[Gnumed-devel] GNUmed - it's not just the code

[Sebastian Hilbert]

I have been surfing the web for a while now and would like to share some 
points which I consider important.

When I see GNUmed I see a project not only a piece of software. Right now the 
focus has been on code. Some very talented people have submitted code. Much 
time has been spent on different view of GNUmed's direction, coding 
principles and lack of developers.

GNUmed is different from many other OpenSource projects. Its user base is per 
definition limited which in turn limits portential coders.

What I have failed to achieve for GNUmed is to create a community around it. 
GNUmed is not just about its beautiful architecture or code. It's about open 
ideas for the medical community. 

This is not to start yet another debate on GNUmed's future. It's to share some 
ideas which I plan to implement soon. There are coders and there are non 
coders. The non coders have been largely negelected because of the skill 
level it takes to contribute. Different view on this exist but I am not going 
to discuss this. 

I write this here to let you know that someone is toying with the idea of 
building a project around the code. 

The goal is to give GNUmed an identity. It's easier to communicate with a 
person than with a project.

The goal is simple. Free coders from project management and enable non coders 
to contribute. Apparently it takes more than putting code on the net to form 
a project. I announce this not to make me shine or beg for help. This message 
here is simply to avoid double effort (not that I expect any)

Words are cheap. We will see.
Starting October 18th. I will try once again to end the chaos of GNUmed's web 
presence. My goal is to give *one* face to GNUmed - not four or five.
Initial focus will be on making accessible what we have already. 

I don't care how many features GNUmed has or not. My goal is to document what 
we have. In the meantime I would appreciate opinions on the architecture to 
use.

CMS or static pages ? I would like to hear about a multi language capable cms. 
Initial goal will be to display the *same* content for 
www.gnumed.org,gnumed.de,gnumed-praxissoftware.de. The design would have to 
be capable of showing our WIKI without leaving the design of the GNUmed page.

It's late here in Germany but trust me I am not out of my mind.   

Please share your thoughts on what you think sucks about the GNUmed project.

Take care,
Sebastian

-- 
Sebastian Hilbert 
Leipzig / Germany
[www.openmed.org]  -> PGP welcome, HTML ->/dev/null
ICQ: 86 07 67 86   -> No files, no URL's
VoIP: callto://address@hidden
My OS: Suse Linux. Geek by Nature, Linux by Choice