[Mono-list] Proposal: Monodevelop month of hacking

[Lluis Sanchez]

Hi!

It's great to have somebody interested in promoting MD in this way. If
you are going to work on a plan for the month of hacking, please make
sure it is compatible both in focus and in dates with our release plan
for MonoDevelop 1.0
(http://www.monodevelop.com/Release_plan_for_MonoDevelop_1.0). You
should probably add two months to the dates published there.

The 1.0 release is an important milestone, since it will ensure that we
have a stable IDE we can make grow in the future. So, if we plan a month
of hacking to be done before the release it needs to be focused on
stabilizing and polishing MonoDevelop, not in adding new features. There
are several features being requested for users which won't make it for
1.0. For example, the ASP.NET editor. It would take several months of a
full-time hacker to finish and stabilize it. We don't have that hacker,
and we don't have that time.

If we plan a month of hacking after the 1.0 release, the focus can be
very different. We can then focus on promoting the development of new
add-ins and in improving the existing ones. Having a stable IDE that
people can use for everyday work will help in encouraging people to
contribute.

Of course we could have both months of hacking, and that would be great.
I look forward to see your proposals.

Thanks!
Lluis.

El dg 11 de 02 del 2007 a les 21:42 +0200, en/na "C. Bergström" va
escriure:
> Lluis Sanchez wrote:
> > El dj 08 de 02 del 2007 a les 12:01 +0200, en/na "C. Bergström" va
> > escriure:
> >   
> > I also like the idea of pushing MD, however, I'd like to know what
> > "month of hacking" really should be.
> >   
> A coordinated effort where we set realistic goals and overall create a 
> marketing effort to help achieve those goals.  As they say "the squeaky 
> wheel gets oil", so lets make some noise :)  I'm brainstorming on 
> specifics and open to suggestions.
> > A few months ago a release plan for MonoDevelop was presented, with a
> > detailed list of features and fixes we'd like to have for MD 1.0. This
> > plan was discussed in the mailing list, it was updated from people's
> > feedback, and several people showed interest in helping. But that's all,
> > we've got very little contributions so far.
> >   
> If we've already created a proposal, then that's one more step in the 
> right direction.  Like many things I'm sure it partially comes down to a 
> numbers game of just getting our message in front of enough people..
> > Maybe people is too busy to help (I know some of them are). Maybe it's
> > my fault in not being able to encourage new contributors to help. I
> > don't know.
> >   
> As with using any new piece of software... It can be very discouraging 
> if the program
>     a) Doesn't compile
>     b) Crashes on startup
>     c) Unstable
> 
> I'm not sure how many Mac Mono hackers there are, but in the short bit 
> of time I spent on irc. I did see a number of them complain about the 
> required dependencies and also that it was pretty unstable.. How many 
> hidden Mono Mac users are really out there..?
> 
> If we do a fund raiser before the month of hacking. maybe we can get out 
> some sort of cash bounty for hardest working hacker, certain bugs, 
> certain features or whatever else may come to mind to motivate people.
> 
> > So, what do you think a "month of hacking" should really be? As a
> > potential project contributor, what would make a difference to you, so
> > you would decide to start helping? Which information would you expect
> > the wiki you propose to have? Which commitments should we (regular
> > project maintainers) take in order to help you and other contributors
> > during this month? (maybe provide more internal (documentation?, maybe
> > more support on irc/mailing list?). I'm asking for specific ideas,
> > because just declaring a "month of hacking" won't magically bring more
> > hackers.
> >   
> All this will really require a much more indepth conversation, thought 
> and through planning.  More coming later..
> 
> 
> C.
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