[PySide] PySide is Dead?

[Dave Curtis]

On Dec 17, 2012, at 8:22 AM, Stephan Deibel wrote:

> Dave Curtis wrote:
>> I'm in a similar situation.  I'm starting down the path to a new project, and after evaluating various GUI options concluded that Pyside was the winner (Why?  1. it is Qt, 2. licensing).  But now Pyside seems to be on the brink of being an orphan.  For my part, I'm too new to both Qt and Pyside to be of much use as a developer except perhaps from the standpoint of helping with documentation and example code, but in any case I have my own projects to push forward that need my attention so my time for helping with Pyside would be limited.  I would contribute modest financial donations if I thought there was a good management structure in place for Pyside.
>> 
>> So... I'd like to see a solid roadmap for continued Pyside support.  I'd hate to switch away from Pyside, but for one of my projects I am at the decision point and need to feel comfortable about Pyside's long-term prospects.
>> 
>> Sorry this message has a somewhat negative tone.  I think this is a very healthy discussion and there is clearly a lot of enthusiasm for continued development of Pyside.
> 
> To be honest I think you may be expecting too much if you require other people to step up and becoming management and make a roadmap so you can feel comfortable about PySide.  It's the unfortunate reality that PySide is somewhat orphaned right now but it's also true that there are users that are invested in it and some of us are trying to move forward.  

Yes, yes, I understand the situation and how open source works -- I've been contributing to open source for 30 years or so.  I'm just trying to be realistic here.  My own experience with Qt and Pyside are so limited that my effectiveness as a contributor will be sub-optimal -- looking at the  big picture, the world of open source is better off if I spend my coding ergs where I have more leverage.  So I am taking a users' viewpoint on Pyside. (I'll be the one asking n00b questions...)

I do appreciate that there is a crew that wants to put their energy into Pyside, for which I am grateful.  I'm not looking for guarantees, I'm trying to figure out where the leadership will be coming from now.   "Nowhere" is not an answer that gives me confidence :)   I'm very new around here, but I'm sure the major contributors know each other and can make their own assessments of how much time they have to put into project guidance.

> I have no idea how this will all shake out but like all open source it's going to be a question of whether there are enough motivated people with some financial resources to work on PySide.  I think there probably are but none of us are in any position to make guarantees.

Well, the first rule of successful projects is "have clear goals".   Some small group of people needs to be in the business of release planning and defect prioritization.  The people qualified for that team probably know each other already.   I see the start of that discussion with the "who is qualified to review patches" thread.  That's certainly a necessary piece.  

The piece I think needs to be added to that is goal setting and publishing.   Setting goals isn't the same as making guarantees -- it's simply getting the available resources focused in a productive direction.  It's that sense of direction that I am looking for.

> 
> If you do consider donations I'd suggest doing it by hiring someone to fix bugs you run into in PySide.  That way you definitely get what you paid for and it benefits PySide in general as well.

Yes, bug bounties is certainly an option.  I was subtly suggesting that sufficient governance and infrastructure to enable a tip jar and more sizeable donations might be of benefit at this juncture.

Thanks for your thoughtful response,
  Dave

> 
> - Stephan
>