The Future of Collaboration in the Python community and beyond¶
Author¶
- Daniel Greenfield (http://twitter.com/pydanny)
- Cartwheel Web/ Revsys
- Django Packages (http://djangopackages.com)
- Whitespace Jobs (https://whitespacejobs.org)
- Fiance of Audrey Row
Mark Pilgrim is Gone¶
- He did feedparser, httplib2
- aside: httplib2 was actually by Joe Gregorio
Dive into Python
Dive into HTML5
Other things
We lost a lot with him leaving, sad to see him go.
What Happened to his Projects?¶
- What is the copyright?
- A: CC-SA
- What about his code?
- httplib2 is a big dependency of many projects
- That’s how found out he was gone
- Pypi didn’t host it
- Google Code didn’t host it anymore.
PyPI issues¶
- Too easy to delete a package * Dependency checks for that package * Request a project handoff * Other projects need to be notified * RSS feeds
- Human moderation * Some can be automate * Burdens PyPI team
Repeating History¶
Django-lint
- Django-Piston
- social factors caused no release in years
python.org
- opencomparison.org
- Host djangopackages.com
- How does this get maintained?
Dark Future¶
- Critical Packages Breakdown
- Python packages vanish
- Build scripts fail
- Replace from caches/backups
Repercussions¶
- Lose domain knowledge
- Python can’t move forward.
- Social Issues
- 3rd Party Community is just as critical as Python core
Not the Future¶
It’s today
Legacy code with legacy packages
Build scripts fail
- Example of NASA issue
- caused project to go to ColdFusion
- We have lost works of antiquity
- Blame is moot
Stuff we make today is legacy in 5 years
Trust Issues¶
This causes a lack of trust in Python
- Without trust, we can’t collaborate as well
- The disease that will trigger zombie apocolypse
Solutions¶
- Money!
- Sponsorships
- Problems getting money
- Applications
- Focus on sprints
- Code quality issue from sprints
- Ongoing maintenance
Future is still dark¶
Community Managers
Ticket triage, etc.
Needs core/senior developers
- They are already busy
- Examples pay people to do this
- Volunteers may have life get in the way
Determining authority
PSF Paid Commmunity Manager¶
- Proposed solution
- Paid via the PSF
Repercussions¶
- Fixes some problems
- Mitigate social issues
- Can still lose domain knowledge
Precedents¶
- Ubuntu
- Fedory
- Twilio
- Github
Wants¶
- More reasons to trust
- More reasons to contribute
- Keep projects operating
Call to Action¶
This is a proposal
Wants to see PSF project incubation
- PSF provides seed funding for OS projects
- Should return on investment
- Preferably to Python community
- Needs a viable business model
- PSF is an investor
Choose from particapants in Django Dash & coding contests
Return¶
- Gives OS code
- Gives money back to the PSF
What this isn’t¶
- Covering < $100 for hosting
- Things without a self-supporting business model
Examples Projects¶
- djangolint.com
Little setup requires
Uses github
Wants for all Python
Wants syndication
- How does it make money?
- Pay to analyze privately?
Easy linting increases trust
- readthedocs.org
Places in the 2010 Django Dash
Documentation increases trust
- Business model?
- Pay for private doc hosting would be good.
- Clients don’t want to host docs.
- depot.io
Freeze your python dependencies
Doesn’t replace PyPI
Provides additional security
- Possible Advantages
- Archive legacy packages
- Leave PyPI as the canonical source
- Adds dependablility, trust
- PyPI
- Pay for a PyPI Appliance?
- Github makes “giant” profits on Enterprise Appliance
- djangopackages.com
Just launched pyramid version
Plone?
Python?
Compare and contrast packages
Helped determine a package to use
Gives metrics
Metrics give trust
- As opencomparison, support more things
- Languages
- Syndication
- OAuth
- What’s the business model?
Results¶
- Don’t have packages vanish.
- Let Python move forward
- Have new social issues.
Paid Community Manager¶
- Maybe the PSF shouldn’t be involved
- Outside factors?
Project Incubations¶
- Already exists, just not with PSF
- How much code comes out of these?
- Energy of startup giving back?