wxForty-Two

This announcement from the PLplot project, and this report about it from Slashdot tout the ten thousandth commit to PLplot's source repository.  My response?  "Big deal!"  Both the Python and wxWidgets projects are about the same age as PLplot and the wx repository currently has almost 61,000 commits, and the Python repository has over 73,000 commits.  While those numbers are impressive considering that they represent mostly volunteer unpaid time from dozens of developers, they still pale compared to other projects.

On the other hand, the number of commits is really a very poor metric to measure open source projects by.  Much more  impressive is the number of users who would rather be using the software than anything else that could compete with it.

Ever have one of those moments when you see some product or service and you think, "Doh! I should have thought of that!" because it is something that makes so much sense to you that you can't believe that you hadn't invented it yourself long before.  Well I had one of those moments today with Dropbox.  Dropbox is a cool service that integrates versioned shared storage on a centralized server with your Mac, Windows or Linux desktops.  Syncronizing files between your computers, whereever they are located, is as simple as dragging the files into your dropbox.  New or changed files are automatically replicated to your dropbox on the other computers.  If existing files are changed then only the deltas are transported across the wire, in a rsync-like fashion.

Besides the simple file sharing among your own computers, there are some other nice features there too.  Files are private by default, but there is a Public folder where you can put files you want to share with others, and you can easily get a public URL for them to paste into emails or IM messages.  You can also create a shared folder that you share with other Dropbox users.  Any changes you make in your shared folder are instantly updated to the other users' copy of the shared folder, and their changes are replicated back to you. In addition to all of that, you can easily get back to prior versions of changed files, and you can undelete files that have been deleted.  And as if that wasn't enough, there is another special folder type that is an automatic photo gallery, you just need to drag the photos you want to share to a Photos folder and the rest is automatic.

You get 2GB of space for free, and you can get up to 50GB for $10 per month or $99 per year.  If you sign up with this referal link then you and I will both get an extra 250MB.

Finally, here is the real kicker:  The Dropbox user interface (setup wizard, preferences dialog, task bar icon, etc.) is written in wxPython!  If the user ID I saw when I signed up is related in some way to the number of users (it is just a number so that may be possible) then that means that there are about three quarters of a million users running a wxPython application on their computers and they may not even know it.  Good job guys, I'm impressed!

A number of people have asked me about it and so I finally decided that it is high time that I give the whole twitter thing a try.  Of course I've gotten into it late enough that my usual user name, RobinD is already taken, although that page returns an error.  (I suspect that somebody got their account suspended...)  Strangely enough somebody has already registered the wxPython name, although they haven't tweeted anything since last July...  Anyway, if you'd like to follow me or send me messages on twitter I am known there as RobinD42. Bear with me while I take my first steps in this new environment...

 wxPython 2.8.9.2 has just been released.  This release adds the wx.lib.agw package, adds an event watcher to the widget inspection tool, and fixes a bunch of bugs.

• Changes in 2.8.9.2
  
• Download (source, Windows and Mac binaries)
• APT (Debian or Ubuntu packages)

I found out last week at the OSCON conference that my software is being used at the South Pole by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory project currently being constructed about a kilometer from the Pole.  They are using wxPython for the controller user interface of the machine that is drilling holes 2.4 kilometers down into the ice.  There isn't anything on their website about that piece of software, but it's real interesting anyway ;-)  Here is a bit more about the drill.  There are also these pictures, videos and blog from one of the scientists that gave the presentation I attended where he shows a bit about what life at the Pole is like.  (Where a nice warm summer's day might get up to -31F. Brr!!)

This news means that I now have reports of wxPython being used from every continent on this planet. Yay!