Ghini.xxxx status

[Christopher Wyse]

Hi,

First I'd like to thank both you and Brett for all the hard work on this project.  I've been using it (or Bauble) since 2007 for my personal gardens.  I really like being able to track all my garden plants in a formal way.

I recently upgraded to version 3.1.8.  It was a little difficult to migrate my data - I was also moving from sqlite to postgres, but I managed to get everything moved over and working.  My thought was that I would pick up the latest changes, and maybe get some new features.  However, since my upgrade, I notice that there are no changes being committed (or very minimal) to the branch.

I looked around and saw that there is a new ghini.reloaded web based application.  I started to install that, but it seems a little premature.  The directions say to use the 3.2 branch, but there is only a master branch in ghini.server.  That led me to take a look at the git history, and I see that the last change was on 2019-08-30. 

My questions are:

1. Is there active development being done? 
   
2. What incarnation of the project should I use to get the latest development? 
3. What projects are not being supported any more?
4. Assuming I move to ghini.server, will my 3.1.8 database migrate easily into mongodb?

Thanks.

Chris

[Mario Frasca]

good day Christopher,

thank you for using ghini, and wow since 2007, that's impressive!

there's very little action on ghini, whichever version you consider, for different reasons:

1.0: it's stable enough;

3.1: I have trouble solving some speed problems on Linux, and have no way to test the software on Windows.  I'm interested in your set-up, and your experiences with it.  the low recent activity on it is also linked with me helping on some other Django projects, and that leads us to ghini.reloaded.

ghini.reloaded is also Django, and this would be my focus, but I have received absolutely zero feedback from users since I launched the idea.  I have set up a couple of regional sites and invited collectors, but did not manage to raise any interest.  if you want, we can have a look together, you as a user, me as programmer/administrator.  it ca be a local site for your area or also for no more than your own collection, if you have no problem putting it on-line.  ghini.reloaded focuses on geography, and taxonomic correctness.  being it based on Django, it's also very easy to migrate any database, empty or with content.  as you say, it's in a premature status, it does not even implement labels nor propagations nor integration with ghini.pocket.  I miss active users on it.

--------------------------------------------

let's get to your concrete questions …

1: development happens only as far as users ask for some.  it's not even an economic matter (though money helps), it's more that I do not use the software myself, so I only react on users' feedback.

2: the bleeding edge is ghini.reloaded.  that's the one on which I would focus.  if today a hypothetical budget-less garden inquires about ghini, I would address them to 1.0, but if they had ways to finance my time, I would do my best to convince them of the value behind ghini.reloaded.  after all, gardens should want web visibility.

3: the abandoned versions are … none.  as long as there's users, all are supported, even the 1.0 line, absolutely.  the one with the least focus would be 3.1: since I have no installer for Windows, I do not propose that one to gardens, consequence is that 3.1 has very low chances of being developed much further.

4: what about mongodb?  I don't understand the question.  why would you want to migrate anything to mongodb?  I have no plans for it.

--------------------------------------------

may I suggest you contact me on a chat?  or in audio?  I'm in time zone -0500.

ciao,

Mario

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[Christopher Wyse]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response.

We could chat sometime, but let me start with providing you with my set-up and goals.

I'm running on Ubuntu 18.04, with a Postgres database running on a remote Raspberry Pi 4 inside a docker shell.  I have a  Windows machine, but the desktop version isn't working there since I upgraded to 3.1.8.  When Microsoft releases their virtual Linux support, I'll probably install Ghini on it.  I currently have a copy of your repository with a couple of minor additional commits.  I debug in Eclipse with PyDev.

The migration from v1.x required a lot of massaging of the data.  It might be fine for a new Linux user, but migrating took a bit of time.  Even then, I had some issues with columns that contained [null] instead of an empty string, and they're a little tricky to find the underlying problem column/table (at least for me). 

My ultimate goal would be to use my iPhone or an iPad to inventory the gardens.  It's hard to keep the database up to date, and easy to lose labels over the winter.  I'd like to snap a picture and update the record from the garden.  The ghini.reloaded set up seems like it would provide that capability, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to give up functionality.  It would be nice if the ghini.server used the existing database, so I could do field updates with my iPhone, but then use ghini.desktop at my desk.

Regarding mongodb - I'm not familiar with the database.  I just saw a post that I thought indicated mongodb was being used for ghini.server.  That made me think the schema had changed and would require a migration process.

I'm surprised to hear that you don't use the software yourself.  That was one of my questions for you - "what software versions and pieces do you use?". 

I guess I've been a bit of a 'lurking' user.  Probably should have been more active with feedback and maybe contributions.  However, I do like the software.  There are a few issues, but overall it's very stable and has good functionality.

What chat do you typically use?  I'll get it set up on my machine.  Send me the account as to use as well.

Thanks.

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[Mario Frasca]

On 14/03/2020 11:19, Christopher Wyse wrote:
> I'm surprised to hear that you don't use the software yourself.  That
> was one of my questions for you - "what software versions and pieces
> do you use?".

well, the point is I do not manage a plant collection.

;-)

I started putting my time into bauble-then-ghini only for accidental
reasons, I'm a mathematician, and was forced to drop my paid job some
years ago.

I use this software for travelling, that is, I offer it to gardens, and
hope to be invited to visit, and work on their location.  it worked
occasionally, with rarely more than expenses being covered.  not a
proper source of income, but I find this interesting and most often very
worthwhile.  I combine this with mapping, contributing to the OSM
geographic database.

[Mario Frasca]

On 14/03/2020 11:19, Christopher Wyse wrote:

> My ultimate goal would be to use my iPhone or an iPad to inventory the
> gardens.

that is not going to happen, for strictly monetary reasons.

in order to produce software for iThings, one needs to pay a yearly fee
to Apple, amounting to $99.  that's yearly, yes.

Google charged me $25 for registering as developer, some 3 years ago. 
no further fees, also not for the development software.

as far as I remember, when I looked for information, I would also need
to own an Apple computer, and an Apple phone, and to keep them up to date.

(I would also need to learn tools that only work with Apple.)

we are cheaper out if you acquire a minimal Android phone, and get
ghini.pocket from the play store.  a decent Alcatel goes for less than
the yearly Apple fee, and I'm quite confident it will last longer than a
year.  I have one here which is 6 years old, still performing as new.

[Mario Frasca]

On 14/03/2020 11:19, Christopher Wyse wrote:

> It's hard to keep the database up to date, and easy to lose labels
> over the winter.  I'd like to snap a picture and update the record
> from the garden.

this one of the use-cases described in the docs page
https://ghini.readthedocs.io/en/ghini-1.0-dev/use_cases.html, in
particular the section 'Let the database fit the garden'.  but beware,
it's my interpretation of their practice: whatever they do in reality,
it is currently only internally documented.  any references to ODK, you
can skip them.

anyhow, keeping the database up-to-date is the very reason why
ghini.pocket was started, and why both 1.0 and 3.1 can run a 'server'.

check the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS6BwyqIRPE, added in
September 2018.

as you already remarked, there's no updates on ghini.desktop since
August 2018.  some of the activity was on the Android tools.

the same 'server' is not yet programmed in ghini.reloaded, but that's
the intention, obviously.  considering how I wrote it, it's very
possible that ghini.pocket may have memory issues with sending larger
pictures to the 3.1/1.0 server, but I didn't try it out really, nor
received any report.

ciao, Mario

[Mario Frasca]

On 14/03/2020 11:19, Christopher Wyse wrote:

> What chat do you typically use?  I'll get it set up on my machine. 
> Send me the account as to use as well.

I sent you information in a private mail message, but who knows it got
quarantined as spam.

I prefer Telegram, otherwise it's all the same Whatsapp, Gadu Gadu, IRC,
Skype, even Facebook.

on irc.freenode.org I am identified as mariotomo, and there's a #ghini
channel.

for Telegram, you don't need to install anything, just visit
https://web.telegram.org/.  inquire in private for my phone number. 
same goes for Whatsapp, Skype, gadu gadu.

on Facebook there's a page named bauble.thesoftware.  I created it, and
I am the administrator.

please check your spam folder,

thank you,

Mario Frasca

[chris...@cox.net]

Hi,

Just tried to install Telegram, but my phone batteries were dead. Anyway, I'll install it today, and maybe we could chat around 7 PM your time?

Chris

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