All PyMOL users please read. > From: Alan Wilter Sousa da Silva [mailto:a...@biof.ufrj.br] > PyMol is really amazing. Besides what we can do with it now, > there is a great potential of evolution.
That is the key difference between PyMOL and any comparable closed-source project. PyMOL can and will evolve rapidly, but what it evolves into will be determined in large part by the users who support it, through investments of effort and/or funding. The project has unprecedented potential (in the molecular computing field), but USERS MUST CONTRIBUTE for this potential to be realized in reasonable time (ie. 1-5 years). Some of you may have noticed recently that I have been changing my message. In the past, I encouraged people to think of PyMOL as a free and open package with no strings attached. But now the project has grown so large, and the needs so great, that PyMOL requires steady involvement from users at all levels in order to remain healthly. In addition, I seek to raise sufficient funding to begin hiring individuals (sporadically) to perform discrete tasks. Though my personal development time is limited since I am full-time scientist & manager myself, I believe I can effectively act as a coordinator of outside efforts, if provided with capital from new and existing users. In essence, I am trying to build a virtual distributed software company, with no regular employees, with free products, where customers closely interact with developers and each other via the internet, and where voluntary funding is used to cover costs. I know this sounds a bit crazy, but writing a free and unrestricted molecular graphics program in my spare time wasn't exactly conventional thinking, either. If this effort is successful, then the world of molecular computing will be forever changed for the better. Thus, I urge all of you to start thinking of PyMOL as an ongoing process -- one which needs regular funding and involvement in order to thrive, but that will continue generating value by making remarkable capabilities available to all students, scientists, and companies, IF properly nourished. Although PyMOL remains free and unrestricted open-source software, I will be leaning on all users (stakeholders, really) to "do their part" in making it as successful and powerful as it can be. The current gaping hole in PyMOL is documentation. The manual is far behind PyMOL's recent version. Those who have learned to use the package through trial and error should consider transferring that information to a web site where others can access it. I can review such documents for accuracy and provide additional useful information, but someone needs to take a leadership role in PyMOL documentation, since I cannot. M The second biggest hole is a robust user interface. Be assured that it *is* part of the plan. A cross-platform wxPython-based interface is being designed, but the native OSX port comes first. There are at least a dozen other areas which require attention, from rigorous testing to peer-to-peer support. Thank you for your time in reading this message, and please join me in exploring a new paradigm for development of research & educational software for the biological and chemical sciences. Cheers, Warren L. DeLano, Ph.D. PyMOL Creator Founder, DeLano Scientific
