Topics for PyCon DC 2003 - Build Your Own Conference!!!!
[http://www.python.org/pycon/ PyCon DC 2003] is not going to be an elitist conference. It needs your help to ensure that there is something for everybody! Chris Johnson has found some basic data on PyConAccommodation which can help you to find a less expensive place to stay. Matt Croydon's notes in PyConForCheap might also help.
What can you do? Well, firstly you can contribute your ideas on this page. It's easy to edit Wiki content, so get to it - just click on Edit Text below! The more contributors we have, the more relevant and interesting PyCon DC 2003 will be. A few topics are listed below to get you started, but you should feel free to add others if you believe the PythonCommunities will benefit from having them covered at this, and future, conferences. You can show your support at PyConRandomExclamationsOfSupport.
What Can I Do for PyCon?
See the PyConHelpers page for areas where volunteers are currently needed, and please feel free to sign up there. Also to add other areas where you think you'd like help -- SH
Birds of a Feather Sessions
In many conferences the BoFs are where much of the real communication takes place. If your particular area of interest doesn't manage to generate its own track then at least register your interest on the BoFs page so people can sign up for it.
Sprints
The sprints are intended to benefit the Python core, as well as encouraging more developers to take part in Python's development. They will also be a good place to see ExtremeProgramming or other AgileDevelopment techniques in action. What would you like to see done, or at least attempted?
Here's some information from Guido that will at least give those interested some kind of orientation and set appropriate expectations. A summary: it's fine to express interest, and to record it here along with topic suggestions, but don't expect too much to happen until maybe a month before the conference.
- We can do this in several ways. If we make the sprinters pay extra for use of facilities during the sprint, we can basically handle as many people as sign up. If we pay for the sprint facilities out of conference surplus, we have to be more selective.
Sprints for pure newbies (no Python experience) probably won't work well, although there are some local folks in DC who have some experience. (George Paci <george@rightinternet.com> should know more; you should ask him if he wants to run one.) Sprints for people with Python experience but no experience on a particular code base (e.g. Zope) can work if there's an introductory talk at the beginning. This is how Jim Fulton does most Zope3 sprints. But that takes time away from sprinting (his intro was almost a full day at the recent sprint in Rotterdam). Sprints need focused projects that have been selected by more experienced developers ahead of time; you can't just get together without a plan and expect much to happen.
I suggest that we shouldn't try to plan the sprints just yet. But maybe someone can transfer some of this to the Wiki so there's info for people interested in sprints. -- guido, December 18, 2002
We should have a documentation sprint. Last year, we mapped out a month's worth of work to document classic and new style class semantics. It would be really wonderful if we could actually attack this at Pycon and a sprint might be the right forum to do so. Plus it would give lots of folks opportunities to learn about new style classes. -barry
Installathon
The ideas here are principally:
- help complete novices to install Python on their laptops, (possibly) as well as other needed software
- help Python newcomers, and the less-technically minded, to install needed modules
- debug the installation procedures for any modules and packages the authors care to put up for consideration, and
- investiagte the practicality of various "batteries included" distributions
Lightning Talks
At IPC 10 the Developer Day had many short talks on diverse topics. If you can't produce a full-blown paper, offer your own talk (as short as five minutes is acceptable) to distill a part of your hard-won experience and save others the learning time you put in. Or just say what you'd like someone else to give a lightning talk on.
I'm thinking about giving one or more talks on how to be a python developer. Topics could include: CVS 101, submitting patches, helping with bug reports, updating documentation, adding/updating tests, etc. I'd be interested in what people believe is important. -- neal
Feel free to sign up to give a talk that somebody else has suggested.
Practical ssh -- to explain in simple terms that we can all understand how ssh works and how you can set it up for secure remote access to as many systems as you need. -- I'll do this SH
Cygwin benefits -- how to be a good open source community member even though you run the Evil Empire's operating system on your laptop.
Modules -- Pick a module (standard or third party) and