jessenoller.com

Recent posts and dis­cus­sions around port­ing of exist­ing libraries and frame­works to Python 3 have been pretty inter­est­ing. I think that there have been a lot of good points brought up in the dis­cus­sion (See: Armin’s Post (and fol­lowup), Nick’s entry on Python 3 and Nick’s email to Python-Ideas).

On a per­sonal level; I’ve felt frus­trated that there’s not much that I can do myself — I do believe that 2.7 is the proper end of the road of Python 2, and I do think that Python 3 is the future of the lan­guage. Does that mean Python 3 is per­fect? Oh hell no. Does it mean that we can do work to make Python 3 the “Python 3″ we all want and need?

Yes it does.

So; while there is noth­ing I can do directly other than con­tinue to work on the site I’ve been slowly build­ing — GetPython3.com with help from the com­mu­nity — there is an aspect I can help with from a Python Soft­ware Foun­da­tion / Grants level. That means money (well, not unlimited).

As some of you might know — the PSF has actu­ally issued grants to devel­op­ers who have applied to port impor­tant libraries to Python 3 — as I say on the GetPython3 page:

In short: yes — there’s a bevy of infor­ma­tion, videos and blog posts out there that can help you on your way. Python 3 is the future of the Python lan­guage, and enti­ties such as the Python Soft­ware Foun­da­tion strongly believe in sup­port­ing the port­ing effort.

For exam­ple, the Python Soft­ware Foun­da­tion has issued devel­oper grants to port projects such as the email pack­age, PyOpenSSL, and WebOb. It has also pro­vided devel­oper grants for other gen­eral Python devel­op­ment work, such as to Brett Can­non that allowed him to com­pletely revamp the Python developer’s guide.

The Python Soft­ware Foun­da­tion is here for not just CPython, or python-core, or python-the-language. It is here for Python — the com­mu­nity, it’s efforts, its devel­op­ers, design­ers and people.

Cer­tain projects — most notably PyPy — have already started dona­tion pro­grams to help fund large-scale devel­op­ment efforts to Python 3. Oth­ers may soon follow.

Addi­tion­ally to the grants-to-developers aspect — the PSF Sprints project has been issu­ing grants for Python sprints in gen­eral, which means you can apply / ask for a grant for a port-to-python3 work­shop or sprint any time!

But; back to where I was going…

My offer to you, the com­mu­nity is this — I can not guar­an­tee you will get a grant, or fund­ing — but what I can do, and what is within my power as a fel­low mem­ber and PSF Direc­tor is offer to help write, and review appli­ca­tions to the PSF Board of direc­tors for grant applications.

That’s right — I will assist you in writ­ing an appli­ca­tion that will be sub­mit­ted to the PSF Board for approval, for grants aimed at port­ing libraries or frame­works to Python 3; or doing spe­cific doc­u­men­ta­tion / core work for Python 3. I can help you write it; pro­vide tem­plates, dis­cuss it with you (I may have some elves help me) and ulti­mately help you put it in front of the board for approval.

Obvi­ously; the PSF does not have unlim­ited funds; nor can it spend funds irra­tionally. Python 3 is impor­tant how­ever — crit­i­cally so — and while we can not fund every­thing, we can do what we can. I am aim­ing at libraries/frameworks which are in wide­spread use (e.g. notable) and that other projects/libraries/frameworks depend on heav­ily (for exam­ple, see the Py3k poll).

Before get­ting started, you should read the basic PSF Grant guide­lines and you should look through the infor­ma­tion on http://getpython3.com/.

If you are inter­ested in this; drop an email to jnoller@python.org — I don’t promise imme­di­ate up-to-the-second turn around — I’ve obvi­ously got a lot on my plate right now, but I will do my best to help.

Recent posts and discussions around porting of existing libraries and frameworks to Python 3 have been pretty interesting. I think that there have been a lot of good points brought up in the discussion (See: Armin's Post (and followup), Nick's entry on Python 3 and Nick's email to Python-Ideas). On a personal level; I've felt frustrated that there's not much that I can do myself - I do believe that 2.7 is the proper end of the road of Python 2, and I do think that Python 3 is the future of the language. Does that mean Python 3 is perfect? Oh hell no. Does it mean that we can do work to make Python 3 the "Python 3" we all want and need? Yes it does. So; while there is nothing I can do directly other than continue to work on the site I've been slowly building - GetPython3.com with help from the community - there is an aspect I can help with from a Python Software Foundation / Grants level. That means money (well, not unlimited). As some of you might know - the PSF has actually issued grants to developers who have applied to port important libraries to Python 3 - as I say on the GetPython3 page: In short: yes - there's a bevy of information, videos and blog posts out there that can help you on your way. Python 3 is the future of the Python language, and entities such as the Python Software Foundation strongly believe in supporting the porting effort. For example, the Python Software Foundation has issued developer grants to port projects such as the email package, PyOpenSSL, and WebOb. It has also provided developer grants for other general Python development work, such as to Brett Cannon that allowed him to completely revamp the Python developer's guide. The Python Software Foundation is here for not just CPython, or python-core, or python-the-language. It is here for Python - the community, it's efforts, its developers, designers and people. Certain projects - most notably PyPy - have already started donation programs to help fund large-scale development efforts to Python 3. Others may soon follow. Additionally to the grants-to-developers aspect - the PSF Sprints project has been issuing grants for Python sprints in general, which means you can apply / ask for a grant for a port-to-python3 workshop or sprint any time! But; back to where I was going... My offer to you, the community is this - I can not guarantee you will get a grant, or funding - but what I can do, and what is within my power as a fellow member and PSF Director is offer to help write, and review applications to the PSF Board of directors for grant applications. That's right - I will assist you in writing an application that will be submitted to the PSF Board for approval, for grants aimed at porting libraries or frameworks to Python 3; or doing specific documentation / core work for Python 3. I can help you write it; provide templates, discuss it with you (I may have some elves help me) and ultimately help you put it in front of the board for approval. Obviously; the PSF does not have unlimited funds; nor can it spend funds irrationally. Python 3 is important however - critically so - and while we can not fund everything, we can do what we can. I am aiming at libraries/frameworks which are in widespread use (e.g. notable) and that other projects/libraries/frameworks depend on heavily (for example, see the Py3k poll). Before getting started, you should read the basic PSF Grant guidelines and you should look through the information on http://getpython3.com/. If you are interested in this; drop an email to jnoller@python.org - I don't promise immediate up-to-the-second turn around - I've obviously got a lot on my plate right now, but I will do my best to help.