CTPUG Planning Meeting 2009/11/28 minutes

Present: nitwit, jerith, hodgestar, confluence, edward, davidfraser

Now

• Talks
• PyWeek
• Bug Days
• Euler Problems

Next Year

• World cup
• Tutorials

Tutorials

• Workshops rather than courses
• SudoRoom calendar - up to 6 people per course
• Spaces should be used by people who need to learn, rather than people who already know
• Instructors offer various topics, decide charge per seat
• SudoRoom will take 40% of income (including if it's a free course)
• Edward will set up payment gateways, handle that whole thing

Topics

• How do you find out what people want?
• Schedule and scope dependent on instructors
• Python for non-Python programmers - could be run regularly
  • Perhaps a rolling schedule or 4 lessons etc?
  • Basic syntax
  • Topics for target implementation - C, Java, .NET, PHP/Perl people
  • Standard library/modules - Web / DB / GUI
• Python for non-programmers - how to program, using Python

Format

• Introduction
• Choose three little tasks people want to do (e.g. web form to email)
• Give people scope to do one or more of them
• Instructor helps people through the material

Bug Days

• Something we should keep doing
• Success rate is not great
• But some fixes did get in
• We had fun
• It helps to have commit access to what you're going to hack on, somebody who's actually a developer
• ElementTree bug day - needed tests added - main developer has his own entire branch, so got stonewalled
• Should hook up with Stefan van der Walt on scipy stuff
• Could potentially do Bitten bug day - both davidfraser and Hodgestar have commit access

Talks

• Interesting problem + solution
• Interesting library
• After-talk discussion
• Recent events in the Python world (maybe better as after-talk discussion)

PyWeek

• Probably not the first one next year (February/March), perhaps the next one

Advocacy

• How to advertise the Python community a bit more?
• Piggy back on CLUG?
• How do you find the people who might be interested but aren't part of the community yet?
• What about Windowsy Python people
• Python talks in other forums
  • e.g. ​SPIN
  • Microsoft developers
  • Find other groups
  • Process - group development of talks (even if single presenter) - collective expertise
  • University students? engineering / physics / comp sci / bioinformatics / drama
  • Corporates?

Web site

• Upfront Systems could continue to host but would keep us on Plone, and none of those present can maintain this
• Nitwit would rather have CTPUG hosting with someone we can easily get hold of
• We have offer of hosting space with Edward - small Linode box
• Domain name ctpug.org.za
• Feeling is we should give everyone at this meeting admin access for everything
• davidf to set up fsvs
• mailing list notification on changes

Basic plan:

• Set up version control + trac specifically for use on bug days
• wiki, overview etc
• Need to set up layout for version control
• Distributed version control?
  • options are mercurial, bzr, git
  • best to setup with bare repository
  • mercurial is what Python will be using
  • bzr is what launchpad uses
  • we need multiple repository support in trac - easiest to do this with multiple projects
  • bug days don't need as much support from trac
  • if all working in a room, makes more sense to have repository local
• trac + single svn repository would be simple for filesystem to keep code in
• way of sending mail out - notifications etc
• calendar would be useful - probably best with a calendar plugin
• probably need spam editing

Other ideas

• Conferences - PyCON 2010 (Atlanta in February - nah), EuroPython (Birmingham?), PyCon Asia Pacific (June Singapore)
• Evening discussions - smaller group in coffee shop? (e.g. Touch of Madness)
• Shootouts of equivalent libraries - web frameworks, database, etc

Effort targeting

• Tutorials - complaints on the list about talks being too high-level
• Bug days - but make them focused
• Replace normal meetings with a bug day / talk to another group
• Meeting where main purpose is to talk to Python developers + something else happening
  • Talk on a topic
  • Planning for a presentation to another group
• Could have open mic python meetings where there's space to discuss planning etc
• Talks provide for an excuse for people to come to a meeting

Minutes by David Fraser