The idea is this: rather than waiting for people to come up with documentation, essays, etc. about Squeak, why not offer a financial incentive for Squeakers to do a quality writing job on targeted topics? We've noticed that there are a number of knowledgeable Squeakers who are currently unemployed; here's a chance to help them and the Squeak community at large.
How it works
People suggest (here on the Swiki) the documentation (or Squeak enhancements or fixes) that they want to see produced for the Squeak community.
People then write here what they'd be willing to contribute to such an effort.
One or more Squeakers decide that they're interested in doing the job. They say so, and give a proposal that includes:
desired money (if any; there's nothing to stop people from volunteering to write for free)
required time
details on deliverables. For an essay or book chapter, this would be a paragraph or two, or perhaps a short outline, that explains what they propose to write. For software, this would explain the functionality and should include some user stories.
The potential sponsors and the potential author(s) then negotiate the above. One or more authors is chosen by the sponsors.
When the author completes the work to the satisfaction of the sponsors, the work is licensed under the Squeak license, and made available at least here on the Swiki, and more places as appropriate. Class documentation, etc. would be submitted in change set and/or module format for inclusion in the Squeak image.
The beginning of the work will prominently include the names of the sponsors.
Origin of the idea
On 23 July 2002, Chris Norton wrote to the Squeak list:
Ned, I wonder if perhaps you (& other fiscally challenged Squeak experts) could solicit money for documents directly from the Squeak community at large? I am not overly wealthy, but I, and I suspect others, might be willing to donate some money towards the goal of getting Squeak documented (I have suggested this before). If enough people pledge $$, perhaps you might be willing to publish your work to the Swiki? If the experts on this list make an honest attempt at documenting some of the important (as yet undocumented) bits of Squeak, I could be persuaded to donate... say up to $100 (US) towards that goal. Perhaps the best thing to do would be for people to solicit docs, via the Swiki, and then experts could solicit donations for that documentation.
I.e. you could say: "I'll document the Morph class if I can get 20 people to donate $20 towards that goal..." I recall some bugs were fixed for beers and t-shirts in the past. Mayhap we're ready to pay for documentation. :-)
PS> As an added incentive, I suppose that any docs that wind up in the
source code could include the author's name, as well as a list of his/her
sponsor's names.
The list
If you want to suggest a project: Feel free to add to this list. But try to keep the task descriptions down to one or two lines and use separate linked pages to offer details and hold discussions.
If you want to sponsor a project: Below the project summary line, put your name and the amount offered.
If you want to work on a project: Below the summary and sponsor lines, put your name and a link to your proposal.
Desired essays or articles
These would be self-contained articles anywhere from the size of magazine articles (3000 words or so) up to the size of book chapters on a selected Squeak topic. Help out the Squeak community by sponsoring world-class documentation!
There's already some ideas at Essays Wanted.
Some ideas:
Getting started with the Squeak environment.
Using Squeak for network communications applications.
Effective browsing and using the Squeak code discovery tools.
Everything you always wanted to know about Squeak debugging.
Using Exception handling to make a more robust application.
Making your Squeak application into an end-user deliverable.
Making a custom drawing editor using Connectors.
Writing a Squeak Plugin using the TestInterpreterPlugin. (Ned has this one almost complete)
Extending the eToy environment.
Using Processes in your application.
Squeak and embedded systems: serial, network, external process communications; polling vs. blocking, reducing Squeak's overhead.
Extending the Squeak compiler.
Desired class or module documentation
There's lots of the Squeak system that remains undocumented or poorly documented. Help out the Squeak community by pledging some money or time to make Squeak a well-documented system!
Document Morph better, including the various interfaces and how to create an effective Morph class.
Document the Socket layer better.
Slingshot into Squeak: A Documentation Proposal.
I used the Digitalk DOS patois for many years and have an app I'd like to bring into Squeak and although I understand reading the code/it being self-documenting to be charteristic of ST, I've found nothing here in the nature of a reference which could bring an experienced ST programmer up to speed quickly.
The app in question can be seen at http://commoditysoftware.org/everything/index.pl?node=xsql .
The proposal is to write a Latex2HTML document based on the experience of performing the port. As a side benefit the app itself would be added to the Squeak repository and Squeak would get a DB/2 interface.
Need scheckls to do, but only after done, (msg me).
Standard Widget Set For Making Standard Kinds Of Gui Apps
Gui Builder For The Standard Widget Set
Morphic Code Generator That Can Write Construction Code From Hand-Built Morphs
May be related with the previous:
Better Morphic to Standard Desktop Applications
Additional Morphic widgets, as text, combos, grids, etc.
Gui Builder on top of Morphic
Some mechanism to wire that UIs with the model
Chris Norton Will Contribute $100 Towards This Goal. I'D Like To Be Able To Take Hand Layered & Constructed Morph-Based Apps (Not Viewers, Etc., Plain Old Morphs) And Ask Them To Save Themselves As Class Xmorph, Complete With Methods That Specify Their Construction Code. I Think This Would Greatly Simplify The Process Of Building Ui For New Tools And Games, Etc.
A Small Image That Loads Needed Classes On Demand To (For Example) Build A Seaside Image With ≪ 5 Mb Of Image Size
