[PythonCAD] List of desired features on Wiki... and what about them?

[Art Haas]

On Sat, May 26, 2007 at 09:46:14AM -0500, Daron Rogers wrote:
> Thanks Glen for pointing me to the wiki. Guess I forgot about that.
> However, what about the delegation part of my previous comment? Who are
> the programmers to PyCAD? How many are there presently? Are the different
> "wish list" items being worked on by specific individuals or is it a whom
> ever feels like it sort of thing? Can these questions also be answered on
> the wiki?

I'm the only regular programmer on the project. Other people have
contributed bug fixes and patches, but there hasn't been anyone who has
become a regular contributor. That's the problem I'm hoping to resolve,
and I'm glad to see that there's been some traffic on the mailing list
discussing this.

The PythonCAD code is, in my view, easier to comprehend than code
written in a lower level language like C or C++, and I've always hoped
that by making the language hurdle lower more people would consider
contributing. It will take some time to dig through the code to start to
see how the pieces fit together, and it's my fault that the
documentation, or lack thereof, is primarily comments in the code and
doc strings.

I also know that contributing to an open source project is dependent on
just how much of their free time someone can devote to working on
something like PythonCAD. I've felt that projects like PythonCAD will
have a harder time drawing developers because the program is targeted to
a specific segment of computer users that typically don't code general
applications. A CAD package is probably of little interest to most
programmers as it isn't the type of software they would use on a daily
basis. It's a challenge to attract programmers to contribute to most
open-source packages, especially not the high profile programs like the
Linux kernel, GCC, KDE, GNOME, the various BSD distros, etc.

Art
-- 
Man once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities
the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind.

-Thomas Jefferson to James Smith, 1822