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Re: New Debian Science metapackages (Was: debian-science_0.16_amd64.changes ACCEPTED into unstable)



Hi Gennaro,

> >   interested to join?  I think I will start composing it time
> >   permitting... 
> I would like to partecipate to this initiative.
> How can I help?

Difficult to answer since I am not sure what you would be interested in
working on, so let me outline possible lines of work we could pursue
here:

NB Repository

  at spare moments I have just started dumping random thoughts 
  and trying to layout possible flow (via section headings) of the
  possible paper.

  repository is
  http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=debian-science/papers.git
  so you should be just

  git clone git://anonscm.debian.org/debian-science/papers.git
  sudo apt-get install latex-make

  away from being able to compile it.


* Paper structuring/message

  clearly nothing is settled yet with the structure, what should be
  the message(s) we thread through the paper, and how to make
  this paper an interesting and informative read.

  Clearly we should exercise topics of
  
  - community
  - technical excellence
  - addressing research specific problems
    + availability
    + sustainability (of software and a system as a whole)
    + reproducibility
  - ...

  as the ones others are seeking for (see those references for NSF etc
  in the draft) and which Debian has been delivering already 

  The trailer/conclusion part I think should be where we guide/invite
  the reader into "Debian ecosystem" as a user/contributor/... by
  announcing upcoming wheezy release, describing that even trying the
  system and reporting the problems is a valuable contribution so that
  Debian becomes THEIR system not only as of the choice but also really
  of being part of something bigger and better ;)

  So ideas on how to deliver above, or what should be the structure, or
  what is wrong with proposed one -- everything is welcome.

  I am yet not sure what should be the best format/venue for such
  discussions (here on the list, or straight in the manuscript)...


* Think about visualization(s)

  Good visualizations are indispensable.  We will need one (or
  two) and we should decide on what aspects they should demonstrate

  - Debian release suites/flow and their fit for particular user groups,
    e.g. some lightweight version of Claudio's Debian infographics

    http://claudiocomputing.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/infographic_debian_history-ptbr-v09.png

   NB unfortunately it is under somewhat restrictive license as is and I
   did no even see the sources

  - growth plots of scientific apps coverage in different fields

   might be tricky to collect the information, but should be
   feasible based on debian-science task pages and historical popcon
   data, or ... ?

   but imho we need some plot with a historical perspective to show the
   growth (which I do not doubt there) and in particular connection to
   scientific research

  - illustration of "Debian ecosystem" and where particular software
    projects/developers and users fit.  In our NeuroDebian life-time we
    came up with few attempts to depict such e.g.

    * really basic "from scientists to scientists" message
      in top portion of
      http://neuro.debian.net/_files/NeuroDebian_SfN2010.png

    * workflow and support channels between upstream/debian/users
      (sorry -- could not find where if we had it publicly, but
      here it comes from Michael Hanke:
      http://www.onerussian.com/tmp/distro-dev.png )

  - more ideas?


* write a script to gather bib references from
  http://wiki.debian.org/CategoryPublication
  into a .bib file 
  
  we will need those, so that is a little project for someone ;)


* somewhat related:  as far as I see, Debian Science "project" has no
  logo and having one might be at least cool, and otherwise useful for
  promotion of the scientific nature of debian

  so I would encourage someone with design/artistic skills ;)

uff -- enough for a start but if you see more -- please chime in.

-- 
=------------------------------------------------------------------=
Keep in touch                                     www.onerussian.com
Yaroslav Halchenko                 www.ohloh.net/accounts/yarikoptic


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