To: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <461D6D66.20905@personnelware.com>

Chris McAvoy wrote:
 > http://news.com.com/2300-1041_3-6175025-4.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

more - (not sure if the 2 are linked - couldn't find it if they are)

http://news.com.com/Engineering+change+Plugging+Africas+kids+in+to+100+laptop/2009-1041_3-6173640.html?tag=nefd.lede

Carl K

From sdeibel at wingware.com  Thu Apr 12 04:03:14 2007
From: sdeibel at wingware.com (Stephan Deibel)
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:03:14 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] The first of what should be millions of
 advocates have been armed.
In-Reply-To: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <461D9362.3030806@wingware.com>

Chris McAvoy wrote:
> http://news.com.com/2300-1041_3-6175025-4.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
> 
> Just think of all the little Pythonistas running around out there in
> the world.  It's going to be great.
> 
> We talked briefly about this a the Advocacy BoF, but this kind of news
> is what (to me) should go on the python.org "news" page.  It's
> something that has the potential to grab someone when they go to
> python.org.  As it stands, news typically consists of new releases.
> 
> If the only place that this sort of story gets tied back to Python is
> daily-python-url, we're in trouble, as that's the definition of
> preaching to the choir.  That picture, along with a blurb about "did
> you know that thing runs python?" would be a great news item.

It certainly would not be a bad thing to add Python in the News or
something to python.org.  It would require someone that takes on the
task of maintaining it, and some thought as to how best to build it
into the site without overwhelming the also important (if more boring ;-)
new release announcements and conference announcements.

Anyone can set up a local copy of python.org by checking out:

svn+ssh://pydotorg at svn.python.org/trunk/beta.python.org

Then see build/new-build/README for info on other required packages
and how to build the site.

The new build script is, well, new (and still under development,
and not used by the live site build yet) but it's pretty good and
certainly makes working on the site a _lot_ easier so I encourage
people to play with it and think about how advocacy content (like
more news items) can be worked into the site.

- Stephan

From chris.mcavoy at gmail.com  Thu Apr 12 04:32:07 2007
From: chris.mcavoy at gmail.com (Chris McAvoy)
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:32:07 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] The first of what should be millions of
	advocates have been armed.
In-Reply-To: <461D9362.3030806@wingware.com>
References: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
	<461D9362.3030806@wingware.com>
Message-ID: <3096c19d0704111932j529fc09ah258b88344cd57f16@mail.gmail.com>

On 4/11/07, Stephan Deibel <sdeibel at wingware.com> wrote:
>
> Anyone can set up a local copy of python.org by checking out:
>
> svn+ssh://pydotorg at svn.python.org/trunk/beta.python.org
>

That's great to know, thanks Stephan.

Chris

From tennessee at tennessee.id.au  Thu Apr 12 08:32:55 2007
From: tennessee at tennessee.id.au (Tennessee Leeuwenburg)
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:32:55 +1000
Subject: [python-advocacy] The first of what should be millions of
	advocates have been armed.
In-Reply-To: <3096c19d0704111932j529fc09ah258b88344cd57f16@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
	<461D9362.3030806@wingware.com>
	<3096c19d0704111932j529fc09ah258b88344cd57f16@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <43c8685c0704112332k4142a29fk3e43c71c6cf17c97@mail.gmail.com>

Are there any non-Python OLPC mailing lists and/or interest groups that we
could establish links with?

I am very happy to function as 'news broker' and cross-populate some mailing
lists, etc.

Thanks,
-T

On 4/12/07, Chris McAvoy <chris.mcavoy at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 4/11/07, Stephan Deibel <sdeibel at wingware.com> wrote:
> >
> > Anyone can set up a local copy of python.org by checking out:
> >
> > svn+ssh://pydotorg at svn.python.org/trunk/beta.python.org
> >
>
> That's great to know, thanks Stephan.
>
> Chris
> _______________________________________________
> Advocacy mailing list
> Advocacy at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>
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From amk at amk.ca  Fri Apr 13 15:09:37 2007
From: amk at amk.ca (A.M. Kuchling)
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:09:37 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] The first of what should be millions of
	advocates have been armed.
In-Reply-To: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20070413130937.GB5299@localhost.localdomain>

On Wed, Apr 11, 2007 at 05:56:23PM -0500, Chris McAvoy wrote:
> If the only place that this sort of story gets tied back to Python is
> daily-python-url, we're in trouble, as that's the definition of
> preaching to the choir.  That picture, along with a blurb about "did
> you know that thing runs python?" would be a great news item.

So, does someone want to write a news item about this?  I have no idea
what to say.

BTW, for people who check out a copy of the web tree and build tools:
new-build/rss/ contains some scripts to download RSS feeds so that
python.org pages can display feed items.  Can someone please mock up a
python.org that uses these feeds?  For example, the top page could
display a selection of recent PyPI uploads, or the news page could
include recent Python-URL posts.

--amk


From chris.mcavoy at gmail.com  Fri Apr 13 16:20:51 2007
From: chris.mcavoy at gmail.com (Chris McAvoy)
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:20:51 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] The first of what should be millions of
	advocates have been armed.
In-Reply-To: <461D9362.3030806@wingware.com>
References: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>
	<461D9362.3030806@wingware.com>
Message-ID: <3096c19d0704130720v589d9ad8od7b18a0185672d36@mail.gmail.com>

On 4/11/07, Stephan Deibel <sdeibel at wingware.com> wrote:
>
> Anyone can set up a local copy of python.org by checking out:
>
> svn+ssh://pydotorg at svn.python.org/trunk/beta.python.org
>

I'm getting a permission denied error.  Could I have an account?

Thanks,
Chris

From sdeibel at wingware.com  Fri Apr 13 16:41:05 2007
From: sdeibel at wingware.com (Stephan Deibel)
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:41:05 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] The first of what should be millions
 of	advocates have been armed.
In-Reply-To: <3096c19d0704130720v589d9ad8od7b18a0185672d36@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3096c19d0704111556i597fd642i4757820a08505591@mail.gmail.com>	<461D9362.3030806@wingware.com>
	<3096c19d0704130720v589d9ad8od7b18a0185672d36@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <461F9681.6060403@wingware.com>

Chris McAvoy wrote:
> On 4/11/07, Stephan Deibel <sdeibel at wingware.com> wrote:
>>
>> Anyone can set up a local copy of python.org by checking out:
>>
>> svn+ssh://pydotorg at svn.python.org/trunk/beta.python.org
>>
> 
> I'm getting a permission denied error.  Could I have an account?

Sorry, I pasted in the wrong url (that one is if you have write access).  This
one works for anonymous checkout:

   svn checkout https://svn.python.org/www/trunk/beta.python.org

I'm working on updating/fixing http://www.python.org/dev/pydotorg/website/
accordingly (it has both wrong and outdated info).

- Stephan

From amk at amk.ca  Mon Apr 16 03:41:20 2007
From: amk at amk.ca (A.M. Kuchling)
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 21:41:20 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] First draft: Python as a glue language
Message-ID: <20070416014120.GA11436@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>

Draft posted at
<http://wiki.python.org/moin/AdvocacyWritingTasks/GlueLanguage>.  This
was originally called LinkingToPython on the AdvocacyWritingTasks
page, but I think the term 'glue language' is clearer -- the original
title didn't explain what the document was about.

Jeff, does the document match what you'd like in terms of topics
covered and writing style?

--amk

From jeffh at dundeemt.com  Tue Apr 17 19:53:00 2007
From: jeffh at dundeemt.com (Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T)
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:53:00 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] User Group Flyer
Message-ID: <5aaed53f0704171053pc067f4cx67f0961774cb8624@mail.gmail.com>

I've developed a general purpose flyer for the local user group.  I
was wondering:

1) Is there some common area where this can be posted for re-use by
other User Groups?

2) If not #1, is anyone else interested in such a group repository?  I
see that a few of the Groups have their own websites with file
repositories, but things become spread out and have to be rediscovered
by other user groups before they can be used to their advantage.

On a slightly different note: I recall their be a posting by Jeff Rush
about a user-group specific mail list, I don't recall if it was a firm
thing or just an idea.  I don't know what happened, I offered to help
administer the list and keep a list of groups/leaders/email addresses.
  That offer is still on the table if it would help out.

-- 
Jeff Hinrichs
http://www.OmahaPython.org/

From jeff at taupro.com  Tue Apr 17 22:52:26 2007
From: jeff at taupro.com (Jeff Rush)
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:52:26 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] User Group Flyer
In-Reply-To: <5aaed53f0704171053pc067f4cx67f0961774cb8624@mail.gmail.com>
References: <5aaed53f0704171053pc067f4cx67f0961774cb8624@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4625338A.2050003@taupro.com>

Hi Jeff!

Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T wrote:
> I've developed a general purpose flyer for the local user group.  I
> was wondering:
> 
> 1) Is there some common area where this can be posted for re-use by
> other User Groups?

Please send it to me and I'll get it up onto www.python.org.  I have a few
such documents under advocacy.python.org but we're trying to relocate that
under www.python.org.


> 2) If not #1, is anyone else interested in such a group repository?  I
> see that a few of the Groups have their own websites with file
> repositories, but things become spread out and have to be rediscovered
> by other user groups before they can be used to their advantage.

I have a strong interest in such a repository, but for now the PSF would like
us to concentrate on content rather than infrastructure.  I have some
prototype Zope3 code for such a repository but it isn't ready for general use
at this time.


> On a slightly different note: I recall their be a posting by Jeff Rush
> about a user-group specific mail list, I don't recall if it was a firm
> thing or just an idea.  I don't know what happened, I offered to help
> administer the list and keep a list of groups/leaders/email addresses.
>  That offer is still on the table if it would help out.

Thanks.  I haven't forgotten your offer and hope to ramp these actions up this
 week.  I've been rather quiet working (struggling really with the tools) on
some Python screencasting and will work to be more visible in these other areas.

-Jeff

From jeffh at dundeemt.com  Wed Apr 18 03:56:09 2007
From: jeffh at dundeemt.com (Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T)
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:56:09 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] User Group Flyer
In-Reply-To: <4625338A.2050003@taupro.com>
References: <5aaed53f0704171053pc067f4cx67f0961774cb8624@mail.gmail.com>
	<4625338A.2050003@taupro.com>
Message-ID: <5aaed53f0704171856x52b6297cv482eafc866d5a2c1@mail.gmail.com>

On 4/17/07, Jeff Rush <jeff at taupro.com> wrote:
> Hi Jeff!
>
> Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T wrote:
> > I've developed a general purpose flyer for the local user group.  I
> > was wondering:
> >
> > 1) Is there some common area where this can be posted for re-use by
> > other User Groups?
>
> Please send it to me and I'll get it up onto www.python.org.  I have a few
> such documents under advocacy.python.org but we're trying to relocate that
> under www.python.org.
>
I've uploaded it to the python wiki in pdf format.  Here is a shortcut
  http://www.OmahaPython.org

From lists at janc.be  Sun Apr 22 21:30:40 2007
From: lists at janc.be (Jan Claeys)
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:30:40 +0200
Subject: [python-advocacy] Penguin Day DC
In-Reply-To: <20070408142635.GB15028@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>
References: <20070408142635.GB15028@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>
Message-ID: <1177270240.2123.96.camel@localhost>

Op zondag 08-04-2007 om 10:26 uur [tijdzone -0400], schreef A.M.
Kuchling:
> There was a reference to some Mark Shuttleworth-related group 
> (Canonical?  Shuttleworth Foundation?) that made seven half-hour 
> programs about open source.  Anyone know anything about this? 

I think this must be the South-African "Go_Open" TV programme &
campaign: <http://www.go-opensource.org/>

It was funded by "Canonical, the CSIR Meraka Institute, HP, and The
Shuttleworth Foundation".


-- 
Jan Claeys


From jafo at tummy.com  Mon Apr 23 05:17:37 2007
From: jafo at tummy.com (Sean Reifschneider)
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:17:37 -0600
Subject: [python-advocacy] [PSF-Members] Proposed Advocacy Task List for
	Next Six Months
In-Reply-To: <460918AD.6060407@taupro.com>
References: <460918AD.6060407@taupro.com>
Message-ID: <20070423031737.GB12689@tummy.com>

On Tue, Mar 27, 2007 at 08:14:21AM -0500, Jeff Rush wrote:
>psf-members list on what to tackle re advocacy for the next six months.  I'd 
>like to run the plan past you and get your ideas.

I think the list looks good.  Note that, while it has had problems getting
started, there is a group of folks from one of the advocacy BoFs that has
expressed interest on helping out on user group advocacy tasks.  This is
hopefully a good resource for you to leverage to help make these things
happen.

Sean
-- 
 "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have
 of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
Sean Reifschneider, Member of Technical Staff <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com, ltd. - Linux Consulting since 1995: Ask me about High Availability


From jafo at tummy.com  Mon Apr 23 05:44:40 2007
From: jafo at tummy.com (Sean Reifschneider)
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:44:40 -0600
Subject: [python-advocacy] Helping get Python in more publications?
Message-ID: <20070423034439.GC12689@tummy.com>

FYI, I noticed that Sys Admin magazine has a "call for papers" for December
of 2008 about scripting for Sys Admins, and they specifically mention
Python.

Perhaps the PSF or the advocacy group would like to promote this:

   http://www.samag.com/ed/call.htm
   http://www.samag.com/ed/calendar.htm
   Proposals Due: 08/01/2007
   Manuscripts due: 09/01/2007

Showing up in the printed press can really help with getting people
interested in things like Python.

One thing that may also be worth kicking around is offering bounties for
publications promoting Python.  Part of the reason I say this is that I've
written for a number of publications in the past, and many of the more
open source oriented and receptive publications pay very little for an
article.

I've done one or two for Sys Admin, and one of the other Linux
publications.  They've paid around $300, which I think is a bit light.
Other publications I've written for (the HP-UX magazine, for example) paid
on the order of 5 times that.  SysAdmin I thought was barely worth it, at
least partly because of the 9 months I then spent trying to get them to
actually send me the check.

Anyway, just an idea.  In any case, if we get interest to write the article
above, I can definitely put candidates in contact with the editor I worked
with at Sys Admin.  Just thought I might bring up the idea of a bounty
when it came to me.

Sean
-- 
 "It was a sneaky lawyer's trick, and I fell for it.  Because...  She's much
 smarter than me." -- _High_Fidelity_
Sean Reifschneider, Member of Technical Staff <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com, ltd. - Linux Consulting since 1995: Ask me about High Availability


From kryswilken at gmail.com  Tue Apr 24 03:15:19 2007
From: kryswilken at gmail.com (Krys Wilken)
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:15:19 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] Python Quotes
Message-ID: <462D5A27.5060408@gmail.com>

Hi everyone,

I think this is my first time posting to this list.

I'm not sure if anyone is still collecting Python quotes or not, and
it's probably bad form to mention my own quotes :) but I just wanted to
share that I think there are a couple good quotes in my latest blog entry.

http://krys.ca/entry/79/

Not trying to be spam or anything, or even promote myself, but what I
said there is truly heart-felt.

I really believe that the Python language elevates what is possible so
much that it enables tools like setuptools and most of the mind-blowing
stuff the Phillip Eby, Ian Bicking, and others produce.  Introspection
is a killer feature!

Anyway, if anyone sees any quotes of value in there, feel free to
collect/add them to wherever good little Python quotes go. :)  I just
wanted put this out there to in case it helps.

And again, sorry for any perceived self-promotion.  It is not my intent.

Thanks for reading,
Krys

From steve at holdenweb.com  Mon Apr 23 13:51:49 2007
From: steve at holdenweb.com (Steve Holden)
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:51:49 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] [PSF-Members] Helping get Python in more
	publications?
In-Reply-To: <20070423034439.GC12689@tummy.com>
References: <20070423034439.GC12689@tummy.com>
Message-ID: <462C9DD5.8090304@holdenweb.com>

Sean Reifschneider wrote:
> FYI, I noticed that Sys Admin magazine has a "call for papers" for December
> of 2008 about scripting for Sys Admins, and they specifically mention
> Python.
> 
> Perhaps the PSF or the advocacy group would like to promote this:
> 
>    http://www.samag.com/ed/call.htm
>    http://www.samag.com/ed/calendar.htm
>    Proposals Due: 08/01/2007
>    Manuscripts due: 09/01/2007
> 
> Showing up in the printed press can really help with getting people
> interested in things like Python.
> 
> One thing that may also be worth kicking around is offering bounties for
> publications promoting Python.  Part of the reason I say this is that I've
> written for a number of publications in the past, and many of the more
> open source oriented and receptive publications pay very little for an
> article.
> 
I'm due to make a proposal to the next Board meeting on an awards scheme 
which could include this as an element. I'm less that enthusiastic about 
a flat fee for "getting an article about Python published" because there 
are quality issues as well as the issue of member involvement (if 
deciding who gets paid is another Board job the proposal is likely to be 
much less enthused about).

> I've done one or two for Sys Admin, and one of the other Linux
> publications.  They've paid around $300, which I think is a bit light.
> Other publications I've written for (the HP-UX magazine, for example) paid
> on the order of 5 times that.  SysAdmin I thought was barely worth it, at
> least partly because of the 9 months I then spent trying to get them to
> actually send me the check.
> 
O'Reilly.net also only pay $300 for an article (and thanks to your note 
I shan't be writing for Sys Admin any time soon).

> Anyway, just an idea.  In any case, if we get interest to write the article
> above, I can definitely put candidates in contact with the editor I worked
> with at Sys Admin.  Just thought I might bring up the idea of a bounty
> when it came to me.
I think this is quite a practical way to try and encourage Python 
advocacy, though I might rather suggest a quarterly vote of the 
membership (or some other nominated group) for "best Python article", 
with a reasonably substantial cash prize and possible smaller prizes for 
the runners up or "best student paper".

I am not a member of the advocacy list, but if anyone on that list (or 
in the post-PyCon BoF group, if that is separate from the list) wants to 
contact me to discuss other ideas for awards I would be happy to have 
the input.

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden       +44 150 684 7255  +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC/Ltd          http://www.holdenweb.com
Skype: holdenweb     http://del.icio.us/steve.holden
Recent Ramblings       http://holdenweb.blogspot.com

From pfdubois at gmail.com  Mon Apr 23 16:48:10 2007
From: pfdubois at gmail.com (Paul Dubois)
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:48:10 -0700
Subject: [python-advocacy] [PSF-Members] Helping get Python in more
	publications?
In-Reply-To: <20070423034439.GC12689@tummy.com>
References: <20070423034439.GC12689@tummy.com>
Message-ID: <f74a6c2f0704230748g4e18aa4et17859c93774e29a1@mail.gmail.com>

Speaking of press, just coming out now is an entire issue of a magazine with
a Python theme:

Computing in Science and Engineering
May / June 2007, theme issue: Python: Batteries Included

This magazine is a joint publication of IEEE and the American Institute for
Physics.

The web site is computer.org/cise.

Two of the articles, namely my guest editor intro and Travis Oliphant's
intro to Python / Numpy, are available for free download right now. There
are roughly a dozen other contributions including articles on IPython,
matplotlib, and articles about applications ranging from robots to the stars
to using Python in education. Individual articles are downloadable for a
small fee; an electronic subscription to many IEEE publications is also
available, and subscriptions to the physical magazine are also available.

-- Paul Dubois
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From jafo at tummy.com  Mon Apr 23 23:08:29 2007
From: jafo at tummy.com (Sean Reifschneider)
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:08:29 -0600
Subject: [python-advocacy] [PSF-Members] Helping get Python in more
	publications?
In-Reply-To: <462C9DD5.8090304@holdenweb.com>
References: <20070423034439.GC12689@tummy.com> <462C9DD5.8090304@holdenweb.com>
Message-ID: <20070423210829.GJ1032@tummy.com>

On Mon, Apr 23, 2007 at 07:51:49AM -0400, Steve Holden wrote:
>I'm due to make a proposal to the next Board meeting on an awards scheme 

This all sounds fine to me.

Thanks,
Sean
-- 
 If everything you try works, you're not trying hard enough.
                 -- Gordon Moore
Sean Reifschneider, Member of Technical Staff <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com, ltd. - Linux Consulting since 1995: Ask me about High Availability


From jeff at taupro.com  Tue Apr 24 11:24:54 2007
From: jeff at taupro.com (Jeff Rush)
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:24:54 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Would You Write Python Articles or Screencasts
	for Money?
Message-ID: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com>

There is discussion by the Python Software Foundation of offering cash
bounties or perhaps periodic awards to the "best of" for magazine articles,
video/screencast clips and such.

If YOU would be swayed to get involved in producing content in exchange for
cash, please speak up on the advocacy mailing list and also drop an email to
Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com>, current champion of this idea and looking
for encouragement.  Ideas on how to evaluate contributions, how frequently to
do this and critical thresholds of cash amounts necessary to induce YOUR
participation are wanted.

Jeff Rush
Python Advocacy Coordinator

* Advocacy Mailing List
  http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy

From michael at jedimindworks.com  Tue Apr 24 12:31:55 2007
From: michael at jedimindworks.com (Michael Bentley)
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 05:31:55 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Would You Write Python Articles or
	Screencasts for Money?
In-Reply-To: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com>
References: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com>
Message-ID: <B8A99AE7-8B6A-40A2-8E7F-177BB0A765F4@jedimindworks.com>


On Apr 24, 2007, at 4:24 AM, Jeff Rush wrote:

> If YOU would be swayed to get involved in producing content in  
> exchange for
> cash, please speak up on the advocacy mailing list and also drop an  
> email to
> Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com>, current champion of this idea  
> and looking
> for encouragement.  Ideas on how to evaluate contributions, how  
> frequently to
> do this and critical thresholds of cash amounts necessary to induce  
> YOUR
> participation are wanted.

I would definitely write articles for cash (if my voice still worked  
satisfactorily, I'd even do screencasts).  I don't know that I could  
target a critical amount of cash required -- I think subject matter  
would be a stronger influence.  As for frequency, I'd say monthly.

regards,
Michael


From steve at holdenweb.com  Tue Apr 24 16:00:51 2007
From: steve at holdenweb.com (Steve Holden)
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:00:51 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] Would You Write Python Articles or
	Screencasts for Money?
In-Reply-To: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com>
References: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com>
Message-ID: <462E0D93.3090705@holdenweb.com>

Jeff Rush wrote:
> There is discussion by the Python Software Foundation of offering cash
> bounties or perhaps periodic awards to the "best of" for magazine articles,
> video/screencast clips and such.
> 
> If YOU would be swayed to get involved in producing content in exchange for
> cash, please speak up on the advocacy mailing list and also drop an email to
> Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com>, current champion of this idea and looking
> for encouragement.  Ideas on how to evaluate contributions, how frequently to
> do this and critical thresholds of cash amounts necessary to induce YOUR
> participation are wanted.
> 
Thanks for posting this, Jeff. I have already had a couple of replies. 
Allow me to expand on my current thinking before this gets off-track.

Lest people be lulled into thinking that the PSF is going into the 
"articles for cash" business, let me say that isn't really the idea. I 
don't really think we will necessarily improve the quality of 
information about Python simply by throwing cash incentives at authors, 
and I was more looking for a way to reward authors of excellence, as 
judged by some subset of the Python community - this might have to be 
the PSF membership given the impracticality of running a meaningful poll 
with a larger set of voters.

So the intention is not so much to encourage people who wouldn't 
otherwise write to start writing (desirable though this outcome might 
be, I don't think cash incentives are the right way to achieve it) but 
rather to reward *excellence* in Python writing and underline the fact 
that standards are important.

There are many other possibilities too. What about an award for "most 
helpful responses on c.l.py" over some period? I think one of the 
reasons people find Python so useful is its helpful community, and it 
would be nice to see the tireless fielders of questions rewarded for 
their community contribution.

However, these are only my ideas and I am open to any and all 
suggestions from the broader Python community about how awards might be 
used to provide incentives to improve the available information about 
Python, and possibly even the software that's available in Python. I 
have undertaken to make a proposal to the PSF Board for an incentive 
scheme. So please let me have your ideas.

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden       +1 571 484 6266   +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC/Ltd          http://www.holdenweb.com
Skype: holdenweb     http://del.icio.us/steve.holden
Recent Ramblings       http://holdenweb.blogspot.com

From facundobatista at gmail.com  Tue Apr 24 17:14:44 2007
From: facundobatista at gmail.com (Facundo Batista)
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:14:44 -0300
Subject: [python-advocacy] Would You Write Python Articles or
	Screencasts for Money?
In-Reply-To: <462E0D93.3090705@holdenweb.com>
References: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com> <462E0D93.3090705@holdenweb.com>
Message-ID: <e04bdf310704240814k4d9dc6a1rb11c933a10c00ae3@mail.gmail.com>

2007/4/24, Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com>:

> and I was more looking for a way to reward authors of excellence, as
> judged by some subset of the Python community - this might have to be
> the PSF membership given the impracticality of running a meaningful poll
> with a larger set of voters.

Why? Because of spammers and/or false voters?

When I first read about this, I thought about a web page where anybody
could "propose" articles for voting, and anybody could vote them.
Monthly, an award goes for the top 1, and that article goes out from
the poll.

Why can't that be done?

Other point: what happens with all the non-english articles? Other categories?


> There are many other possibilities too. What about an award for "most
> helpful responses on c.l.py" over some period? I think one of the

How do you evaluate such thing? I think this is too complicated...

Regards,

-- 
.    Facundo

Blog: http://www.taniquetil.com.ar/plog/
PyAr: http://www.python.org/ar/

From jeff at taupro.com  Wed Apr 25 07:30:19 2007
From: jeff at taupro.com (Jeff Rush)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:30:19 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [PSF-Members] Helping get Python in more
	publications?
In-Reply-To: <f74a6c2f0704230748g4e18aa4et17859c93774e29a1@mail.gmail.com>
References: <20070423034439.GC12689@tummy.com>
	<f74a6c2f0704230748g4e18aa4et17859c93774e29a1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <462EE76B.1060809@taupro.com>

Paul Dubois wrote:
> Speaking of press, just coming out now is an entire issue of a magazine
> with a Python theme:
> 
> Computing in Science and Engineering
> May / June 2007, theme issue: Python: Batteries Included
> 
> This magazine is a joint publication of IEEE and the American Institute
> for Physics.
> 
> The web site is computer.org/cise <http://computer.org/cise>.

Paul, thanks for the reminder from your notice a few months ago that it was
coming.  I've added it to the www.python.org front page and site RSS newsfeed.

-Jeff

From tennessee at tennessee.id.au  Wed Apr 25 08:40:09 2007
From: tennessee at tennessee.id.au (Tennessee Leeuwenburg)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:40:09 +1000
Subject: [python-advocacy] Would You Write Python Articles or
	Screencasts for Money?
In-Reply-To: <e04bdf310704240814k4d9dc6a1rb11c933a10c00ae3@mail.gmail.com>
References: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com> <462E0D93.3090705@holdenweb.com>
	<e04bdf310704240814k4d9dc6a1rb11c933a10c00ae3@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <43c8685c0704242340v45352f95m73c6808dbf1afb1f@mail.gmail.com>

Firstly, let me put up my hand and say that I would be happy to write
Python articles for cash.

Now, on to business.

I am already doing something similar with /The Python Papers/. As part
of putting together each edition (especially the upcoming, bumper
edition due out soon), I seek out authors, solicit contributions,
review available literature and generally promote good content. I
don't think it's too much to suggest that anyone seeking to assist in
creating a good image for Python could very usefully contribute to
this effort.

In the last edition we offered a prize for the best article, and also
undertook some review of published papers and articles, reprinting
'best of' papers from the recent OSDC conference. We are also seeking
recommendations from other conference organisers so that we can, on an
ongoing basis, select and republish 'the best' and present them in one
globally accessible place.

The Python Papers has a growing profile, but it is still very early
days. We need help at the editorial level very much, and also in
building a new website.

Additionally, I can see the value in getting more column inches in
journals and magazines with already large readerships. As editor, I
already have a relationship with many authors of Python material. If I
knew of opportunities for publishing in other journals, I would be
more than happy to try to organise a contribution.

I have been waiting until after the publication of our next edition to
propose anything of the kind, but in light of this discussion perhaps
I should bring it up now -- perhaps there is the possibility of The
Python Papers becoming more officially related to python.org. This
might give the PSF a tool by which they can officially recognise
members of the Python community.

Unfortunately, we are limited at the moment by a lack of manpower.
Each edition is the result of a lot of effort on my part, and also by
contributors and other members of the editorial board. Being able to
have more committed individuals involved in its production would, I
feel, rapidly improve the reach and quality of the publication.

I'm not looking for a handout, as I'm happy with what I'm doing
already, but I thought I'd point out that The Python Papers could be
an instrument for achieving many of the goals outlined in this
discussion.

All the best,
-Tennessee

On 4/25/07, Facundo Batista <facundobatista at gmail.com> wrote:
> 2007/4/24, Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com>:
>
> > and I was more looking for a way to reward authors of excellence, as
> > judged by some subset of the Python community - this might have to be
> > the PSF membership given the impracticality of running a meaningful poll
> > with a larger set of voters.
>
> Why? Because of spammers and/or false voters?
>
> When I first read about this, I thought about a web page where anybody
> could "propose" articles for voting, and anybody could vote them.
> Monthly, an award goes for the top 1, and that article goes out from
> the poll.
>
> Why can't that be done?
>
> Other point: what happens with all the non-english articles? Other categories?
>
>
> > There are many other possibilities too. What about an award for "most
> > helpful responses on c.l.py" over some period? I think one of the
>
> How do you evaluate such thing? I think this is too complicated...
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> .    Facundo
>
> Blog: http://www.taniquetil.com.ar/plog/
> PyAr: http://www.python.org/ar/
> _______________________________________________
> Advocacy mailing list
> Advocacy at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>

From mail at microcorp.co.za  Wed Apr 25 08:36:39 2007
From: mail at microcorp.co.za (Hendrik van Rooyen)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:36:39 +0200
Subject: [python-advocacy] Would You Write Python Articles or
	Screencasts for Money?
References: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com> <462E0D93.3090705@holdenweb.com>
Message-ID: <000a01c78706$4d2e9340$03000080@hendrik>

 "Steve Holden" <steve at holdenweb.com> wrote:


> Jeff Rush wrote:
> > There is discussion by the Python Software Foundation of offering cash
> > bounties or perhaps periodic awards to the "best of" for magazine articles,
> > video/screencast clips and such.
> >
> > If YOU would be swayed to get involved in producing content in exchange for
> > cash, please speak up on the advocacy mailing list and also drop an email to
> > Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com>, current champion of this idea and
looking
> > for encouragement.  Ideas on how to evaluate contributions, how frequently
to
> > do this and critical thresholds of cash amounts necessary to induce YOUR
> > participation are wanted.
> >
> Thanks for posting this, Jeff. I have already had a couple of replies.
> Allow me to expand on my current thinking before this gets off-track.
>
> Lest people be lulled into thinking that the PSF is going into the
> "articles for cash" business, let me say that isn't really the idea. I
> don't really think we will necessarily improve the quality of
> information about Python simply by throwing cash incentives at authors,
> and I was more looking for a way to reward authors of excellence, as
> judged by some subset of the Python community - this might have to be
> the PSF membership given the impracticality of running a meaningful poll
> with a larger set of voters.

I get a bit confused here - when you say "articles" - what forum do you have
in mind?

I would suggest that paying for articles would make sense on a commisioned
basis, if there were to be an identified "hole" in the documentation, or for
some technique or recipe which is not well covered, and deserving of more
exposure.

>
> So the intention is not so much to encourage people who wouldn't
> otherwise write to start writing (desirable though this outcome might
> be, I don't think cash incentives are the right way to achieve it) but
> rather to reward *excellence* in Python writing and underline the fact
> that standards are important.
>
> There are many other possibilities too. What about an award for "most
> helpful responses on c.l.py" over some period? I think one of the
> reasons people find Python so useful is its helpful community, and it
> would be nice to see the tireless fielders of questions rewarded for
> their community contribution.
>

This is a good idea - I sometimes marvel at the degree of effort that
some of the answers to a question on this NG must cost the repliers.

Another one would be to reward the most patient fellow...

> However, these are only my ideas and I am open to any and all
> suggestions from the broader Python community about how awards might be
> used to provide incentives to improve the available information about
> Python, and possibly even the software that's available in Python. I
> have undertaken to make a proposal to the PSF Board for an incentive
> scheme. So please let me have your ideas.

Most bugs fixed in the month for the developers?
(Watch them scrabbling for the easy ones  - <G> )

Most Patches reviewed and incorporated?

Best recipe of the week/month/year?

Best Existing Module - don't forget that there has been a lot of effort
put in already into stuff like Twisted, Pyro, SPE, and many more - a
lot of it excellent work provided by rugged individuals, just because
they could...

As somone else has already said :

...... is F******G awesome - and its all in python.

Hey! how about starting with the best suggestion for spending the money...
That should get the ball rolling.

- Hendrik


From jeff at taupro.com  Wed Apr 25 13:17:45 2007
From: jeff at taupro.com (Jeff Rush)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 06:17:45 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Seeking Presentation Ideas for Certain
	www.python.org Content
Message-ID: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com>

I'd like to solicit ideas on what changes can be made to the www.python.org
page to enhance the visibility of certain resources.

1) Being developed, in coordination with showmedo.com, is a series of
"5-Minutes with Python" screencasts introducing those unfamiliar with the
power of Python to various topics.  Because they are targeted at those who do
not yet have an investment in Python and therefore may not be familiar with
the website, we need to make them easy to find, but in a tasteful way.

  (see http://wiki.python.org/moin/Advocacy/5MinuteVideos if you're curious
   about the topics being covered or to volunteer for one)

2) We're also trying to improve the findability of existing usergroups,
-without- developing new software.  Are there structural changes we can make
to the site that would help this?

3) And we're developing new materials to help foster the creation of new
usergroups, such as flyers, brochures, initial presentation topics
w/materials, advice on promoting the group and so forth.

  (see http://wiki.python.org/moin/Advocacy/UsergroupSupport if you'd
   like to follow along or get involved.)

How visible and, in what manner highlighted, should these three be on the
site, without being distracting?  Which are worthy to be on the front page and
which are more appropriate to be nested further down?

Thanks for your input,

-Jeff


From facundobatista at gmail.com  Wed Apr 25 15:15:58 2007
From: facundobatista at gmail.com (Facundo Batista)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:15:58 -0300
Subject: [python-advocacy] Would You Write Python Articles or
	Screencasts for Money?
In-Reply-To: <000a01c78706$4d2e9340$03000080@hendrik>
References: <462DCCE6.9060908@taupro.com> <462E0D93.3090705@holdenweb.com>
	<000a01c78706$4d2e9340$03000080@hendrik>
Message-ID: <e04bdf310704250615l4ce311e7j7c9e728b8e911690@mail.gmail.com>

2007/4/25, Hendrik van Rooyen <mail at microcorp.co.za>:

> Most bugs fixed in the month for the developers?
> (Watch them scrabbling for the easy ones  - <G> )
>
> Most Patches reviewed and incorporated?

These numbers are easy to acquire.  Note, though, that the name of the
developer in a top ten of these numbers in a public place (like
python.org), and a mention in a weekly report in the main python
mailing lists, will be enough prize most of the times...

Regards,

-- 
.    Facundo

Blog: http://www.taniquetil.com.ar/plog/
PyAr: http://www.python.org/ar/

From goodmansond at gmail.com  Wed Apr 25 15:22:13 2007
From: goodmansond at gmail.com (DeanG)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:22:13 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Python on 100 Million Devices?
Message-ID: <f5c6a5400704250622p2a732c14vdd3aa02d7f1cee61@mail.gmail.com>

Python for Nokia S60
http://opensource.nokia.com/projects/pythonfors60/

100 Million Nokia S60 Devices Shipped
http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1121530

...How many of these are running Python apps?

From facundobatista at gmail.com  Wed Apr 25 15:29:57 2007
From: facundobatista at gmail.com (Facundo Batista)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:29:57 -0300
Subject: [python-advocacy] Seeking Presentation Ideas for Certain
	www.python.org Content
In-Reply-To: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com>
References: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com>
Message-ID: <e04bdf310704250629g5052c93dj2c46909955972446@mail.gmail.com>

2007/4/25, Jeff Rush <jeff at taupro.com>:

> 2) We're also trying to improve the findability of existing usergroups,
> -without- developing new software.  Are there structural changes we can make
> to the site that would help this?

It would nice to get this: If I enter in www.python.org, *browsing
from Argentina*, in a part of the page appears: "Para contactarte con
el grupo de Python Argentina, hac? click aqu?" (To contact the Python
Argentina group, click here).

Of course the same with all the countries, :p. The trick is detecting
from where I'm browsing...

Regards,

-- 
.    Facundo

Blog: http://www.taniquetil.com.ar/plog/
PyAr: http://www.python.org/ar/

From goodmansond at gmail.com  Wed Apr 25 18:40:21 2007
From: goodmansond at gmail.com (DeanG)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:40:21 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [PSF-Members] Helping get Python in more
	publications?
In-Reply-To: <462C9DD5.8090304@holdenweb.com>
References: <20070423034439.GC12689@tummy.com> <462C9DD5.8090304@holdenweb.com>
Message-ID: <f5c6a5400704250940k7b8e3a7fh5746f68809157e63@mail.gmail.com>

The PSF prize may serve as a nice subsidy for publications which don't
have the resources to pay substantial article rates.   Offering an
option for immediate PSF donation of the award amount to may also
balance this and provide as a hassle free way to for the winners to
keep propogating Python.

From brad at allendev.com  Fri Apr 27 05:48:37 2007
From: brad at allendev.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:48:37 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Seeking Presentation Ideas for Certain
 www.python.org Content
In-Reply-To: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com>
References: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com>
Message-ID: <a06230902c2571bdeb2aa@[10.0.16.78]>

At 6:17 AM -0500 4/25/07, Jeff Rush wrote:
>2) We're also trying to improve the findability of existing usergroups,
>-without- developing new software.  Are there structural changes we can make
>>to the site that would help this?


This seems like a strange restriction...not that I'm volunteering to write
anything at the moment..

At the PyCon 2007 Advocacy BOF there was some excited talk about
having a common RSS feed/blog page where user group organizers
could post upcoming meetings, and notes about what happened at
past meetings. I think Doug Napoleone suggested that postings could
also be geocoded so that people could search on events by geographic
area.

Of course allowing a web form to post something, while still preventing
spam would probably mean...user logins...user registrations...etc.

From Doug.Napoleone at nuance.com  Sat Apr 28 00:06:40 2007
From: Doug.Napoleone at nuance.com (Doug Napoleone)
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:06:40 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Pydotorg] Seeking Presentation Ideas for
	Certain www.python.org Content
In-Reply-To: <46320700.6040404@holdenweb.com>
References: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com> <a06230902c2571bdeb2aa@[10.0.16.78]>
	<46320700.6040404@holdenweb.com>
Message-ID: <2AB5541EB33172459EE430FFB66B1EE90505E685@BN-EXCH01.nuance.com>

Steve Holden wrote:
> Well, just off the top of my head, the PSF LUGs could all share a
common
> blog just like the PSF itself does. When I have something to post for
> the PSF (so far there's only been a rather feeble April fool's joke) I
> just blog away.
> 
> That would get us an RSS feed for nothing, and we could add the feed
to
> Planet Python.
> 
> *Then* we could look at geocoding.
> 


> Jeff, do you think that a shared blog might work? Each group could
also
> maintain their own wiki page (I suspect most of them do already) and
> link that from their own posts. The overall blog could also have a
link
> to an umbrella LUGs page that links to the individual LUG pages and
back
> to other suitable python.org areas.
> 
> How does this sound?

Sounds good to me.
How hard was it to set up the python Summer Of Code site?
http://soc.python.org/

That looks pretty good to me!


    -Doug


From steve at holdenweb.com  Fri Apr 27 16:21:52 2007
From: steve at holdenweb.com (Steve Holden)
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:21:52 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Pydotorg] Seeking Presentation Ideas for
 Certain www.python.org Content
In-Reply-To: <a06230902c2571bdeb2aa@[10.0.16.78]>
References: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com> <a06230902c2571bdeb2aa@[10.0.16.78]>
Message-ID: <46320700.6040404@holdenweb.com>

Brad Allen wrote:
> At 6:17 AM -0500 4/25/07, Jeff Rush wrote:
>> 2) We're also trying to improve the findability of existing usergroups,
>> -without- developing new software.  Are there structural changes we can make
>>> to the site that would help this?
> 
No, few people have time. Of course if there's some *existing* software 
that could help, that wouldn't involve developing anything new ...

> 
> This seems like a strange restriction...not that I'm volunteering to write
> anything at the moment..
> 
> At the PyCon 2007 Advocacy BOF there was some excited talk about
> having a common RSS feed/blog page where user group organizers
> could post upcoming meetings, and notes about what happened at
> past meetings. I think Doug Napoleone suggested that postings could
> also be geocoded so that people could search on events by geographic
> area.
> 
Well, just off the top of my head, the PSF LUGs could all share a common 
blog just like the PSF itself does. When I have something to post for 
the PSF (so far there's only been a rather feeble April fool's joke) I 
just blog away.

That would get us an RSS feed for nothing, and we could add the feed to 
Planet Python.

*Then* we could look at geocoding.

> Of course allowing a web form to post something, while still preventing
> spam would probably mean...user logins...user registrations...etc.

Let's not be too negative - there's a lot we *can* do, let's focus on that.

Jeff, do you think that a shared blog might work? Each group could also 
maintain their own wiki page (I suspect most of them do already) and 
link that from their own posts. The overall blog could also have a link 
to an umbrella LUGs page that links to the individual LUG pages and back 
to other suitable python.org areas.

How does this sound?

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden       +1 571 484 6266   +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC/Ltd          http://www.holdenweb.com
Skype: holdenweb     http://del.icio.us/steve.holden
Recent Ramblings       http://holdenweb.blogspot.com

From steve at holdenweb.com  Fri Apr 27 18:01:41 2007
From: steve at holdenweb.com (Steve Holden)
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:01:41 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Pydotorg] Seeking Presentation Ideas for
 Certain www.python.org Content
In-Reply-To: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com>
References: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com>
Message-ID: <46321E65.8010608@holdenweb.com>

Jeff Rush wrote:
> I'd like to solicit ideas on what changes can be made to the www.python.org
> page to enhance the visibility of certain resources.
> 
> 1) Being developed, in coordination with showmedo.com, is a series of
> "5-Minutes with Python" screencasts introducing those unfamiliar with the
> power of Python to various topics.  Because they are targeted at those who do
> not yet have an investment in Python and therefore may not be familiar with
> the website, we need to make them easy to find, but in a tasteful way.
> 
>   (see http://wiki.python.org/moin/Advocacy/5MinuteVideos if you're curious
>    about the topics being covered or to volunteer for one)
> 
I've downloaded the necessary bits and pieces, and it's a very workable 
system. I wonder how responsive the team is, though, since I sent a 
submission about a wxPython follow-on video which I now have ready and 
haven't heard anything back yet. (36 hours+)

> 2) We're also trying to improve the findability of existing usergroups,
> -without- developing new software.  Are there structural changes we can make
> to the site that would help this?
> 
I'm currently reviewing the Squidoo "Python is Amazing" lens - see

    http://squidoo.com/pythonology

I've actually started a critique of that page, which is broadly intended 
to help with advocacy. Any reader comments on

    http://www.holdenweb.com/squidooCritique.mht

will be welcome - remember to include me as a recipient as this message 
is going to lists I am not a member of. Could we incorporate user groups 
into that?

> 3) And we're developing new materials to help foster the creation of new
> usergroups, such as flyers, brochures, initial presentation topics
> w/materials, advice on promoting the group and so forth.
> 
>   (see http://wiki.python.org/moin/Advocacy/UsergroupSupport if you'd
>    like to follow along or get involved.)
> 
I noticed the business card margins need to be revised so that you can 
chop the page up and get cards with even borders on them, but apart from 
that small layout issue they look very good.

> How visible and, in what manner highlighted, should these three be on the
> site, without being distracting?  Which are worthy to be on the front page and
> which are more appropriate to be nested further down?
> 
> Thanks for your input,
> 
A further suggestion is to have a Python LUG lens, with each LUG also 
having its own lens. There's a sh++load of resources on the web!

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden       +1 571 484 6266   +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC/Ltd          http://www.holdenweb.com
Skype: holdenweb     http://del.icio.us/steve.holden
Recent Ramblings       http://holdenweb.blogspot.com

From amk at amk.ca  Sun Apr 29 03:48:03 2007
From: amk at amk.ca (A.M. Kuchling)
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 21:48:03 -0400
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Pydotorg] Seeking Presentation Ideas for
	Certain www.python.org Content
In-Reply-To: <2AB5541EB33172459EE430FFB66B1EE90505E685@BN-EXCH01.nuance.com>
References: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com> <a06230902c2571bdeb2aa@[10.0.16.78]>
	<46320700.6040404@holdenweb.com>
	<2AB5541EB33172459EE430FFB66B1EE90505E685@BN-EXCH01.nuance.com>
Message-ID: <20070429014803.GA2032@andrew-kuchlings-computer.local>

On Fri, Apr 27, 2007 at 06:06:40PM -0400, Doug Napoleone wrote:
> Sounds good to me.
> How hard was it to set up the python Summer Of Code site?
> http://soc.python.org/

That's running Planet (http://www.planetplanet.org), which aggregates
posts from a set of RSS feeds; planet.python.org uses the same
software with a different page template.  The most time-consuming part
is probably drawing up the list of RSS feeds.

--amk


From martin at v.loewis.de  Sun Apr 29 16:33:49 2007
From: martin at v.loewis.de (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=22Martin_v=2E_L=F6wis=22?=)
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:33:49 +0200
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Pydotorg] Seeking Presentation Ideas for
 Certain www.python.org Content
In-Reply-To: <a06230902c2571bdeb2aa@[10.0.16.78]>
References: <462F38D9.50302@taupro.com> <a06230902c2571bdeb2aa@[10.0.16.78]>
Message-ID: <4634ACCD.1040505@v.loewis.de>

> Of course allowing a web form to post something, while still preventing
> spam would probably mean...user logins...user registrations...etc.

It doesn't have to be a web form. An email address (with a manual editor
of the web page) might be sufficient; organizers could just Cc that mail
email address in the announcement email that they send, anyway (as long
as the announcement is in English, or has an English summary, I assume).

If you think that people really don't want to use email, the pydotorg
bug tracker could be used, so that organizers file a change request
for the web page. Actual editing of the web page would still be manual.

Regards,
Martin