[Ironruby-core] "Start spreading the news"

Kevin Berridge
2010-08-08T15:36:05Z

To Cory''s point about IronRuby''s credibility in the
Enterprise:

I think its certainly true that if IronRuby is not a MS supported tool,
there will be shops that will not be able to use it.  On the other hand,
there are still plenty of other shops that could use it, if only they
understand what they could use it for and how.

To date, the story of what IronRuby is "for" has been rather weak.  I
know
it''s a language, and so it''s possibilities are just about
endless, but what
are the main areas we think people can derive significant benefit from using
it?

If IronRuby really does end up being primarily community driven, we need to
come up with a much better story around what it is for, and helping people
get started with using it for those things.  This could help drive adoption,
which could in turn help drive contributors.

Some examples of things IronRuby may be ''for":
1. Unit Testing (
http://kevin-berridge.blogspot.com/2010/08/testing-c-with-rspec-and-ruby.html
)
2. Embedded Scripting (
http://blog.jimmy.schementi.com/2009/12/ironruby-rubyconf-2009-part-35.html)
3. Silverlight (
http://blog.jimmy.schementi.com/2008/08/walk-through-silverlight-flickr-client.html
)
4. ?

Jimmy talked about #1 and #2 here:
http://blog.jimmy.schementi.com/2010/04/mix10-part-3-using-dynamic-languages-in.html

Thanks,
Kevin Berridge

On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 10:36 AM, Slavo Furman <slavof at gmail.com> wrote:

> I agree with Cory, too, but on the other hand it would be very helpful
> if Microsoft (I mean someone who can speak for Microsoft) clearly say
> what are they intentions with IronRuby (and maybe IronPython, too) for
> the future.
>
> Are they "releasing IronRuby to the community"? Is Microsoft like
to
> (officially) participate in future in IronRuby development? If so, in
> what way? As a project owner? And so on...
>
> Only knowing in what situation we really are we can make our decisions
> about what to do.
>
> More clarity will also help with using the technology, for example, I
> am considering using IronRuby for one project and now I do not know
> what to expect from future (questions like - will development of
> IronRuby continue, what about Silverlight and Azure support, what
> about v1.9 compatibility, ...) and it is now became problematic to
> make some of decisions.
>
> thanks,
> Slavo.
>
> On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Eduardo Blumenfeld <lists at
ruby-forum.com>
> wrote:
> > I agree 100% with Cory, we just need to calm down, regroup, give
support
> > to Tomas, make our opinions heard and continue using the technology
that
> > helps us become way more productive in our jobs.
> >
> > On the other hand Jimmy will still be around, he just moved to another
> > job.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Eduardo Blumenfeld
> >
> > Cory Foy wrote:
> >> Ok, I like to propose a pause in action.
> >>
> >> Here''s what we know. Jimmy has moved on, as has Jim.
Tomas is the main
> >> person left, and from the emails we''ve received,
he''s only working on it
> >> part-time. I don''t know the politics of this specific
org, but being an
> >> ex-softie I do have an idea, and that hunch is that the politics
that
> >> caused the reshuffle were not a conspiracy theory against
IronRuby, but
> >> just normal organization dysfunction and quarterly reorganization.
> >>
> >> We also know thay we have a community of people who are passionate
about
> >> IronRuby, and a secondary wave of people driven into action by the
> >> events of the past day or so. It stands to reason, from work
I''ve done
> >> in other communties, that one or two will end up being long term
> >> participants because of the new awareness.
> >>
> >> That said, I don''t think that what we should do right now
is fork it,
> >> since IronRuby relies heavily on the DLR which wouldn''t
be controlled.
> >> This is not to say that we take it off the table. Rather we need
to ask
> >> ourselves what holes have now opened up that we need to fill:
> >>
> >> 1) Jimmy provided leadership and vision for the project.
We''ve now lost
> >> that, and either Tomas will pick this up internally, or we will
need an
> >> external person to run with the vision. Regardless, the person
will have
> >> to interface with and understand the vision from the Microsoft
side.
> >>
> >> 2) Tomas already mentioned needs like a CI and gatekeeper. I bet
there
> >> are lots of other needs, and if this is truly a community-owned
> >> movement, we need to engage with Tomas and the remaining team to
> >> understand what else we''re missing.
> >>
> >> 3) IronRuby has likely taken a huge blow of credibility from the
> >> enterprise adoption side, because if it isn''t supported
by Microsoft
> >> PSS, they will be unlikely to use it internally or in their
products.
> >>
> >> All three of these are vital points that we need to think about as
a
> >> community. Someone is going to have to step up to take charge of
this -
> >> and it''s not going to come from the Mono side. Tomas may
be willing to
> >> take charge as much as possible - no one has asked him, and
that''s a
> >> shame.
> >>
> >> IronRuby has not had a heart attack which requires CPR. That means
we
> >> need to take a measured, levelheaded response as a community and
work to
> >> understand how we can help and how we can respond in a way that
makes
> >> sense. We already know from Jimmy''s tweets that
he''s planning an email
> >> for the group - how can we take advantage of the knowledge Jim and
Jimmy
> >> have, and support the work Tomas is doing?
> >>
> >> Finally, we may have a burst of energy right now, but no form of
> >> sprinting is going to help solve this. This is not a "we have
to take
> >> action now before we lose the opportunity!" moment. The code
is there.
> >> Many of the contributors are there, and know what is going on
> >> internally. Let''s collaborate and find a way to make this
project a real
> >> success.
> >>
> >> Cory
> >
> > --
> > Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ironruby-core mailing list
> > Ironruby-core at rubyforge.org
> > http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core
> >
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