I'll let Guido's message speak for itself. Laura ------- Forwarded Message Return-Path: edu-sig-bounces@python.org Delivery-Date: Sat Apr 22 12:20:54 2006 Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 11:19:02 +0100 From: "Guido van Rossum" <guido@python.org> To: edu-sig@python.org I'm looking for someone to "own" the development of a Squeak-like environment for Python. I can help by getting you in touch with Alan Kay and other Squeak folks. But I just can't be managing this project myself -- I need to focus on Python 3000, which has quite a different set of goals (not incompatible, just different, and enough to keep me very busy in the next two years). To provide some background, here is (with permission, and slightly edited) a forwarded message from Mark Shuttleworth in response to something I sent him this morning. - --Guido - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mark Shuttleworth <mark@canonical.com> Date: Apr 22, 2006 8:56 AM Subject: Re: Moving forward the educational Python code development To: Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org> Cc: Kirby Urner <urnerk@qwest.net>, [...] Guido van Rossum wrote:

After Kirby's posts and mine on the Python mailing list for the education Special Interest Group (edu-sig@python.org), several threads have spun up showing that there is a lot of interest in the topic of making Python more "Squeak-like", however you might want to define this.

This is great news. My sense is that it will take three or more years to get a Squeak-like environment built up in the Python world. It will take a lot of work, more raw development work than TSF is willing to fund. Our project deliverable is the curriculum and the training program for teachers to teach it, we don't want to be responsible for delivering the unified development environment through we recognise that having a unified environment is beneficial to the project. The only way the unified development environment will actually happen is if the SqueakLand community, with Alan's leadership, makes this their goal, and figures out how to work with the Python community. It's the SqueakLand folks who understand what that environment needs to "feel" like. They have the strong vision as to what the tools should do. At the same time, the Python community will need some people to step up and welcome that effort, contributing to it over time, because the SqueakLand folks are used to Squeak and they will need to learn how best to execute their vision in Python. TSF can provide some limited funding, but we're not setup to lead development efforts (we learned the hard way with SchoolTool which is now in good shape). Most of the TSF funding will go towards actual curriculum development that USES the tools available. We will initially use Logo, Squeak and Python as-is, because they are there right now, and will develop the curriculum using what's currently available with a view to consolidating it all around Python as Python gains the ability to deliver Logo-like and Squeak-like environments.

I believe now is the time to delegate to someone other than me the task of researching the course of action; what exactly is needed, which toolkit to use (e.g. Mozilla, pygame, OpenGL, or something else?), and to manage the development. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do this myself. Does the Shuttleworth Foundation have resources to pick up this project, now that there's momentum building up?

This could take the form of an existing Shuttleworth employee jumping in, or some Foundation money to get one of the interested contributors (perhaps ) to put in their time (part-time). I don't see this happening (at the time scale envisioned) on a purely volunteer basis. I'm sure we can get volunteers to do coding for the project; but managing it, researching the possible options, and making decisions probably requires someone dedicated to this task.

Yes, agreed, and we can contribute some funding towards the leadership of the effort. I'm not keen to fund "part time work with no clear deliverables" because its hard to get predictable results that way. I guess what we need are you and Alan to figure out between you who will make the most effective leader, bringing together the SqueakLand vision in a Python execution, and we would step up to fund portion of that person's time. [...] I think the leadership of this effort needs to be decided after discussion with Alan too, so that whoever is the funded driving force has buy in from both communities. If you'd like to forward this message to other folks in the community as a statement of the parts TSF is able to contribute to, please do. Mark - ---------- End forwarded message ---------- - -- - --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/) _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig ------- End of Forwarded Message