[TRUG]Developerfests vs Installfests

[Sy Ali]

On 6/28/06, Jason Spiro <jasonspiro-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> Didn't the Toronto Ruby Users Group do a hacking night once?
>
> TRUG people: How did it go? I wasn't there. (Please CC tlug at ss.org.)

It went well, but needed more planning beforehand so as to get
everyone productive sooner.  If we had a few more hours (and the will
to use them) we would definitely have used them productively.

We only had a couple of Ruby-capable people, the rest were there to
see what it was like and to get a good paired programming experience.

Everyone walked away with questions answered and a head full of ideas.
 Some of us continued a bit of work, but without cohesive leadership I
don't see how the project could ever come to a conclusion (a capable
ruby-native tar/etc library)

I fear this is like the rest of all hobbyist-created software, where
the main drive is self-motivation.  Self-motivation which is often
based on individual needs and other "difficult to herd" traits.


So when it comes to developerfests, installfests, hackathons and the
like.. the question to keep asking to the people you want to heard is:
 "Why should they care?" .. for the greater Good isn't usually good
enough.  From boredom.. that's not going to get you far.  For ego..
maybe.  For the excitement and learning, yes that's on the right
track.

So to herd the cats one must engage them either by solving their
problems or enticing their curiosity.

Would I be interested in an installfest?  No, because my distribution
is best.  I already know how to install it, so why would I care to see
someone else do it.  Why would I care to help someone else install it,
it's easy to install.. it's not my problem.. I don't know them.. I
have better things to do.. etc..

Similar issues exist when combining developers.. if they're working on
a common goal.. something of interest, then combining them is easy.
If the reason for their combination can't be found and maintained,
then like all the 0.5-beta releases out there, it will only half work,
at best.  Unless someone else appears out of thin air to take over the
project.  That seems to be the reasoning behind most projects.. they
solve a problem for themselves, and totally ignore general usage and
good usability, and will tell others to continue/fix/update the
software themselves, since that was their own motivation.


ok, ranting now..
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://tlug.ss.org
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://tlug.ss.org/subscribe.shtml