OpenHatch Sprint Report
Contributed by Asheesh Laroia, the sprint organizer.
On Sunday, November 13, with the help of a grant from Python Sprints, contributors to OpenHatch got together to clean up documentation and get started on new projects. Here's what it looked like:
Four people attended our local Boston-area sprint, and one person sprinted remotely. We worked toward the release goals for the month: making a smoother setup process for new contributors, improving the front page of the site, and adding a feature to make the site more useful to project maintainers. Alas, Jessica McKellar, one of the main contributors, could not attend due to the Twisted sprint going on at the same time. Next time!
Jule Slootbeek began to add a much-needed feature to the app. M. Page-Lieberman, Deborah Nicholson, and I cleaned up and tested the developer documentation. Deb and Jule submitted their first patches. Karen Rustad, sprinted remotely, continuing her work on new information architecture for the front page of site. Here's Karen waving from Berkeley:
After four hours of eating, drinking, and hacking, it was time to pack up. I suggested we start having monthly sprints, and Jule countered that we should have them twice a month! I'm looking forward to having sprints more often; this sprint is a follow-up to ad-hoc OpenHatch sprints at PyCon and the Boston Python Project Night. Thanks to the PSF for sponsoring!
OpenHatch sprint - Cambridge, MA
If you're in the Cambridge, MA area this Sunday and looking to hack on a really cool project, Asheesh Laroia and crew are going to be working on the OpenHatch.org site. The site is Django-based and makes use of a number of great Django add-ons, so step up to the plate with your skills or sit down and learn a thing or two!
We're really happy to be sponsoring an OpenHatch sprint because it's a perfect fit for us. We're all about funding contributors to open source projects, and they're all about connecting contributors to open source communities in need. The site has tools for finding projects that need help, finding project mentors, and just offering your general help to see who bites. On the project side of things, they have ways of listing tasks you need help with, listing your project's bugs, and letting people know how they can contribute. It's a really great tool that we're hoping will really take off, and we're hoping this sprint will push them forward.
They're expecing a small group so you'll get some good guidance from the existing team members. If you're interested, sign up on their Doodle.
For more details on the event, see their announcement.
Twisted Sprint in Boston, MA
Join the Twisted team on October 15 for a day of sprinting towards an 11.1 release, consisting of plenty of bug fixing, feature adding, and documenting. Coached by the local core contributors, you'll have a chance to sit down and make an impact on the Twisted community, plus you'll learn a thing or two. They've been putting together sprints for quite a while, with reports here, so they're a great group to sit down with if you're a first timer.
The group expects to have 10-15 attendees, and the venue isn't decided yet besides being in the Boston area. We'll update you with solid details once we know them. They're looking to start around noon go through the evening.
If you're interested, contact them on Twitter @twistedmatrix, or contact us at sprints@python.org and we'll pass on your info.
PyOhio Conference and Sprints at OSU
If you're in the midwest and looking for a great Python conference to go to, pack your bags and book your tickets to Columbus, Ohio on July 30 and 31. In fact, stay for August 1 and put in a whole day of sprinting! The conference is being held at the Ohio Union on the campus of The Ohio State University.
This year's talk schedule looks great, so get there early. Michael Yanovich is giving a Python 101 and 102 tutorial session for the beginners in the audience. Brandon Craig Rhodes has a lot on his plate with not one, not two, but three talks. Alex Ezell will be telling the journey of conference sponsor Emma's transition from PHP to Python. Eric Floehr, one of the conference organizers, will be leading a panel of entrepreneurs in an audience-led talk on consulting, selling Python products, and more.
After the talks are over, stick around in the evenings to hack with the best of 'em. So far the list includes Rick Harding at the helm of a sprint on Bookie, a del.icio.us alternative built with Pyramid and SqlAlchemy. Anthony Long will captain the porting of Jellyfish, a JavaScript execution framework, to Python. Morgan Goose, core contributor to Fabric, will be leading a sprint to make the project "even awesomer" as the conference sprints page says.
Is your sprint not listed? Want to start your own sprint? Email pyohio-organizers@python.org and get it listed! Hell, just show up with a laptop and sprint to your heart's content.
We're looking forward to the great things a sprint like this can achieve. Sitting face to face with the leaders of a project is a great time to get started if you're a first timer, a great time to sit down and flesh out the details and code of some of the murky parts of a codebase, and so much more.
If your local user group or conference is hosting a sprint, let us know at sprints@python.org. We want to sponsor you.
Sprints at EuroPython
If you're at EuroPython this year we hope you're enjoying the great talks, and we also hope you're sticking around for the sprints on Friday! The list already includes a lot of great projects from CPython to PyPy, a number of Django and Django-related projects, and several others. If there's nothing on the list you want to work on, feel free to start your own sprint!
Even if you can't come to the conference itself, the sprints are free for all to attend. We're going to be sponsoring the sprints thanks to CPython developer Ezio Melotti bringing it to our attention, and as always, we're glad to be helping out.
If you can join in the sprints, please do -- you'll love it. Sprinting at a conference like EuroPython is a ton of fun with people from all over getting together to work on amazing things.
As always, contact us at sprints@python.org if we can help with your next sprint.
PEP-382 sprint in Maryland
After announcing a great event on the west coast of the US, a group on the east coast is also gathering up for a sprint. Details are still rolling in as attendance is figured out, but the sprint will take place somewhere in Montgomery County, Maryland - in the Silver Spring/Bethesda/Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C. area.
Lead by long-time CPython developer Barry Warsaw, the group plans to hack on PEP-382 namespace packages starting at 4 PM on Tuesday June 21. They're looking at renting a meeting room somewhere in the area, or they might end up hanging out at a local restaurant or even Barry's house!
If you're interesting in sprinting with them, check out this thread on the Bacon-PIG mailing list.
Contact us at sprints@python.org if you're planning a sprint. We have funding available and want to help more groups like this.
PyLadies sprint in Los Angeles
We were recently introduced to a great new group for women in the Python community: PyLadies! Lead by Audrey Roy and Katharine Jarmul, the group hosts events to get women involved in Python in the greater Los Angeles, California area. From starter workshops to user-group style talks, they've had a few meetings already, including one that had to be resized due to such a large turnout. That's an awesome problem to have, especially for a new group.
The next event on their calendar is the PyLadies Hackathon on Saturday June 18, 2011 which we're happily sponsoring. The group plans to have plenty of mentors available to help you find something to work on whether it's for yourself or for open source, or if it's your first time writing Python code. The last hour of the sprint is going to play host to lightning talks - get up there and talk about what you hacked on! Afterwards they are following it up with the fourth PyLadies Night at Hollywood Canteen.
If you happen to work on any open source code while you're there, the ladies had some shirts made for those contributing:
If you're interested in attending the sprint, sign up via Eventbrite.
If you would like to host a sprint in your area, contact us at sprints@python.org.
Sponsoring DjangoCon EU 2011
This year's European DjangoCon takes place on June 6-8 in Amsterdam, and we're pitching in to fund their sprints. Following three days of talks, the two day sprint from June 9 through 10 takes place at De Waag in the center of Amsterdam. Yes, the sprint takes place in a castle, and castles are awesome so we couldn't say no.
The organizers plan to coordinate with the core Django developers to sketch out a plan for what to work on, and there will also be an introduction to first time sprinters. Check out the talk schedule for more details!
If you're hosting a Python sprint, contact us at sprints@python.org - we'd like to sponsor it.
PyCamp Argentina Follow-up
Córdoba, Argentina recently played host to a very successful weekend of Python sprinting. From March 24 to 27 with help from the PSF and PyAr, a pretty sizeable group got together to hack on various Python projects together.
Facundo Batista continued the effort to introduce Python 3 support to Twisted, which he began at PyCon. Fellow organizer Juan Diaz also contributed some Twisted work. Both of their work made it into trunk since the sprints. Great work!
The CDPedia project got a lot of attention that weekend, with everyone coming together to bring the project up to a 0.7 release. CDPedia aims to get the Castillian version of Wikipedia onto a single CD, with the goal of distributing the content across the country. With this project, all of the school kids across Argentina can now learn without being tethered to the internet. What a great topic for a weekend sprint - and it gets better.
Pilas, a video game framework that uses a localized API to help Argentinian school children understand it, also got plenty of love. They also reached an important milestone: the API can now be modified to support other languages, so they can now help an even wider range of people learn Python by making games!
The group also spent some time on Django and CPython, then made time for visiting historic locations in town. Some of them got together for juggling lessons and a few even hacked out by the pool.
They had quite a busy weekend, but at least one of them found time to sleep.
For more pictures, check here and here.
If your group is interested in hosting a sprint, funding is available. Just email us at sprints@python.org.
matplotlib on Python 3 thanks to Cape Town group
Last month the Cape Town Python Users Group got together again for a weekend porting session, this time on matplotlib. They brought together 8 people to knock out one of the larger roadblocks in wider adoption of Python 3 now that NumPy and SciPy are out of the way, and they did a great job pushing it forward.
By the end of the day they had matplotlib passing almost every test on both Python 2 and 3, and ended up fixing the outstanding tests later in the weekend. After some cleanup and organization, their patches landed in the matplotlib-py3k branch on github! If you're a Windows user, Christoph Gohlke has created binary installers from this branch for Python 3.2 here if you want to get your hands on it. We're definitely keeping an eye on this -- great work CTPUG!
This is exactly the type of sprint we'd love to see more of, and we'd love to fund your group to make it happen. CTPUG knows all about this: it's their second sprint organized with the help of PSF funding. Their first sprint to port Genshi to Python 3 was recently merged into the trunk, and they made a fun weekend out of it, complete with food, drinks, and a Python coffee mug for the attendees.
If your group is interested in organizing a sprint and would like to request funding from the PSF, contact us at sprints@python.org. We would be more than happy to work with you to fund your next event.
Sponsoring Flourish Conference - Chicago
This year's Flourish Conference, a 100% free three day conference, will be adding an interesting twist: a Python sprint! The conference is hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago ACM and LUG, and since they're all interested in Python, we're going to help as well.
The conference runs from Friday April 1 through Sunday April 3 at the University of Illinois at Chicago. For their fifth year, they've picked talks on a wide range of topics, including one by recent PyCon speaker Chris McAvoy. They also have an expo hall, two workshops, and are hosting Linux Professional Institute and BSD certification tests.
For the Python sprint, topics are open but one theme the organizers hope to carry on from PyCon is increasing test coverage in CPython. Getting involved with test coverage is a good introductory task for those looking to work on Python, as you immediately become familiar with the development process and tools, and might even learn about a new module.
The organizers are also looking for help on Friday and Saturday. If you're in the Chicago area, experienced with Python, and interested in helping lead the sprint on those two days, contact Joel on the Flourish organizers team.
See their directions page for how to get there and where to go.
Sponsoring PyCamp - Argentina
Through March 27, a group of 15-20 hackers will be ascending the mountains of Córdoba, Argentina for a weekend of Python. Lead by Facundo Batista and Juan Diaz, the group has plenty of ideas for what to hack on.
Since Facundo is a long-time core CPython developer, one of the plans is for a Python bug day, to get everyone setup and start fixing Python itself. They also plan to work on Twisted, including a continuing effort to reach Python 3 compatibility. Several sprinters will also be spending time on internationalization and translation of some modules and documentation, including an effort to get the Castilian version of Wikipedia into CD format. Lastly, many are interested in Django and would like to dive in and find places where they can help out.
For more information, check out their wiki.
Portland sprint at Urban Airship
The Portland Python Users Group is hosting a sprint February 26 at the headquarters of Urban Airship. The space has room for at least 40 people, but be sure to sign up here!
The group plans to spend some time on Fabric's multiprocessing branch, even including a look into a Python 3 port. Eric Holscher, one of the organizers of the sprint, plans to focus on Django features for 1.4, including forms improvements.
Flatland and Alfajor will also get some love and might see some Python 3 work as well. Last, but certainly not least, co-organizer Dan Colish plans to hack on PyPy, from 2.7 compatibility to benchmarking and testing on the platform. Join any of them or bring your own projects -- it's a day of hacking, fun, food, and friends.
On top of all of the third-party projects, they may spend some time on core development topics such as Python 3 features, doc and code bug fixing, and writing new tests. For those interested in starting on core development, we wrote a guide just for you: Beginners Guide to Python Core Development.
If you're interested in joining their sprint, don't forget to sign up. If you have questions, contact Dan and Eric.
Like what they're doing? Want to start up a sprint with your local user group? Let us know! Send us mail at sprints@python.org and we'll work with you to fund your next event.
matplotlib porting in Cape Town
If you're waiting on matplotlib to work on Python 3, you might not have to wait much longer. The Cape Town Python Users Group decided their next sprinting efforts will be focused on the py3k branch of matplotlib. The sprint is happening March 5 at 10:00, likely to be at the Yola offices where they held their Genshi porting sprint.
According to the python.org poll of 3.x library support, matplotlib is the 4th most wanted. If you read Reddit, people have been asking about it for a while. Recent conversations I had with a traveling Python trainer pointed to this being the most wanted 3.x product. NumPy, the major roadblock to matplotlib on 3.x, was already ported. For all of these reasons, supporting a matplotlib sprint is a no-brainer.
They plan to build on the existing 3.x branch which is a work-in-progress. The main goal is to work through getting the test suite passing for at least one of the backends, then have a look at others as time allows. They're expecting 6-7 people, but you can always participate from home -- the more people we have porting things to Python 3, the better. Unfortunately you'll miss out on the sweet Python merchandise they are giving out -- last time they had coffee mugs made.
Additionally, if you noticed the date, it's right before PyCon (you should go). We will be putting together a lightning talk of some sort and we'll fill you in on the details of this sprint and others.
For more details, check out their site and contact Neil or Stefan.
If you want to hold a sprint and are interested in funding or promotion, email us at sprints@python.org.
Updated Call For Applications
As you may have read in a previous post, we've loosened up and now support and fund sprints of just about any kind. PyPy took advantage of this almost immediately for their sprint in Switzerland, and we got two more sprints scheduled right behind them. This is awesome, and we're hoping more sprints keep rolling in. This is great not only for Python, but for the groups doing the work.
Since then we've been busy drumming up ideas for this group, for PyCon (you should go), and for all of this east coast snow, but we haven't forgotten to update our Call for Applications which we said we'd do. The update formalizes what we've been leading up to: we'll fund any Python-related sprint. Want to work on Stackless? Go for it. Does the buzz around Pyramid interest you? Go help them out, we got you.
Oh, and another thing you might like: we raised the amount we can fund up to $300 per sprint. That's up from our previous amount of $250. As with before, you can use it for anything from buying pizzas to renting a meeting space. Do some of your users have to travel to get to meetings? Throw them a few bucks to cover their ride. Whatever it takes to get your group together, we want to make it happen.
Go ahead and check out the Call for Applications and shoot us an email at sprints@python.org if you are interested in planning a sprint!
Sponsoring Software Carpentry 2011
We're happy to announce another sponsored sprint, this time at Software Carpentry in July 2011! Full details aren't yet available, but previous events have been held at Univeristy of Toronto and University of Alberta.
Software Carpentry is about educating scientists and engineers on various software related skills such as version control, databases, testing, and of course, Python. Greg Wilson and company are planning a five-day "train the trainers" workshop at SC and plan to follow it up with a two-day sprint. Some of their goals include contributing to the standard and third-party libraries used during the course, e.g., NumPy and PyGame, along with working up extended examples targeted at their scientific crowd.
For a taste of what the last Software Carpentry was made of, check out the contents of Software Carpentry Version 3. Preparations for Version 4 are underway, which you can follow on their site.
If you are hosting a Python sprint and are interested in funding, send us an email at sprints@python.org.
Sponsoring the Python African Tour
It looks like the widening of our scope worked. The next sprint will be coming from Ghana as part of the Python African Tour on the 18th through 22nd of January, 2011.
This is really exciting because it's different than anything we've sponsored yet. It's kind of like a mini-conference that the group has been doing for the last few years. Two years ago they met in Rabat, Morocco, then Dakar, Senegal, and lastly Abuja, Nigeria this past summer. They plan to have three days of tutorials on Python, Django, and SciPy, followed by a two-day sprint on those topics and more.
For more information, contact Kamon (http://twitter.com/kamon) or see the Python African Tour blog.
We'd love to sponsor more events, especially ones like this, so contact us!
Sponsoring PyPy's Winter Sprint
We're happy to announce the sponsorship of the PyPy Winter Sprint! The crew is getting together in Leysin, Switzerland from the 16th through the 22nd of January, and given their usual achievments and a week spent together, we're sure they are going to put together some great stuff.
Plans for the sprint include work on their "fast-foward" branch, which brings their level of support up to Python 2.7 (they are jumping over 2.6). As usual, various parts of the JIT are scheduled to get attention as well, including a JIT backend for ARM. Along with the coding fun, there's also winter fun: they plan to take a day for skiing.
We hear they are also putting together a group dinner on one of the nights. Gotta feed the snake to make it faster.
More details on their mailing list.
As always, contact us at sprints@python.org if you're planning a sprint.
Widening Our Scope
We're very pleased to announce a change in the "PSF Sprints" charter which will allow us to better serve, and help, the Python Community as a whole.
We initially set out with the goal to start with a simple target - improving the "core" of Python via targeted sprints. These sprints would be focused on core documentation, bug fixes/triage, porting of libraries to Python 3, etc.
However, in the last few months the sprints team as a whole has realized that fundamentally - Python would not be where it is without the Python ecosystem as a whole (outside of core). Everything from multiple virtual machines, web frameworks, libraries that go ping - everything in the community is important to the future of Python as a whole. We wouldn't be here writing this post and rallying people together if it weren't for this ecosystem -- an ecosystem which needs support just as much support as Python itself.
Therefore, we are happy to announce that starting immediately, the charter of the project has been changed (via a board vote) to allow us to fund any Python related sprint. This means Django Sprints, PyPy sprints, Stackless sprints, learning Python or learning Twisted style sprints - all applications will be accepted (they will still go through an approval process, obviously).
If you're working on something that makes Python better for everyone, we want to help. We can reimburse your sprint group up to $250 USD to cover some of your expenses, from buying lunch to paying for train tickets.
The PyPy developers have gotten together a few times this year to sprint, most recently at the University of Düsseldorf. We'd love to chip in for their next sprint and see what kind of awesome stuff they can come up with once again. IronPython recently had a changing of the guard, so it would be great to see some users get together and turn into contributors.
Groups like Montréal-Python never seem to stop sprinting. These guys and girls have done a ton of sprints this year and they aren't stopping yet. Django, like many other web frameworks, is very important to the Python ecosystem, and we'd like to extend our services to those working on Django or any other framework out there.
If you are organizing a sprint relating to Python, let us know at sprints@python.org and we'll see what we can do.
p.s. We'll be following up shortly with a post where we introduce the updated Call For Applications. PyCon work kept us very busy the last few weeks so it took a while to get this news out there. Oh, yeah, PyCon "Early Bird" registration is open. Hurry, the rates go up January 17, and registration is capped at 1500 attendees.
Sprints for bug weekend
Just a quick note: As we previously mentioned, Python bug weekend is rapidly approaching. Yep, it's this weekend, November 20 and 21. If you act fast, there's still time to make arrangements to fund your bug weekend sprints with up to $250 USD.
I just heard that the NYCPython and DCPython groups are putting on sprints of their own this weekend, here and here, respectively. Rodrigo from the Sao Paolo Python Users Group just informed me that they are also sprinting. You should follow their lead -- round up your friends, power up your laptops, check out the bug tracker, and hack away.
If you're hosting a sprint this weekend or any other time, let us know at sprints@python.org.