Idea/request for help: Django Developers Community Survey

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Tim Graham

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Apr 17, 2015, 7:00:13 PM4/17/15
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I had an idea to conduct a survey to get a sense of how developers are using Django. I first had the idea when the question of maintenance of the Oracle GIS backend came up. We really have no idea whether or not anyone is actually using that backend, and it would be helpful to know so we are not wasting resources on unused features. Also there's the question of how often to release Django. I think it would be nice to make that decision based on some data from the community.

Is anyone is interested in coordinating such a survey (collating questions, preparing the online survey, etc.).

Some question ideas to get started:

Which database backend(s) do you use?
[ ] Checkbox for each one

Which contrib apps do you use?
[ ] Checkbox for each one

How often would you like to see new major version of Django released?
[ ] List some options, probably between 6 and 9 months.

Describe which version of Django you use (check all the apply):
[ ] I only use long-term support releases.
[ ] I upgrade to the latest stable version as quickly as possible.
[ ] I run off of master.
[ ] I upgrade Django when the version I am using is nearing the end of its support (or after).
[ ] I don't bother upgrading Django, even if it becomes unsupported.

Aymeric Augustin

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Apr 18, 2015, 2:13:32 AM4/18/15
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That's a great idea!

Like all Internet polls the results may be biased by the population who answers. We may not get answers from the least active parts of the community. However it would give us /some/ data instead of opinions.

I'm happy to contribute to defining the questions.

-- 
Aymeric.
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Federico Capoano

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Apr 22, 2015, 4:03:44 AM4/22/15
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Great idea.
The questions look good enough to me.

I love django-apps or libraries shipped in python packages. One of the reason I love Django is the fact that it didn't frenetically add stuff to the framework just because it's cool.
The good thing of python packages is that you can get some data from pypi (downloads) and github (clones). But we can't do that with contrib apps unfortunately.

Federico

Tim Graham

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Apr 25, 2015, 8:29:30 AM4/25/15
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Aymeric and I put together a draft:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Owv-Y_beohyCm9o2xPamdBnvjreNYoWai3rDloKZxWw/viewform

All questions are optional so you can just click through it to view the questions. We'll probably clear any responses before its finalized anyway.

Let us know if you think we should make any additions or changes.

Marc Tamlyn

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Apr 25, 2015, 2:41:29 PM4/25/15
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I would suggest IRC and/or Github should be options on the "I follow Django development" question.

I'd also suggest we ask a couple of open ended questions along the line of "What's your favourite thing about Django" and "What's your least favourite thing about Django". I've found interesting responses from people before along those lines.

Marc

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Carl Meyer

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Apr 25, 2015, 7:11:48 PM4/25/15
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On 04/25/2015 06:29 AM, Tim Graham wrote:
> Aymeric and I put together a draft:
>
> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Owv-Y_beohyCm9o2xPamdBnvjreNYoWai3rDloKZxWw/viewform
>
> All questions are optional so you can just click through it to view the
> questions. We'll probably clear any responses before its finalized anyway.
>
> Let us know if you think we should make any additions or changes.

Looks good to me! Thanks for putting that together. Looking forward to
seeing the results.

Carl

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Shai Berger

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Apr 26, 2015, 2:34:15 AM4/26/15
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Hi,

On Saturday 25 April 2015 15:29:30 Tim Graham wrote:
> Aymeric and I put together a draft:
>
> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Owv-Y_beohyCm9o2xPamdBnvjreNYoWai3rDloKZxW
> w/viewform
>
> All questions are optional so you can just click through it to view the
> questions. We'll probably clear any responses before its finalized anyway.
>
> Let us know if you think we should make any additions or changes.
>

This looks great, thanks for putting it together. There are only a few things
I'd like to add.

First of all, a question I find interesting about the general use pattern: "Do
you use Django mainly for one big project, or many small ones?" I'm not sure
what's the best way to phrase it, but I think it may be important for
interpreting other answers (e.g. larger projects will probably tend to move
slower w.r.t releases, will tend to use more contrib and 3rd-party apps, etc).

In "components": Request processing (URLs, middleware, view decorators).
Also, while not a "component" per se, Django's documentation is often cited as
a valuable resource, and a lot of effort goes into it; I'm not sure adding it
as a component adds value, but perhaps we should ask about topic guides vs.
reference or something of the sort.

In the question about "contrib" apps, should we include the removed apps
(comments, markup, formtools, localflavor)?

In the list of 3rd-party backends: I'm not sure what are the criteria for
being in this list; two other 3rd-patyr backends I'm aware of are django-
pyodbc-azure (which I've used) and the proprietary mxODBC-django.

Again, thanks for the initiative,

Shai.

Wim Feijen

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Apr 26, 2015, 6:49:55 AM4/26/15
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Hi,

"How often would you like to see new major version of Django released?"
currently lists three options, which are close to one another. I would like to have: 12 months, as well as an open option. Is it an idea to add those? Detailed release schedules are not necessary, in my opinion.

"I follow Django development through:"
I would like to add "Newsletter" as an option. Lincoln Loop has a really nice newsletter I can recommend. 

Best regards,

Wim

Thorsten Sanders

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Apr 26, 2015, 6:53:14 AM4/26/15
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I like the idea of an survey, but find the release question with only 3 options quite limited, how about to allow there to put own numbers instead of giving fixed answers or at least an other field?
--

Tim Graham

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Apr 26, 2015, 8:46:00 PM4/26/15
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The idea of the release schedule question is to form consensus on the options that have already been proposed in the "1.9 release planning" thread. If you have a different idea, please propose it there.

Mark Bailey

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Apr 27, 2015, 6:14:42 AM4/27/15
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I think the survey is a great idea.

Following on from Shai's question "one big project, or many small ones?"... I am the latter, so the "which version" doesn't really work for me even with multiple answers allowed.  I tend to:
 . Start each new project with the latest stable version.
 . Upgrade existing projects to latest stable version if I'm doing major rework (and have time to deal with any upgrade issues).
 . Leave well alone for projects that are running happily.
 . I don't have any really old projects, but I'll keep them all on supported versions.

Splitting into 2 questions would be one way to capture this.  Maybe:

When starting a new project which version of Django you use:
 [ ] I use the latest long-term support release.
 [ ] I use the latest stable version.
 [ ] I run off of master.
 [ ] I use a "favourite" version.

For existing projects when do you upgrade Django:
 [ ] When there is a new long-term support release.
 [ ] When there is a new stable version.
 [ ] I run off of master.
 [ ] When I want a new feature.
 [ ] When I am working on that project again.
 [ ] When the version I am using is nearing the end of its support (or after).
 [ ] I don't bother upgrading Django, even if it becomes unsupported.

Cheers,

Mark.

Tino de Bruijn

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Apr 27, 2015, 3:05:46 PM4/27/15
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Hi,

Mark, I tend to do the same. Your proposed split of that question makes sense to me.

Maybe a bit onto the details, but the last question about leaving an email adres ("If you'd like to enter your name and email address so we can follow-up if we have any questions about your responses. Please enter that information below.") is a little oddly constructed...

Tino

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Thorsten Sanders

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Apr 27, 2015, 3:59:24 PM4/27/15
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I wrote in that thread too why I dont like such fast releases and at least someone else asked too to give more options on that one question, on the developer mailing list its kinda only some people who are writing not reflecting all the developers such an survey maybe reach more of them and then the answer about such an important question shouldnt be reduced to 3 little options a handfull people decided on, that wouldnt reflect what people really want if they cant choose an real answer.

Markus Holtermann

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Apr 29, 2015, 1:59:20 AM4/29/15
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It's an amazing idea. Thanks for putting it up, Aymeric and Tim!

Can we add a question regarding usage of test frameworks (i.e., unittest2, py.test, nose) similar to "Which popular third-party apps do you rely on?" For example "Which test frameworks do you use?" - "unittest2, py.test, nose, other". That would allow us to see if we should / can include features in django.test that may require a specific framework without excluding too many people of our community.

/Markus

Tim Graham

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May 2, 2015, 8:27:34 PM5/2/15
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I made a few edits based on recent feedback. I'll publicize it via the djangoproject.com some time next week.

Tim Graham

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May 7, 2015, 10:46:26 AM5/7/15
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The survey is now "live". I saved the original responses separately, but some questions have been added or changed, so please respond again if you are willing. Thanks again for everyone's help and feedback in constructing the questions and I look forward to sharing the results.
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