New Beginnings

Mike Milner and I always are wondering how to make Ruport more accessible to the community, and often like to try new things to try to stir people up and encourage them to get involved in things. This new blog is the latest attempt at that.

For as long as the project has been active, we've largely relied on the mailing list as our primary means of interacting with our users and contributors. That has been an invaluable resource, but as Ruport grows, we need to grow our methods of interaction as well.

Up until a few months ago, virtually all the discussion about Ruport was about building the software itself, not about building things using Ruport. While there is still room for plenty of that, it's about time that we let the tools we've built shine through the cool stuff we've created. We are also long overdue for that necessary kick in the pants that comes along with realizing that not everything in Ruport is a fragrant bed of roses.

So here is my invitation to you:

If you've got opinions share them. If you've got cool hacks, bring them on. If you'd like to teach us a thing or two about stuff you've learned while working with Ruport, come share your knowledge.

On the flip side, if something about the software is driving you nuts, challenge the status quo. Mike and I come up with a lot of ideas, and I'd like to think at least some of them are good, but I know that not all of them are. We've got a lot of other people who've got their hands in Ruport's development, and we invite them to take an active role in helping to shape the project, instead of just trusting the two of us to guide things in the right direction.

In almost three years of working on this project, I've always struggled with the notion that it's nearly impossible to make business reporting fun. But hell, we can try. I challenge all our users and contributors to help make things interesting. You don't need to be an expert or a guru to participate, just have a desire to share your thoughts with others, and a willingness to participate in any discussions that may come up.

If you're interested in joining up and helping with this blog, please email me at gregory.t.brown at gmail.com. Though there will be no minimum level of participation on the blog, I ask you to wait until you've at least drafted a first post that you can share before asking for an invite. It can be pretty much anything... opinions, a tutorial, a code example from your work, whatever. With a little effort and some luck, this blog will become a great resource for us all, and maybe even bring some fun into the mix.

Please help us make this possible. It will please the Pacman Ghosts.

-greg