Virtual Ruby Group

ruby-talk
1

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

2

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)?

···

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.

3

This sounds like a great idea. While my local Ruby group is only about 50+ miles away, due to transportation issues it may as well be on the other side of the globe. So.... I would love to join a Virtual Ruby Group.

As for chatting - Skype is nice (I've used it before) as are a few other programs. What we would really need to have large group voice-chats is a system where a moderator can "give someone the floor" and generally coordinate who speaks when. Otherwise it will degenerate into an incomprehensible babble. As an example, Apple's newest iChat AV software (coming out in OS X 10.4 "Tiger") has the capability to host 10-way voice chats or 4-way video chats, with a setup similar to the one I just described.

Also, addressing those who are brining up the issue of fragmentation:
As long as we don't go too far afield I see no problem with this group. While the general list is a great place to discuss and ask questions, it is often useful to form a more permanent relationship with a specific group. This, of course, does not preclude the use of the normal mailing list, rather it just acts as a supplement to it.

-Shalev

···

On Feb 17, 2005, at 6:59 PM, Zach Dennis wrote:

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

4

I think this idea is great. I would love to join together to learn new things and/or start new projects.

···

On Feb 17, 2005, at 3:59 PM, Zach Dennis wrote:

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

5

It looks like there are a few folks interested in the Virtual Ruby Group (VGR) idea.

I'm not much for politics so I'm going to skip a formal Virtual Ruby group declaration and waive membership fees and just jump into the meat of the VRG and see if we can get some people involved!

Some project ideas have already been suggested:
  - pair programming capability into FreeRide (see http://freeride.rubyforge.org/)
  - a team version of nopaste (see http://rafb.net/paste/)
  - implementation of xBase library for Ruby (see http://www.clicketyclick.dk/databases/xbase/format/)

If you have any other suggestions please throw them out!

My personal suggestion would be to start with a project that involves VRG inter-personal-communication. This strikes me as being the most fun for people upfront since they'll be able to see it benefiting the VRG right away.

Since we're going to be a virtual group we can kind of be leniant (sp?) on official meeting dates and times. Perhaps for now we just wing it using the Ruby ML until we get a little more structured. I'd like to avoid structurizing the VRG now and just let it happen naturally. This way folks don't feel pressured into anything, and we can find ways of communication and project co-operation that works well for us, instead of trying to fit a mold (like real User Groups who meet in person) since we'll be a little different.

My vote is for a team version of nopaste first, then after that doing the integrating pair programming into FreeRide (which Hal, that is a sweet idea). I think both of these would be great starting points for VRG and they would both be directly beneficial to VRG and to others in the Ruby community. Once we get those going, then xBase sounds fun!

What do you guys think on all of the above?

Zach

6

Lyle Johnson 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

···

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

7

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://chneukirchen.org

8

I would love to join in a Virtual Users Group. The nearest Ruby group
to me is several hundred mails away (wahoo for the central plains!).
I would love to get involved with a group working on small, realistic
projects, in some organized matter. I think at this stage, HOW it's
organized isn't terribly important (a rubyforge site to hold code, and
IM/Mail/IRC for communication would probably suffice). But if anyone
out there is actually attempting to get this organized, throw my name
in the hat, I'm all for it!

9

One more suggestion: you could make a FreeRIDE plugin out of jabber4r, and
then use the jabber4r comm link both for chat-style messages and for
synchronized edited.

Curt

Zach Dennis wrote:

···

It looks like there are a few folks interested in the Virtual Ruby Group
(VGR) idea.

I'm not much for politics so I'm going to skip a formal Virtual Ruby
group declaration and waive membership fees and just jump into the meat
of the VRG and see if we can get some people involved!

Some project ideas have already been suggested:
  - pair programming capability into FreeRide (see
http://freeride.rubyforge.org/\)
  - a team version of nopaste (see http://rafb.net/paste/\)
  - implementation of xBase library for Ruby (see
http://www.clicketyclick.dk/databases/xbase/format/\)

If you have any other suggestions please throw them out!

My personal suggestion would be to start with a project that involves
VRG inter-personal-communication. This strikes me as being the most fun
for people upfront since they'll be able to see it benefiting the VRG
right away.

Since we're going to be a virtual group we can kind of be leniant (sp?)
on official meeting dates and times. Perhaps for now we just wing it
using the Ruby ML until we get a little more structured. I'd like to
avoid structurizing the VRG now and just let it happen naturally. This
way folks don't feel pressured into anything, and we can find ways of
communication and project co-operation that works well for us, instead
of trying to fit a mold (like real User Groups who meet in person) since
we'll be a little different.

My vote is for a team version of nopaste first, then after that doing
the integrating pair programming into FreeRide (which Hal, that is a
sweet idea). I think both of these would be great starting points for
VRG and they would both be directly beneficial to VRG and to others in
the Ruby community. Once we get those going, then xBase sounds fun!

What do you guys think on all of the above?

Zach

--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.1.0 - Release Date: 2/18/2005

10

Well, I like how you've laid out the projects. A more ambitious project (later on) would to create an integrated paired development system.
Something that integrates chat (text/voice/video), with code editing and wiki like capabilities. In other words, something that would allow for
very good and rapid development and collaboration with people situated in many diverse locations (say that ten times fast).

I like the order in which you've discussed potential projects, but could someone please point me to a link for "xBase". I have no idea what that is.

-Shalev

···

On Feb 21, 2005, at 2:05 AM, Zach Dennis wrote:

It looks like there are a few folks interested in the Virtual Ruby Group (VGR) idea.

I'm not much for politics so I'm going to skip a formal Virtual Ruby group declaration and waive membership fees and just jump into the meat of the VRG and see if we can get some people involved!

Some project ideas have already been suggested:
- pair programming capability into FreeRide (see http://freeride.rubyforge.org/\)
- a team version of nopaste (see http://rafb.net/paste/\)
- implementation of xBase library for Ruby (see http://www.clicketyclick.dk/databases/xbase/format/\)

If you have any other suggestions please throw them out!

My personal suggestion would be to start with a project that involves VRG inter-personal-communication. This strikes me as being the most fun for people upfront since they'll be able to see it benefiting the VRG right away.

Since we're going to be a virtual group we can kind of be leniant (sp?) on official meeting dates and times. Perhaps for now we just wing it using the Ruby ML until we get a little more structured. I'd like to avoid structurizing the VRG now and just let it happen naturally. This way folks don't feel pressured into anything, and we can find ways of communication and project co-operation that works well for us, instead of trying to fit a mold (like real User Groups who meet in person) since we'll be a little different.

My vote is for a team version of nopaste first, then after that doing the integrating pair programming into FreeRide (which Hal, that is a sweet idea). I think both of these would be great starting points for VRG and they would both be directly beneficial to VRG and to others in the Ruby community. Once we get those going, then xBase sounds fun!

What do you guys think on all of the above?

Zach

11

So.... let's set something up. First - the irc channel. I currently am in "ruby-VRUG and VRUG-ruby" on freenode. I assume we would want to decide on a network and a final name for this....

-Shalev

12

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

13

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.skype.com) but it might
be something that you could use; it seems to have a pretty high geek
quotient. :wink: 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. :wink:

This also seems like the appropriate place to mention the RubyCentral,
Inc. codefest grant program (see http://www.rubycentral.org); 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.

···

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

14

One more suggestion: you could make a FreeRIDE plugin out of jabber4r, and
then use the jabber4r comm link both for chat-style messages and for
synchronized edited.

I have actually thought heavily of making a jabber-based
shared-workspace editor. The idea has a lot of potential.

···

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:02:19 +0900, Curt Hibbs <curt@hibbs.com> wrote:

Curt

15

Well, I like how you've laid out the projects. A more ambitious
project (later on) would to create an integrated paired development
system.
Something that integrates chat (text/voice/video), with code editing
and wiki like capabilities. In other words, something that would allow
for
very good and rapid development and collaboration with people situated
in many diverse locations (say that ten times fast).

I have visions of this in my dreams.

I like the order in which you've discussed potential projects, but
could someone please point me to a link for "xBase". I have no idea
what that is.

xBase is a generic name for dBase. It's one of the oldest database
formats available. There's an (overly?) comprehensive history of it:

http://www.foxprohistory.org/tableofcontents.htm

···

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 01:13:23 +0900, Shalev NessAiver <shalev@simplyphysics.com> wrote:

--
Bill Guindon (aka aGorilla)

16

Based on this: Captcha
I'd say the 'ruby-VRUG' would be the prefered name. Perhaps it should
be lowercase?

Either way, should add it to the wiki once a channel name is chosen.

···

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 02:43:23 +0900, Shalev NessAiver <shalev@simplyphysics.com> wrote:

So.... let's set something up. First - the irc channel. I currently
am in "ruby-VRUG and VRUG-ruby" on freenode. I assume we would want to
decide on a network and a final name for this....

--
Bill Guindon (aka aGorilla)

17

Curt Hibbs wrote:

One more suggestion: you could make a FreeRIDE plugin out of jabber4r, and
then use the jabber4r comm link both for chat-style messages and for
synchronized edited.

That seems like an interesting idea, though I don't know the first thing
about Jabber.

To clarify lest anyone misunderstand: When I said pair-programming features
for FreeRIDE, I meant of course *remote* pair programming.

The idea has always interested me, but I have always felt daunted by the
prospect of implementing it. I wouldn't attempt it alone, as I recall how
many hours it took me just to get that little chess server to work. But
hopefully Jabber hides most of the networking details, leaving FXRuby and
Scintilla as the biggest hurdles.

Hal

18

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.

···

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.

19

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

···

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.

20

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