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On 12-03-12 4:19 , grafxuser wrote: Hi,Alexia replied: > If a developer can't set up his/her own environment, they cant do the job. Period. We don't even accept GSoC students who have not done this before applying. And honestly, its not rocket science. Just stuff you HAVE TO know as a developer. Things gimp depends on etc. There are plenty of advice and scripts for linux and even mac. Build environment on windows is a bit more complex... and is contributing on windows. Alexia, with all possible and imaginable respect I have for you (I truly do) and all other great girls and guys here: '...Just stuff you HAVE TO know...', sounds like an awful thing to say now that you have mastered it. It sounds as if you're burning bridges with an elitist smirk. I haven't seen a person yet born with knowledge of setting up a development environment. Did you forget? I am sure someone taught you how to do it, and someone showed you how to setup your environment. Maybe you learned on your own, but even so, you read stuff that someone wrote, so that you can learn and create and push the whole thing further than that person before you (which you do admirably!). I am sorry if I said it too harshly, I am trying to get my opinion across. I believe deeply that one key aspect of open/free paradigm is that we don't close any pathways to learning and knowledge. In this respect, grafxuser's suggestion sounds valid and, it is my opinion, could provide a fundamental perspective on approaching GIMP development for the young blood. What could go wrong? (famous last words, I know, but really...) A ready-made environment could only provide a playground for 'younglings'. They can do whatever they want with it and just maybe even submit an awful patch here and there; or even take the environment apart and learn how to setup their environments. One thing is certain. Those awful patches, they will get better and better with time, and they will be awful no more. They just might be brilliant, who knows? And who knows, maybe there would be a new generation of GIMP developers. Maybe not, but then again, maybe yes. I am not suggesting a 'GIMP dev school' (not now, at least ;). You are right, there are lots and lots of sources online with info. It might not appear so to you, but to an initiate, that info is a loosely connected network of mixed structured info and personal notes, sometimes obsolete... Since you girls and guys are so far ahead in this, it is astonishingly brave for anyone to dedicate time to at least catch up with you. In my opinion, grafxuser's idea would provide a bit of a shortcut there, wouldn't it? And, considering the correspondences on GIMP mailing list, about the lack of developers, I get the impression that it is not the time to be picky. You know a lot more than me on this topic, do you think that a ready-made environment would not be worth the effort? Alexandre said: >Sure, make it. I do agree with this. Being one of the ignorant, I would like to collaborate with others on this idea. ... Food for thought... It was mentioned before in the context of GIMP users, but maybe it is applicable to developer community, too... (yahvuu provided a great read considering this: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2004/10/defending-perpetual-intermediacy.html ) It seems that GIMP community is missing the 'middle' zone. There are masters up there, and there are people down there that try to initiate themselves in (and often loose steam), and then there is a void in the middle. Hope it does not offend anyone, GIMP community resembles an aging nation, in a way. ;) Cheers! Alex |