Shy Lurkers

[Harry Jackson]

Ok. So far we have had 7 replies to the shy lurker post, oops another 
one just posted, in the word of Mr. Burns "excellent". As to how much 
elbow grease we can muster between us is open for debate. If you have 
sent me a message and did not receive a reply please resend the message.

We all agree that trying to get started with Parrot is a fairly daunting 
process. This is in part due to several reasons.

1. Documentation is aimed at someone who already has some experience 
with Parrot.

2. A lot of the docs are out of date. As an excuse this is partly due to 
the fluid nature of this project. Its like building houses on quicksand 
at the moment so trying to keep them up to date is probably chasing 
rainbows but there is a pot of gold beneath it if we get it. That is not 
to say they cannot be improved or brought up to speed a bit, in fact 
this is rather an important task for the next release.

3. There are no TODO lists that people can get their teeth into. Sorry, 
there is a TODO list but I find it rather terse.

Proposal.

If no one objects I don't mind starting a TODO list for newcomers or 
people who just want to get their feet wet. I will try and supply a list 
of simpler stuff that needs doing and some pointers as to where they 
should start. If people do not want to post to the parrot list then they 
can email me direct for information or help. So if you have a job that 
you think would be good for a newcomer then send it in and I will make a 
list.

I have thrown together a page as an example of what could be done. Don't 
bookmark it or anything daft like that, its a _demo_.

http://www.thingthong.co.uk/

Any ideas sugestions abuse welcome.

Incentives.

What advantage is there to doing helping with Parrot other than stories 
to scare your grandchildren with.

Serious incentives

1. You will get a feel for how Perl6 will operate at a base level. For 
anyone contemplating making money as a perl developer this is probably a 
very good incentive.

2. You get to take part in one of the most cutting edge projects 
currently alive today.

3. You can say that you are an open source contributor.

I am sure there are more reasons, some personal, some not and I imagine 
everyone on the list have their own reasons for doing it. So if you are 
lurking and want to help then post to the list with the sort of thing 
you would like to do and I am sure there are a few who be able to muster 
up something for you.

Harry