Candidates for the PSF Board of Directors
The following people have been nominated as Directors of the Python Software Foundation for the term beginning 23 February 2007. Their self-written summaries follow.
Nominees
Links
David Turvene
The obvious questions are:
"Who is this guy?"
I have been a professional software developer for over twenty years using, whenever possible, Open Source tools.
In 2005 I began experimenting with a variety of dynamic languages and quickly fell on Python as the one with the most promise for large, long-lived systems. For the last year I have experimented with a number of python applications for XML and Web development, focusing on Zope/Plone most recently.
"Why is he here?"
The short answer is David Goodger extended an invitation to assist.
But of course it isn't quite that simple. I feel Python is a great technology; very well thought-out with tremendous potential. I am interested in contributing to the growth of it. Furthermore I have a good amount of free time through 2007 and I feel contributing to Python is the best use of it.
This begs a number of questions that do not seem to be appropriate for this space but I can be reached at mailto:dturvene@comcast.net.
"What can he do for the PSF?"
As a software manager for many years, I came to learn that most of the work to support a company, even one that is tax-exempt and for the betterment of the universe, is not fun, challenging or even interesting. But it is critical.
I reviewed the Director Duties and am comfortable in whatever role assigned to me. I see my main tasks in this role as:
- Help out where needed and participate as an audience member in discussions. I will try my best to perform whatever tasks are assigned to me.
- Spread the influence of Python via advocacy and making it more visible to the software community at-large.
Andy Todd
I have been programming in Python for six years. I currently serve as the administrator of the Python database special interest group (db-sig). I write a blog at http://halfcooked.com/blog where Python is one of the main topics of discussion. I have presented papers at the UK Python Conference in 2004 and the Open Source Developers Conference in 2005 and 2006.
I would like to serve on the board of the Python Software Foundation to give a little back to the open source community that has given me so much. I'm happy to contribute wherever I can and am comfortable that I can fulfil the duties and responsibilities of a director of the PSF. As an example of my contribution to other open source projects I developed the documentation format and web site for the PythonCard project at http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/ as well as contributing code patches and a couple of complete sample applications.
James Tauber
- open source developer since 1993
- Python developer since 1998
- have led numerous open source projects in Python including Redfoot, Cleese, Leonardo and Pyjamas
- wrote first Python implementation of numerous standards: TREX (precursor to RELAX NG), Atom Publishing Protocol, Unicode Collation Algorithm
- PSF mentor for Google Summer of Code 2005 and 2006
- Chief Scientist at mValent where I introduced Python as scripting language for large-scale Java-based product (and converted numerous developers to Python in the process)
- outside of Python have been involved in numerous committees including standards (W3C, OASIS), former member of Apache XML Project Team, UWA Graduates Association (including membership drive and fundraising)
- am Australian and would like to work to help make PSF donations tax-deductible for Australians
Mark Summerfield
I am an independent trainer, consultant, and technical editor and writer, specializing in C++, Qt, and Python. I write the tools to support my everyday work in Python (and PyQt), and consider Python to be the most productive and enjoyable language I have ever used.
My contributions to the open-source world have mostly been behind-the-scenes, for example, my involvement with the Lout typesetting language, but some have been more visible, such as the Qt books I have co-written.
I think that I would be useful to the PSF and am open-minded about how I contribute.
Tim Peters
(to be completed)
Martin von Löwis
(to be completed)
Andrew Kuchling
I have been participating in the Python community since 1994, when I picked up the language for a class project and ended up giving a short talk at the Third Python Workshop the following year. For the past two years, I've been co-chairing the PyCon organizing committee.
This year's PyCon will be my last; the conference will be taken over by a new chair. I'm still running for a PSF director's seat, but will have new focuses for 2007-2008:
- Making it easier to add content to python.org. The site redesign has been successful; the underlying software, less so, and I think this is reducing contributions and making it too difficult to add new pages.
- Returning to writing Python-related documents: first white papers such as the AdvocacyWritingTasks, then Python documentation such as a user's guide.
- Assisting the revival of Jython development. Interest in dynamic languages on the JVM is growing with the GPLing of Java, and we want to be relevant in this domain.
- Possibly organizing a relatively small hackathon focusing on core Python development.
Steve Holden
(to be completed)
David Goodger
I first learned Python in 1998 and immediately became an enthusiastic Pythonista. The Python community has become very important to me. That's why I became a PEP editor and started helping out with the web site. I was elected as a member of the PSF in 2003, began helping out with PyCon in 2004, then got involved with the Board of Directors, first as Assistant Secretary in 2005 and as a Director and Secretary in 2006.
I believe in the principles of the Free Software movement in general, and Python and its community in particular. Working with the PSF as a Director is one way for me to give something back.
Contributions to the PSF & the Python community:
Creator of Docutils and reStructuredText
PEP editor since 2002
A maintainer of python.org, including the website conversion
PyCon volunteer since 2004
Director & Secretary since PyCon 2006, Assistant Secretary in 2005
As Secretary (and Assistant Secretary before), I maintain the minutes of the Board and Members' meetings, and am in the process of organizing our paper records. As a Director, I have taken on many tasks large and small, perhaps too many: I currently have the distinction of the most pending action items in the Board meeting minutes.
As a Director, these are some of the things I would like to accomplish and see accomplished:
- Establishment of an annual budget and budget policy, and a strategy/action plan (e.g. a grants process)
- Organization of the PSF's records
- Simplification of the web site's toolchain
- Creation of effective advocacy materials
- Reduction of my PSF to-do list
Stephan Deibel
A little about me:
- Co-founder of Wingware, maker of Wing IDE for Python
- http://wingware.com/
- Created Pythonology, one of the early Python Advocacy sites
- http://pythonology.org/
- Editor of the Python Success Stories collection
- http://pythonology.org/success http://python.org/about/success
- Member of the PSF
- Using Python since 1998
Some of my past contributions to the PSF:
- Chairman of the Board of the PSF since 2004
- Worked with legal counsel on the trademark policy
- http://www.python.org/psf/trademarks/
- Drafted parts of the license FAQ
- http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonSoftwareFoundationLicenseFaq
- Supported funding of the website redesign, and participated in the work as a volunteer
- http://python.org/
- Supported paying nominal salaries for the critical work done by the Treasurer (Kurt Kaiser) and Secretary (David Goodger)
- Championed funding Jeff Rush in the current six-month trial period for the Python Advocacy Coordinator position position, which I now oversee together with Neal Norwitz
- http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonAdvocacyCoordinator
- Respond to email questions re: trademarks and licensing
Things I would like to see:
- An easier-to-use web framework for python.org
- Continued support for advocacy, if this proves effective
- Revival of the grants process in some form
- Development of a more effective fund raising capability (more like a "normal" charity)
Notes:
I am also chairman of the Python Support Committee, which is charged with fund raising, but haven't had much time for this so there is little progress.
My company, Wingware, was previously a sponsor of the PSF, under its legal name Archaeopteryx Software Inc, but converted to Emeritus status when I started putting time into the PSF.
I live in Cambridge NY, a rural town in upstate NY where "pie ala mode" was invented and life is good.
Brett Cannon
I was elected to the PSF membership during the first PyCon in 2003. Shortly after that I become a committer on Python itself. Over the years I have made various contributions to the Python community, the largest of which was writing the python-dev Summaries for over two and a half years.
At PyCon 2006 I joined the PSF board. I was also elected chairman of the Infrastructure committee which is nearly completion on moving Python's issue tracking from SourceForge over to our own Roundup installation.
David Ascher
- director of the PSF since inception
- connector with other foundations (mozilla, apache, perl, etc.)
- co-author of Python books
- CTO/VP @ ActiveState (vendor of tools for Python programmers)