Committer Collector Cards

I have a new idea for Eclipse swag. Committer collector cards. Why? It would be a fun way to get to know more about members of the Eclipse community. Like hockey cards.  But we're better at debugging, and have more teeth.

Here are some ideas for the sorts of information that this could display.

• Name
• Picture
• Commit rights
• ohloh commit history
• LinkedIn url
• Special power

Special power? Yes, all committers have special powers. As a release engineer, my special power is pain tolerance. Much like Wolverine. Yes, it's true.

I can see this being a popular activity at EclipseCon. Trade a Moir for a Merks, a Bokowski for a Bull. What do you win if you collect a whole project? Bugzilla bingo.  You get a bug assigned to you so you can earn your own commit rights.  Diversify the community. It's all very win-win.

Since I'm in the give away free software business, not the marketing swag business, I thought I'd suggest this idea for any enterprising people out there. It could be a branding activity a company who'd like to sponsor such a unique piece of swag. Go for it!

Read more...

EclipseCon Exercise: Commit to Running

EclipseCon 2010 looks like it will have a fantastic program this year with many interesting talks.  For instance, there will be talk about Lego Mindstorms and Eclipse. How much do I love Lego?  Let me show you my keychain.

There will be also be a talk on the Eclipse at NASA which looks really interesting.  I mean, how often is it that the software you build is used to monitor robots travelling across another planet? Mr. Platform Releng is very talented at ordering stuff on the internet.  One day I arrived home and found a Lego Mars Rover being assembled in our living room.  Life is unpredictable.  From lego.com.

Outside the formal program, there will be EclipseCon Exercise early in the morning.  You're invited to sign up for a  run every morning before the talks begin on the wiki. Don't hesitate to put your name down if you've just started running, there will be several pace groups.   Thanks to the work of Darin Swanson, who organized EclipseCon Exercise in previous years, we already have a map.

The generous Eclipse Foundation has also agreed  to provide prizes for the EclipseCon Exercise participants.  There will be Eclipse shirts and running related gifts.  What will you win a prize for?  Well, that's up to you.  Again, you can make suggestions on the wiki for prize categories and I'll set up a vote for the community in early March.   Also, if you work at a company that's interested in sponsoring EclipseCon exercise, please contact Donald Smith.

Running before the talks in the morning is a great way to clear your mind for the day. It's also a way to get rid the jitters before you give a talk or tutorial. Most importantly, it gives you a chance to meet and talk to people in a different context, and get to know them better as a person, not just an Eclipse professional. Learn about what they do outside of work,  their communities, and discover common interests.

So consider committing to EclipseCon Exercise.  Sign up today and remember to pack your running shoes!

Sign up sheet for EclipseCon Exercise 2010

Read more...

p2 tutorial RFC

The EclipseCon program committee is sending out acceptance notifications after completing the difficult task of selecting the talks that will be presented in March. Thanks for all your hard work - I'm sure it will be an amazing conference!

Ian and I have been selected to give a tutorial entitled "Exploring p2". The best approach to learning is spend time actually getting your hands dirty. The wisdom of xkcd


Originally, the focus of this tutorial was to be on building with p2. However, given time constraints in the build category, the program committee asked us to provide a broader focus on p2, not just building with it.

This is where you come in. If you are considering attending this tutorial, let us know what topics you'd like us to cover on the wiki or leave a comment. We really value your input and so we can tailor the tutorial to you. Also, it will be interesting to learn the p2 use cases in the community. A tutorial is a two way street, and we have just as much opportunity to learn about how you are using the software we build, as we have the chance to share our experiences with you.

Keep in mind that there are other talks in this topic that have been approved. For instance, Pascal will be conducting a talk on p2 APIs. Today, our fantastic Equinox committers are working on merging the newly minted p2 APIs into HEAD for 3.6M5.

Looking forward to seeing you at EclipseCon 2010!

Read more...

Less email, more info

I subscribe to many eclipse mailing lists. This means I get a lot of email that's sorted by various filters so my inbox doesn't explode with all the traffic.

However, there are some Eclipse projects that I'm interested in, but not going to participate actively on the mailing list. This reminds me of the pig and chicken analogy. I'm somewhat involved in the other projects, but I'm committed to others. From implementing Scrum



Luckily, each eclipse.org mailing list also has a RSS feed.


For instance, this time of the year, it's interesting to watch the EclipseCon Program Committee feed. Lots of discussions regarding which talks will get the final +1 for the 2010 program.

Or you may have an interest in what's happening in e4, but don't want all the email that this very active project generates.

Read more...