[Matrix-SIG] advocacy

[Paul Barrett]

Joe Harrington writes:
 > Data types I use (FITS) are poorly supported, if at all.
 > 
 > [text deleted]
 > 
 > ... Today's digest contained both your message and the announcement
 > of some FITS routines (I wish Paul Barrett would release his class
 > library!). ...

Joe, I'm still working on the PyFITS module.  I presented a poster
about it at the latest ADASS Conference (Astronomical Data Analysis
Software and Systems Conf. VIII; see
http://monet.astro.uiuc.edu/adass98/).  It's getting close, but still
not really alpha yet.  I still need to create a Python extension to
read arrays of binary records for easy and efficient access to the
data.  Once this is done I will announce it for flaming, ... or should 
I say testing.

 > A year and a half ago, Paul Barrett and I put in a proposal to NASA
 > with a number of list members as Collaborators.  The proposal would
 > have covered some programmers' and doc writers' salaries to make and
 > distribute a coherent package, but it wasn't selected for funding.

I also resubmitted our proposal again this year to NASA, but it was
rejected a second time.  I fear NASA management just doesn't get it.
I have been advocating Python to the NASA community for two years now
with very little success.  I did get the acknowledgement from a NASA
civil servant that this is somewhat of a chicken-and-egg issue, but
they don't think it is their responsibility to help.  So much for the
new NASA of "Better, Faster, and Cheaper"

 > Given these problems, I sadly put Python aside, though I've been
 > lurking for the past year in hopes of seeing a change or catching an
 > opportunity to do something.  Today's digest contained both your
 > message and the announcement of some FITS routines (I wish Paul
 > Barrett would release his class library!).  Perhaps this is a good
 > time to step back and ask the community a few questions about where it
 > wants Numerical Python to go.

I agree with your assessment.  I should, since we've discussed it
before.  I now feel compelled to spend those long hours late at night
trying to improve the current situation (Who needs sleep anyway? ;-}).
I believe that for the astronomical community that the first step is
PyFITS, a Python module to manipulate FITS files.  The next step is a
basic 2-D plotting package.  Using Gtk to implement this might be a
good solution, since it would eventually be well integrated with
GNOME.  

I feel that in the astronomical community at least Python is reaching
critical mass.  More and more people that I talk to are interested in
using it.  (There is even discussion of tossing the IRAF CL and
replacing it with Python.)  So we need to make a push now to get a
basic data analysis system operational, if we are not to loose these
people.  We need a few more people to step forward and take charge of
a few critical issues, for example plotting and documentation, if we
are to succeed.

 -- Paul

-- 
 Paul Barrett  -  Astrophysicist  -  Universities Space Research Association 
                 Compton Observatory Science Support Center                  
 NASA/Goddard SFC     phone: 301-286-1108    "Guk a 'mzimba, sala 'nhliziyo" 
 Code 660.2,          FAX:   301-286-1629           (body grow old, but      
 Greenbelt,MD 20771   barrett@compass.gsfc.nasa.gov    heart remain behind)  
             http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/users/barrett/CV.html