Wanted: Warpstock Speakers, OS/2 Masters
Robert Kuropkat
Much time is spent on many lists and forums discussing the
future of OS/2. Will IBM continue to support OS/2? Can Serenity
pull off what they have promised? And yet, it seems to me we
are forgetting about the single greatest asset our community
has: us.
There is a massive gap that has developed in our community.
There are those who know a great deal about OS/2 and those who
know almost nothing. We have lost our "middle class." This is
most noticeable in our development community and our group
leadership.
The good news is, we actually have new blood interested in
stepping up to the challenge, but the knowledge gap has the
appearance of being impassable.
There are actually new OS/2 developers arising out there. By
new, I mean both experienced programmers who are just new to
OS/2 programming as well as just plain new to programming.
While many of these people enjoy listening to tips and tricks
for programming device drivers, the real questions prominent in
their minds are: "What compiler is that? I wonder if I could
get it? Can I install it with my other compiler? Can the
compiler I have even do that?"
What I am looking for this year is a few expert programmers to
come ready to initiate, rather than wow the newbies. I would
like to see some "Level Zero" sessions introducing not just what
you are doing, but HOW you are doing it. What language do you
use? What compiler? How do you set it up for maximum
efficiency? What other tools do you use? Diff? Merge? Debug?
Source Code Control? Documentation? What are the tools that
make your programming in OS/2 successful and enjoyable?
In our leadership, I see the same thing. Those who currently
run things are those who always have. I would imagine many of
you could use a little help. Yet the rest of us have gotten so
comfortable with your leadership we no longer even realize the
effort it takes, great or small, to make it all happen. So I
call out also to our leadership to give some how-to's in the
realm of advocacy. Sweep away the mystery of your powers and
show us how to:
... put on a user conference
... man a booth at a user conference
... run a user group or SIG
... put on an OS/2 demonstration/shoot out
... publish an OS/2 print newsletter/magazine
... publish an OS/2 on-line magazine
... run an OS/2 advocacy web site
... submit articles for publication (amateur or
professional)
The fact we have new people interested in filling these roles in
our community offers the single greatest promise we have for
continued life and enjoyment in our favorite operating system.
But these new "enquiring minds" need to start from the
beginning.
It is time for the Masters to take on a few Apprentices. Let us
take the time at this year's Warpstock to renew our Guild.
Email me or use the speaker submission form at:
http://www.warpstock.org/2003/presentations/speaker_form.html
We look forward to hearing from you!
Robert Kuropkat
Warpstock 2003 Speaker Coordinator
robert-...@comcast.net