[texworks] The future of TeXworks + how you can help

[Reinhard Kotucha]

On 2012-03-12 at 15:52:09 +0100, Jérome Laurens wrote:

 > 
 > Le 12 mars 2012 à 10:09, Stefan Löffler a écrit :
 > 
 > > Hi all,
 > > 
 > > [...]  Another point that was raised was the low number of (C++)
 > > programmers currently involved in the project. Funded or not
 > > (this is still debated), I think that in order to attract new
 > > coders, we should offer some well-defined projects so prospective
 > > programmers get an idea what is in the queue and get some
 > > pointers where to start. I've put up such a list of ideas on the
 > > wiki, too
 > > (http://code.google.com/p/texworks/wiki/IdeasAndProjects). So if
 > > you have some knowledge of/experience with C++ and want to get
 > > involved (or know someone else who might be interested), that is
 > > a good place to start. [1] Please spread the word.
 > > 
 > > Cheers,
 > > Stefan
 > 
 > If you want to attract programmers, you may also want to offer a
 > more attractive programming language.  C++ is really hard.  There
 > are ruby/Qt and python/qt interfaces which are really appealing.

Do they provide more functionality than QtScript?  I'm a bit concerned
about adding more dependencies.  It's a pity that TeX Live can't
provide TW for all platforms due to the unavoidable dependencies.

But I agree with you.  If more stuff could be done using a scripting
language, it will become more attractive for programmers who are not
so familiar with the internals.  I'm convinced that TeX is still so
successful because most of its functionality is provided by external
scripts.  Emacs is quite similar: a small core providing a scripting
language.  Even the pull-down menus are not hardcoded and you can walk
through them with car and cdr.  And what TeX and Emacs have in common
is the enormous amount of contributors.

I also think that Stefan's IdeasAndProjects page mentioned above is a
good idea.  For those C++ programmers who want to contribute it's
certainly helpful because it splits up the whole thing into smaller
projects.  It lowers the barrier...

Regards,
  Reinhard

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reinhard Kotucha                                      Phone: +49-511-3373112
Marschnerstr. 25
D-30167 Hannover                              mailto:reinhard.kotucha at web.de
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft isn't the answer. Microsoft is the question, and the answer is NO.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------