Guild of Writers

Yes, this will probably upset some people...

At the top of all of the PyPRP files that provide functions to Blender, there is a little license, with one quote in particular.

GNU GPL wrote:This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

PyPRP is an open-source project released under the GNU GPL license (license is available both online, and in all PyPRP distributions).

Recently there has been a lot of backlash from people who want tutorials or features added. My contributions to PyPRP are released with no warranty, in the hopes that they will be useful. I personally hate writing tutorials, I'm much too technical about everything and it ends up confusing people worse than when they started. If you're using a feature and have questions, send me a PM. I have no problem offering help.

As well, the push from the community for certain features is not particularly helpful. As a developer, I implement what I feel is useful to me when I need it, what interests me, and what I feel needs doing (in that order). Making lists of feature requests is fine, because it gives me some sort of focus; but do not get mad when your feature isn't my first priority. Maybe I consider RelevanceRegions, SoftVolumes, and VisRegions more important that animations (or maybe I just get headaches whenever I think about animations, which is much more close to the truth).

So, quick recap: My code is written because it is useful to myself, and hopefully useful to others.

Translation:

Please do not pester the people developing code and additions to PYPRP. If you want a feature added, go ahead and make your suggestion known in the proper area. However do not expect your idea to be accepted or worked on unless one of the developers specifically says they will work on that Addition.

The folks who are good at coding and developing these awesome tools for us are people too. They deserve as much respect and leniency as you would give to others working on ages and other stuff. They are not machines, nor are they beholden to a contract to do work for this site. They are volunteers, just like the rest of us, so I severely urge everyone to treat them as you would like to be treated here.

Another disclaimer:

This message is not for everyone, so please do not get offended if you are innocent of the above. This message is for those who have the feeling that they are entitled to code or software to do what they want. These people are being selfish. Also note that just because you made a suggestion, it does not lump you in with the people described above. Making a suggestion is always welcome. The line is crossed when you decide to pester, annoy, cajole, ask repeatedly, whine, rally, filibuster, poll, and/or push for your suggestion to be worked upon.

Again, We are all volunteers. This is not a place to demand anything. The more we demand, or others come and demand, the more likely people will leave and weaken our group. Especially those who are the most knowledgeable and talented. If you push them to the point of leaving you'll never get what you want, ever.

This message has been brought to you by BAD. Any questions, comments, or ravings can be directed to my PM box, and depending on how interesting or funny your subject is, I may read it.....

I should point out that I'm not pointing fingers at anyone here, I'm just stating my philosophy so that people know what to expect.

Well, if I am one of those who have come across as ooh-gimme-this-gimme-that-I-DEMAND, I am terribly sorry - that is not at all what I have meant -- in fact, most of the stuff I say should be read with tounge firmly planted against the cheek, which is, of course, not obvious in writing.
Personally, other than Andy's airing his frustration (which is understandable enough; he has been slamming his head against the boundry walls quite a bit) I can't recall seeing anybody truly loading up the developers with undue expectations, but I do realise that it looks different from the other side of the table.

I'll hold you all accountable for your efforts the day we sign a contract and I transfer some thousands of dollars to your paypal accounts. Likely event...

I have good faith in our future: As time has gone, I have become more and more of the impression that Plasma is a good bit more up-to date and capable than we have often been assuming, as also pointed out by Lonthav, just a thread ago.. If older ages looks dated, one has to keep in mind that they were designed to perform well on the previous generation of hardware. :7

The desire to help out with a few short video tutorials has been on my mind for quite some time, but ability doesn't match desire - one can only teach what one knows well oneself. :7

For any newcomers I recommend beginning not with any pyPRP stuff, but with the video tutorial on the Blender user interface, that can be found at the Blender site -- we need to learn the tools, then the trade.

Well said.

~Lontahv

Jojon wrote:Well, if I am one of those who have come across as ooh-gimme-this-gimme-that-I-DEMAND, I am terribly sorry - that is not at all what I have meant -- in fact, most of the stuff I say should be read with tounge firmly planted against the cheek, which is, of course, not obvious in writing.
Personally, other than Andy's airing his frustration (which is understandable enough; he has been slamming his head against the boundry walls quite a bit) I can't recall seeing anybody truly loading up the developers with undue expectations, but I do realise that it looks different from the other side of the table.

I'll hold you all accountable for your efforts the day we sign a contract and I transfer some thousands of dollars to your paypal accounts. Likely event...

I have good faith in our future: As time has gone, I have become more and more of the impression that Plasma is a good bit more up-to date and capable than we have often been assuming, as also pointed out by Lonthav, just a thread ago.. If older ages looks dated, one has to keep in mind that they were designed to perform well on the previous generation of hardware. :7

The desire to help out with a few short video tutorials has been on my mind for quite some time, but ability doesn't match desire - one can only teach what one knows well oneself. :7

For any newcomers I recommend beginning not with any pyPRP stuff, but with the video tutorial on the Blender user interface, that can be found at the Blender site -- we need to learn the tools, then the trade.

I was kinda being tongue in cheek myself there, but I do think we may need a disclaimer like that at some point when we have more newcomers join up. To this date I haven't seen anyone cross the line I so deftly pointed out.

Perhaps someone could be appointed to head up writing tutorials?

That had been discussed. Most likely someone will get asked to do that officially at some point.

Did I just stumble into the GEEK SQUAD room here? Seriously, it is good to find people who understand this stuff. I hope in the future I can come back here for some help and suggestions as I bang my head agaist the code walls.