[scribus-dev] Scribus Research

["Christoph Schäfer"]

Hi guys,

A few days ago I held a talk about the history of technical innovation at the local technical university. This university is a bit unique in that it uses the so-called dual teaching approach: students only spend half of their studies at the university. The other half is consumed with working for a local company. This approach benefits all: the university needs fewer space and staff, the companies can train future experts according to their needs, and the students not only get paid for their studies, but are also in contact with practical work, instead of hiding in the academic ivory tower until after their graduation.

One of the professors I talked to suggested open source projects like ours use a similar approach. So here's a proposal I'd like to discuss on this list, code-named "Scribus Research".

There are certain tasks in Scribus development that require a lot of work, tinkering, reading etc., a PostScript flattener being the most prominent (and notorious) example. If the coders were able to clearly outline certain tasks and the necessary work, as well as the expected results, we could add a web page to scribus.net, where those tasks are listed. The tasks could be of different complexities and time frames, eg. for B.A., M.A. or Ph.D. degrees. That way, we may not only receive external help for development, but also get in contact with professors and other teachers. Depending on the amount of donations we receive -- once the organisation, the bank account and the GiroPal and PayPal links are set up -- we may also be able to provide a certain degree of funding for one or more students. This could also include companies who need extensions of Scribus and are willing to pay a student for writing an extension or rewriting parts of the code as a part of his research or exams. It could also include usability studies. Even if those students may be hired by Adobe or Corel after their graduation, finished projects could help advancing Scribus.

Required: a web page, some money and some initial contacts to universities or technical colleges. Optional: a research wiki (or a new category in the existing wiki), a research mailing list and a research IRC channel.

If we succeed, the model could be extended to other create projects.

What do you think?

Christoph
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