[Omaha.pm] Fwd: running Rakudo * at your PM group | and other stuff

[Jay Hannah]

Has anybody in Omaha done any Perl6? The email below is an interesting idea, but I only have 3 hours of experience with Perl6, so I probably shouldn't lead such a meeting.

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I've launched my own consulting company. If you have any overflow work, keep me ("us") in mind.  :)

   http://mutationgrid.com
   Software / database consulting

So now my company will be sponsoring food at the meetings where we don't have another sponsor lined up. My wife's checkbook is off the hook.  :)

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I've been pondering moving our website from MediaWiki (which almost no one ever uses) to a hosted Linux virtual server where everyone that shows up to any meeting can have root access (sudoers), and the website is driven by whatever technologies people want to install on that box. So lots of live demos and sandbox areas built into our website server / community dev server. linode.com is $20/month, which Mutation Grid could sponsor if people would use it. And/or we could start a $12/year group membership fee to support the linode? I'm all about more participation, buy-in from our members... Thoughts?

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Eeek, I really need to flush out the git workshop scenarios some more. Stephan's fled the state, so you're stuck with me as git poobah. Should be OK, only with far less dictatorial confidence.   :)

OK, I've probably stirred enough pots for one email. Signing off.   :)

Jay Hannah
Software Architect
jhannah at mutationgrid.com
1-402-598-7782



Begin forwarded message:
> From: Eric Wilhelm <scratchcomputing at gmail.com>
> Date: July 27, 2010 4:14:52 PM CDT
> To: pm_groups at pm.org
> Subject: [pm_groups] running Rakudo * at your PM group
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> We had a "Rakudo Feet Wettening" at pdx.pm for our July meeting.  This 
> was planned and announced a few weeks in advance, but required 
> relatively little preparation and was a lot of fun.
> 
> If you want to try this with your group, here is roughly how we did it.
> 
> Preparation:
> 
>  * announce the meeting 1-2 weeks in advance
>    (cross-posted to a few other local programmer groups)
>  * post the install instructions and documentation links
>  * print some copies of the cheatsheet to take to the meeting
> 
> Agenda:
> 
>  * Introductions / questions
>  * 90 minutes of hacking
>  * Conclusion
>  * Beer
> 
> 
> I printed 10 copies of the cheatsheet (should have been 20) and handed 
> them out, wrote some links / info on the whiteboard, facilitated the 
> introductions.  Then I said "go", answered questions, wrote notes on 
> the board, and wrapped everything up at the end.
> 
> For introductions, each person introduces themselves and says what they 
> want to try / learn about Rakudo Perl 6.  This helped people find 
> potential pairings or groups of similar interests.
> 
> During the hacking, I offered help to anyone who looked lost (pointing 
> them at the appropriate docs or pairing them up with someone slightly 
> less lost.)  I think it was a slightly directed chaos, but didn't have 
> any time to experiment with things myself and the time went by very 
> quickly.  If you have food at your meeting, you might be able to go for 
> 3 hours with a break in the middle.  There was visible fatigue after 90 
> minutes of intense concentration.
> 
> To conclude the meeting, we went around the room again to ask each 
> person what they accomplished or learned.  Each person said "I was 
> working on $x and I learned $y".  Some examples of where people spent 
> their time:
> 
>  * class / object definitions
>  * how to create and use a module / include paths
>  * reading / parsing a file
>  * introspection
> 
> 
> This was not a lot of structure or time, but I think it gives just 
> enough time and excuse to get Perl 5 users exposed to the current state 
> of things in Perl 6 and Rakudo.  Many people spent the entire time 
> learning some basic differences and getting a feel for Perl 6.
> 
> 
> --Eric
> -- 
> We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals.
> --Quarry worker's creed
> ---------------------------------------------------
>    http://scratchcomputing.com
> ---------------------------------------------------