Status update of me wrt Spring

[Tobi]

Hey guys

I've been non-present in all the communication channels we have the last few months without any notice beforehand so hence I write this message.

Basically I finally finished studying and 1.5 month ago I moved to San Francisco for a job. I plan to stay here for a few years. The location is awesome, so I don't have a lot of time to spend on Spring. Also the time difference makes IM/IRC/lobby use harder than it was back in Europe/NL, though I intent to work on my presence in IRC during PST working hours

So yeah, basically don't expect many (if any) code contribs from me anymore. (Although admittedly I haven't been doing a lot on Spring for a bit longer already.)

In any case, it was fun working on Spring and related projects, and I learned a lot during the time, so thanks for that , and I wish the project and anyone working on it good luck .

-Tobi

[Kloot]

Thanks for all your work on this project, and for leading it as long and well as you did.

(visa or greencard? )

[zerver]

Good luck with that! Yeah it is a nice area, been there several times.

[Neddie]

Good to hear from you, we should meet up some time. I'm in the South Bay, working far too many hours a week.

[FLOZi]

To revive an old Springian catchphrase:

Tobi is a God.

You will be missed, thank you for everything - and especially all your contributions to S44.

[PicassoCT]

whatever place you work now.. it will be never as chaotic and ungratefull as the devhell.

[KingRaptor]

You were a great dev, Tobi. Good luck with your future endeavours!

[AF]

Congratulations on your recent advances

[Forboding Angel]

To revive an old Springian catchphrase:

Tobi is a God.

You will be missed, thank you for everything - and especially all your contributions to S44.

^^ This ;_;

If you ever head south to LA lemmie know, I'll buy ya a beer (or 10)

[SpliFF]

Thanks for all your work, especially the unitscript stuff. Sorry to see you go. Good luck with the job.

[Das Bruce]

whatever place you work now.. it will be never as chaotic and ungratefull as the devhell.

We hope.

[jamerlan]

Thanks a lot! But I hope you will return.

[abma]

Thanks a lot for your work and nice to hear that you are maybe sometimes in irc :)

[FLOZi]

This perhaps belongs to a separate discussion, but;

What now for Spring?

We're at a low ebb in terms of absolute numbers of active devs, even if the commits continue to flow thick and fast.

Who will take over in the lead role?
Is such a position still useful?
Is there anything that can be done to draw in fresh blood?
Is it even wise to?

I usually avoid the melodrama threads, but I am for the first time concerned over the longevity of Spring.

[PicassoCT]

Why not hang out a great sign at the front page?

We search Devs for:
-Shadder based Animation-System
-Toolchain expansion
-3D Metagame Zoomout
- Shader based Advanced InGamePhysics

What you need to bring along:
Knowledge in C++ and GLSL
Enthusiasm and Sarcasm

In other words megalomania pure, at the front door. Get them droolin. Advertise. Make it clear that here is still hammertime! Can touch this->! Also accept that many of those who will be volunteer are newbs, so leave some easy-entrance work. Also not "LUA_IT" on every subject!

[gajop]

Is there anything that can be done to draw in fresh blood?

There are a couple of options:
1) Be well prepared for the next GSOC and advertise. Maybe there are some other competitions as well that provide free devs?
2) Become a TA at a uni like I did. Suggest your AI class students to make a Spring AI as a project like I plan to .
3) Make a kickstarter entry, promise 3-D worlds, multiple maps with caves, bridges & multiple levels, time travel, flying ponies, etc. Hire cheap workers with entry money as new devs.
4) Profit.

Is it even wise to?

Imo, as long as you get new programmers: AI/content/engine it's fine. As people get more experienced with Spring they can provide code in all three parts. They don't need to start with the engine right away - games, lua widgets/libraries or AIs are all good starts.

[hoijui]

Tobi was definitely not anything like a lead since at least two years, and even before that.. he might not even have seen himself as a lead, even though many others probably did. i think stuff would be better if he would have been a lead, but new lead means.. you have to do the bulk of the work, for some time, and then you might get lead.
i think kloot and jk are happy with no new devs coming in, as they would only disturb them in what they want to do.

props for gajop for his plan!

for me, spring died a little when BD left, and Tobi (he practically also left a while ago already). new devs that do real stuff.. just will not happen. even if someone that wants to do that, and has the skills and time, and initially has the mood and motivation, he will not have the later for long.
it is practically not possible to want to do anything in spring that does not touch a part that neither kloot nor jk already have a plan for, and possibly partially started implementing part of it already, and don't want you to touch it.

otherwise, gajops plan might work!

[SinbadEV]

3) Make a kickstarter entry, promise 3-D worlds, multiple maps with caves, bridges & multiple levels, time travel, flying ponies, etc. Hire cheap workers with entry money as new devs.

Are any of those people who regularly contribute to Spring "contactors" who could take some time off and devote it to knuckling down and getting some stuff done if we threw enough money at them?

I feel like in many ways Spring is a project that is free because you could never pay someone enough to make it, it's a project driven by passion... if we were to find a way to throw money at the project I think the best things to aim for would be the barriers to entry... making it easier to for new volunteers to contribute productively, rather than actually making improvements/fixes.

[abma]

this thread is getting off topic...

[PicassoCT]

devbribery=dev*payment
devbribery=dev^x
payment

'Why does this never work?`I always get a div by zero exception.

We know that all devs are indy-heads, still it would be nice to have some way to support them