Re: tlug: Re: MagicPoint (was: VFLib Documentation)

[craigoda@example.com]

From: Rex Walters <rex@example.com>
Subject: tlug: Re: MagicPoint (was: VFLib Documentation)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 19:01:28 +0900

rex> On Thu, May 28, 1998 at 05:25:33PM +0900, craigoda@example.com wrote:
rex> > 
rex> > For people that don't know, Rex published an article on http://slashdot.org
rex> > that generated quite a bit of interest in MagicPoint.  
rex> 
rex> "Quite a bit" might be a bit of a stretch.  "Published an article" would
rex> be even more of a stretch.  :-)  "Rex posted a message pointing people
rex> to the MagicPoint URL, which generated a few replies" would be how I'd
rex> put it.

Hi,
slashdot.org is a pretty high-volume site.  I saw the article and I wasn't
even looking for it.  I think it is good that there is a native English
speaker out there pitching Japanese software.  It helps when people start
tossing out the unimaginative comments in the forum.  I think that
a lot of people saw the post and a few people replied.  The ones that
didn't reply are probably the ones using it. 
I do think it gave MagicPoint exposure.   We should do more stuff
like this.  I think that it:

  1) promotes free software from Japan,
  2) provides an opportunity for TLUG members to get closer
	to the Japanese software development community.
  3) helps the internationalization of software


Point one is obvious.  

Point 2 means that if Matt writes to Kakugawa-san
and asks if he wants English documentation for VFLib, Kakugawa-san is
probably going to be really happy because it is time consuming for 
a Japanese person to write English documentation.  We have a similar
opportunity with the developer of Ruby.  He is on the jtlug list.
Due to the exchange of favor economy of free software in Japan,
these developers might be more willing to help us out with questions on Japanese
software in the future. 

Point 3 reflects my agreement with Tague's remark that the best way
to get software developers thinking about internationalization of software
is to get international developers involved.  If we can help Japanese
software developers get more involved with other projects, it helps
the free software community in Japan get access to more high quality
open source software that support Japanese.  This is good for everyone.

If anyone is interested in coordinating efforts together with TLUG
members and JLUG members, why not use the jtlug list as a platform
for discussion.   

BTW, Ruby is supposed to be pretty kick-butt and gaining popularity
fast.  However, because it was developed in Japan, it is not widely
known outside of Japan.  

since I'm online, on an unrelated subject.  Does anyone know how to
fix the majordomo digest so that it correctly decodes the base64
encoded subject headers?

Regards,
Craig

----
Craig Oda   craigoda@example.com   http://tlug.linux.or.jp/~craigoda

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