[Gnumed-devel] GNUmed website

[Sebastian Hilbert]

Hi !

gnumed.conf.de is over and it has been a fun time.
One attendee said he had trouble getting to know GNUmed. He explained that
there are too many websites for GNUmed and almost no documents for people who 
have never heard of GNUmed, open source , CVS and the like before.

Therefore I propose we overhaul our websites. 
Proposed changes:
gnumed.de will shut down or redirect people to gnumed.org as soon as all 
information has been transfered to gnumed.org/net.

gnumed.org
let us rework the design and structure. I personally believe it needs changes.
1.) move all !!! developer content to www.gnumed.net
2.) Thilo will soon post a note on what he thinks is of interest to new 
developers / potential users.

gnumed.net
who maintains it ? how can *I* change things ?
1.) does it need an cms as well ? 
2.) lets have a download section for GNUmed related materials such as 
conference papers, design documents etc. 
3.) we need someone who takes over responsibility

There will be no immediate changes since there is Christmas and so forth. We 
still need to discuss this as soon as possible. We need to reduce the number 
of sites. We need to produce more documentation on getting to know GNUmed as 
a whole. We need more documentation targeted at people who want to get 
involved with the code.

Here is what we need immediately.
1.) maintainer for gnumed.net
It is your duty to monitor the mailinglist and put up existing documention or 
add new as it becomes available. You also need to monitor the roadmap that is 
out there and post progress on the website

2.) maintainer for gnumed.org
It will be your duty to report on information that is targeted at end users. 
If there is no such information because GNUmed is nowhere near complete than 
you are lucky. You could maintain a FAQ by monitoring the mailing-list.

3.) We need people who try to install GNUmed and report what sucks with the 
process. Ideally you would produce step-by-sep documentation.

4.) We need to write offline documentation. This means we need to produce 
documents in pdf-format that can be downloaded and printed.
- CVS guide for absolute beginners
- CVS guide on how to get the code
- guide on how to become a developer
- guide on rules for developers
- a pdf that describes the state of GNUmed - needs updates every six months or 
so

There is probably a  lot more. How much time will 1-4 consume? This depends on 
you. I do not think it takes more that two hours a week for 1 and 2. It 
shuould take no more than a week to accomplish the 3rd item.

I cannot restrain from a personal comment. I joined the project in late 2001. 
I have seen many developers come and leave. I have answered many inquiries 
from companies who want to make money off GNUmed. Many potential users 
contacted me but never contacted me again after hearing that GNUmed cannot 
currently save them loads of money. This sucks !

If you are a company , moitoring this list and intend to make money than 
please help out. I consider it selfish if you wait for GNUmed to get done and 
start making money afterwards. Consider dedicating resources to the project.
These could either be human resources or monetary resources. 

If you are a potential user and do not have programming skills, help out with 
the documentation. Stop listening and do something. Don't tell me you got no 
time. Do you think, Karsten (2 medical jobs), Ian, Syan, Richard or Sebastian 
(medical student final year) have time ? Get off your butt and do something. 
Start asking questions. Sart asking what you can do. If you feel you cannot 
help with documenation or programming consider funding the project. You do 
not need to spend a fortune but any deveolper will be happy to spend some 
money on Christmas presents instead of coding for free. Consider saving a 
small amount (5-10 Euro ) each month for the project. Keep it on a savings 
account for the time we might hire external developers.

You can contact me in private if you feel you need to  tell me something.
sebastian dot hilbert at gmx dot net 

I am impatiently awainting your offers to the GNUmed project.

Sebastian Hilbert
- disappointed GNUmed developer -