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comp.lang.ruby

Virtual Ruby Group

Zach Dennis

2/17/2005 11:59:00 PM

Ok, I have a question for fellow rubyists, rubyiers, etc... There seem
to be alot of people in their area that are the *only* publicly
announcing ruby programmers. (I'm sure there are others, but they may be
afraid of getting maulled by the local perl mongers or python lovers
group...or in my case the .NET cultists).

If this sounds appealling to other people perhaps we could set up a
virtual ruby group. Setup microphone/webcam/instant messenger/irc
channel, etc.. to do a meeting over the wire.

This way we could still join on doing ruby projects together, meeting to
go over all the cool stuff we find out, or are doing and can help people
interested in ruby. Heck no one has to leave their own
bedroom/office/basement/garage/coffee house/etc... Just plug in and
we're there!

Does this sound appealing to people? If so, please respond to this
thread...If enough people are interested we can start an actual ML for
that type of thing.

Heck, our first project could be writing an mini-ERP system for our
virtual users group, which would host the virtual meetings on some
corporate T1(s)!

Zach
55 Answers

Lyle Johnson

2/18/2005 3:53:00 AM

0

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 08:59:18 +0900, Zach Dennis <zdennis@mktec.com> wrote:

> If this sounds appealling to other people perhaps we could set up a
> virtual ruby group. Setup microphone/webcam/instant messenger/irc
> channel, etc.. to do a meeting over the wire.

Well, there is of course the existing IRC channel at freenode, so I
don't think we want to splinter off from that. Are you suggesting that
we try to augment that (e.g. with webcams and what-not)?

Zach Dennis

2/18/2005 4:09:00 AM

0

Lyle Johnson wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 08:59:18 +0900, Zach Dennis <zdennis@mktec.com> wrote:
>
>
>>If this sounds appealling to other people perhaps we could set up a
>>virtual ruby group. Setup microphone/webcam/instant messenger/irc
>>channel, etc.. to do a meeting over the wire.
>
>
> Well, there is of course the existing IRC channel at freenode, so I
> don't think we want to splinter off from that. Are you suggesting that
> we try to augment that (e.g. with webcams and what-not)?
>

Sort of, and sort of not. I remember going to a few other Ruby Groups
web sites (I think Seattle.rb was the most recent and it was mentioned
on the list) and I really the liked the idea of people getting together
and starting projects together. I thought this was really awesome of
these groups to do this.

irc is great, but i don't know if it is the right spot to solicit to
others, "hey do you want to band together and work on a project
together?!" I dont' want to disrespect the #ruby-lang channel or scare
people far far away.

I was thinking that a Virtual Ruby Group could be as simple as a couple
people who didn't have other rubyists in their area to band together on
their own ML, and to setup online meetings once a month to start a
project together. This seems like a good way for ruby programmers, both
new and advanced to be apart of something. This could get as geeky as
people with WebCams, Microphones, etc... or just be a 2 people emailing
each other back and forth.

I may be wishful thinking here, and this wasn't entirely thought out to
be honest. I was just thinking when I was at the Ruby Meetup Group(s)
web site, "WOW there are alot of 1-2 people groups, if they joined
together there'd be a whole slew of rubyists, just think what they could
accomplish!".

I don't know if anyone else out there is thinking, man that'd be cool,
but I dont' want to say anything...so I thought I'd say something.
Fighting for the little guy in a sea of .NET, Perl, Python and Java users!

Zach

Hal E. Fulton

2/18/2005 7:35:00 AM

0

Zach Dennis wrote:
> Lyle Johnson wrote:
>> Well, there is of course the existing IRC channel at freenode, so I
>> don't think we want to splinter off from that. Are you suggesting that
>> we try to augment that (e.g. with webcams and what-not)?
>
> Sort of, and sort of not. I remember going to a few other Ruby Groups
> web sites (I think Seattle.rb was the most recent and it was mentioned
> on the list) and I really the liked the idea of people getting together
> and starting projects together. I thought this was really awesome of
> these groups to do this.

I think this is a good idea, though it might be tricky in practice.

One reason I got interested in FreeRIDE was I had the idea for a
pair-programming editor (about 2.5 years ago).

Curt said it would be easy to implement, but it has never been
added to FreeRIDE yet.

But if I had a practical way to communicate, I'd love to collaborate
on some stuff.


Hal

Michel Martens

2/18/2005 12:31:00 PM

0

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:34:36 +0900, Hal Fulton <hal9000@hypermetrics.com> wrote:
> But if I had a practical way to communicate, I'd love to collaborate
> on some stuff.

I'd love that too. Living in Mar del Plata, Argentina, I don't have a
rubist fellow in 1000 miles around. I think it's a great idea, though
I can't help seeing myself idling at freenode until I get bored to
death. Anyway, maybe it's worth a try.

Michel.

Lyle Johnson

2/18/2005 1:36:00 PM

0

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 23:04:34 -0500, Zach Dennis <zdennis@mktec.com> wrote:

> Sort of, and sort of not. I remember going to a few other Ruby Groups
> web sites (I think Seattle.rb was the most recent and it was mentioned
> on the list) and I really the liked the idea of people getting together
> and starting projects together. I thought this was really awesome of
> these groups to do this.

Oh, yes. Definitely.

> irc is great, but i don't know if it is the right spot to solicit to
> others, "hey do you want to band together and work on a project
> together?!" I dont' want to disrespect the #ruby-lang channel or scare
> people far far away.

This mailing list and the IRC channel seem like the obvious places to
do that already; that's why it would sort-of worry me if we set Yet
Another Web Site where you go to solicit other people to join you on a
Ruby-related project. That is to say, I don't want us to get so
"diluted" that it actually becomes *harder* to find Ruby people
because you're not sure web site, or mailing list, or IRC channel to
flock to.

> I was thinking that a Virtual Ruby Group could be as simple as a couple
> people who didn't have other rubyists in their area to band together on
> their own ML, and to setup online meetings once a month to start a
> project together. This seems like a good way for ruby programmers, both
> new and advanced to be apart of something. This could get as geeky as
> people with WebCams, Microphones, etc... or just be a 2 people emailing
> each other back and forth.

Oh, yes, now this sounds fine once a group's established. I haven't
yet had a chance to look at Skype (http://www...) but it might
be something that you could use; it seems to have a pretty high geek
quotient. ;) And of course Hal mentioned the desire to integrate pair
programming capabilities into FreeRIDE; there might be other
Ruby-based technologies that you could develop to facilitate these
virtual user group meetings.

> I may be wishful thinking here, and this wasn't entirely thought out to
> be honest. I was just thinking when I was at the Ruby Meetup Group(s)
> web site, "WOW there are alot of 1-2 people groups, if they joined
> together there'd be a whole slew of rubyists, just think what they could
> accomplish!".

Yes, and let me be clear that I'm not trying to throw cold water on
the idea. I'm glad you're excited about it and hope that it goes
somewhere. I'm one of those people out in the Ruby desert (that is the
Tennessee Valley) and until I recruit some more guys at work to get
into Ruby, the Internet is my virtual user group too. ;)

This also seems like the appropriate place to mention the RubyCentral,
Inc. codefest grant program (see http://www.rubyc...); it is a
program designed to provide support for local and regional groups
working on development of Ruby libraries. The first round of
solicitations has just ended (i.e. you can't apply for a grant right
now), but if this first round of work goes well there may be
additional ones in the future.

James Gray

2/18/2005 2:42:00 PM

0

On Feb 18, 2005, at 1:34 AM, Hal Fulton wrote:

> But if I had a practical way to communicate, I'd love to collaborate
> on some stuff.

Yeah, I code go for that too. I would like to get involved with more
Ruby projects, especially group projects. Sounds like fun.

James Edward Gray II

Zach Dennis

2/18/2005 3:12:00 PM

0

Hal Fulton wrote:
> Zach Dennis wrote:
>
>> Lyle Johnson wrote:
>>
>>> Well, there is of course the existing IRC channel at freenode, so I
>>> don't think we want to splinter off from that. Are you suggesting that
>>> we try to augment that (e.g. with webcams and what-not)?
>>
>>
>> Sort of, and sort of not. I remember going to a few other Ruby Groups
>> web sites (I think Seattle.rb was the most recent and it was mentioned
>> on the list) and I really the liked the idea of people getting
>> together and starting projects together. I thought this was really
>> awesome of these groups to do this.
>
>
> I think this is a good idea, though it might be tricky in practice.
>
> One reason I got interested in FreeRIDE was I had the idea for a
> pair-programming editor (about 2.5 years ago).
>
> Curt said it would be easy to implement, but it has never been
> added to FreeRIDE yet.
>
> But if I had a practical way to communicate, I'd love to collaborate
> on some stuff.

It appears there are other folks out there willing to give this a shot!
I'm going to wait until later today or tomorrow in case some others want
to show interest on this thread, then I'll post a few suggestions and
questions for those interested and maybe we can get something going (or
at least a plan of attack) for our Virtual Ruby Group.

Zach

Kero van Gelder

2/18/2005 3:53:00 PM

0

>> irc is great, but i don't know if it is the right spot to solicit to
>> others, "hey do you want to band together and work on a project
>> together?!" I dont' want to disrespect the #ruby-lang channel or scare
>> people far far away.
>
> This mailing list and the IRC channel seem like the obvious places to
> do that already; that's why it would sort-of worry me if we set Yet
> Another Web Site where you go to solicit other people to join you on a
> Ruby-related project. That is to say, I don't want us to get so
> "diluted" that it actually becomes *harder* to find Ruby people
> because you're not sure web site, or mailing list, or IRC channel to
> flock to.

I play in a game called VGA-planets. It's from the days a VGA screen was
highres. It is still played, amazingly enough!!
But the user community is totally, utterly fragmented. A shame.

However, an IRC channel with a million users won't work. So there will
have to be some spread. While Ruby is as it is now, there is a central
place and things will remain cohesive. Linux is Many, but Linux is also
One.

However, it is very hard to become One when you start with many. It is
easier to remain One when you grow to become Many.

VGA-Planets' central place is dormant. No wonder the community fell apart.

Perhaps another way of saying it: if this Virtual Ruby Group is 'extra',
that is good. If it is 'instead of', it is bad. (hey, you asked on the
ML/NG, so you probably think 'extra'; I can feel why ppl can be offput,
though).

>> I was thinking that a Virtual Ruby Group could be as simple as a couple
>> people who didn't have other rubyists in their area to band together on
>> their own ML, and to setup online meetings once a month to start a
>> project together. This seems like a good way for ruby programmers, both
>> new and advanced to be apart of something. This could get as geeky as
>> people with WebCams, Microphones, etc... or just be a 2 people emailing
>> each other back and forth.

....but with your own ML, only use it for meetings, not for general Ruby
questions. We have a ML. Do not fork the ML.

(plenty of web-software that encourages you to make your own this, your
own that, your own everything. That does not mean it is always a good idea.)

>> I may be wishful thinking here, and this wasn't entirely thought out to
>> be honest. I was just thinking when I was at the Ruby Meetup Group(s)
>> web site, "WOW there are alot of 1-2 people groups, if they joined
>> together there'd be a whole slew of rubyists, just think what they could
>> accomplish!".

Absolutely!

+--- Kero ----------------------- kero@chello@nl ---+
| all the meaningless and empty words I spoke |
| Promises -- The Cranberries |
+--- M38c --- http://httpd.chello.nl/k... ---+

Bill Guindon

2/18/2005 3:58:00 PM

0

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 22:36:06 +0900, Lyle Johnson <lyle.johnson@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 23:04:34 -0500, Zach Dennis <zdennis@mktec.com> wrote:
>
> > Sort of, and sort of not. I remember going to a few other Ruby Groups
> > web sites (I think Seattle.rb was the most recent and it was mentioned
> > on the list) and I really the liked the idea of people getting together
> > and starting projects together. I thought this was really awesome of
> > these groups to do this.
>
> Oh, yes. Definitely.
>
> > irc is great, but i don't know if it is the right spot to solicit to
> > others, "hey do you want to band together and work on a project
> > together?!" I dont' want to disrespect the #ruby-lang channel or scare
> > people far far away.

I'd think it's a fine place to do that. And for a larger project, you
can set up another channel.

> This mailing list and the IRC channel seem like the obvious places to
> do that already; that's why it would sort-of worry me if we set Yet
> Another Web Site where you go to solicit other people to join you on a
> Ruby-related project. That is to say, I don't want us to get so
> "diluted" that it actually becomes *harder* to find Ruby people
> because you're not sure web site, or mailing list, or IRC channel to
> flock to.

Splintering the group can be a problem, but all that's needed is
occassional posts here announcing updates, or a couple of group
members to add urls, irc channel name, etc. to their sig files.

> > I was thinking that a Virtual Ruby Group could be as simple as a couple
> > people who didn't have other rubyists in their area to band together on
> > their own ML, and to setup online meetings once a month to start a
> > project together. This seems like a good way for ruby programmers, both
> > new and advanced to be apart of something. This could get as geeky as
> > people with WebCams, Microphones, etc... or just be a 2 people emailing
> > each other back and forth.
>
> Oh, yes, now this sounds fine once a group's established. I haven't
> yet had a chance to look at Skype (http://www...) but it might
> be something that you could use; it seems to have a pretty high geek

I've not tried skype, but I hear good things about it. I've done
quite a bit of voice chat (in fact, I'm chatting a buddy in Georgia
atm), and it can work well. Not sure how well it works in large
crowds, about the most I've tried is 6 or 7, and that may be a
realistic limit.

> quotient. ;) And of course Hal mentioned the desire to integrate pair
> programming capabilities into FreeRIDE; there might be other
> Ruby-based technologies that you could develop to facilitate these
> virtual user group meetings.

In our case, we tend to rely on http://rafb.... for quick/dirty
stuff. We also have a "private" version of that, but it's quite
limited - ie: doesn't keep a history, etc.

I would love to see a "team" version of nopaste, that keeps a project
history. Something that falls between Forums and CVS. Perhaps this
should be the first project -- building a small team communication
center?

> > I may be wishful thinking here, and this wasn't entirely thought out to
> > be honest. I was just thinking when I was at the Ruby Meetup Group(s)
> > web site, "WOW there are alot of 1-2 people groups, if they joined
> > together there'd be a whole slew of rubyists, just think what they could
> > accomplish!".
>
> Yes, and let me be clear that I'm not trying to throw cold water on
> the idea. I'm glad you're excited about it and hope that it goes
> somewhere. I'm one of those people out in the Ruby desert (that is the
> Tennessee Valley) and until I recruit some more guys at work to get
> into Ruby, the Internet is my virtual user group too. ;)
>
> This also seems like the appropriate place to mention the RubyCentral,
> Inc. codefest grant program (see http://www.rubyc...); it is a
> program designed to provide support for local and regional groups
> working on development of Ruby libraries. The first round of
> solicitations has just ended (i.e. you can't apply for a grant right
> now), but if this first round of work goes well there may be
> additional ones in the future.

I look forward to see how that works out, and I'm hoping for the best.
I still have a the beginnings of an xBase library that I'd love to
find a team to help flesh out.

--
Bill Guindon (aka aGorilla)

Christian Neukirchen

2/18/2005 4:26:00 PM

0

Lyle Johnson <lyle.johnson@gmail.com> writes:

> On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 08:59:18 +0900, Zach Dennis <zdennis@mktec.com> wrote:
>
>> If this sounds appealling to other people perhaps we could set up a
>> virtual ruby group. Setup microphone/webcam/instant messenger/irc
>> channel, etc.. to do a meeting over the wire.
>
> Well, there is of course the existing IRC channel at freenode, so I
> don't think we want to splinter off from that. Are you suggesting that
> we try to augment that (e.g. with webcams and what-not)?

There are already ~10 other ruby-related channels on freenode, I don't
see why you simply can't setup a new, *project-specifc* room.

--
Christian Neukirchen <chneukirchen@gmail.com> http://chneuk...