So after all these post about rationalists having problem cooperating, I am left wondering: Cooperate on what? Are there any existing projects to join? As a student I am not able to support by giving any large amounts of money, but I do have time to spare on a worthy cause.
Rationalist hardliner response: stop slacking off, hurry up and make a lot of money. There must be some way to convert that extra time into wealth. Then donate some of the money to a project, or start your own.
Not everyone agrees with me on this—evangelism has bad associations—but I currently think that spreading rationalism itself enough to change the incentives for politicians would be a worthy goal.
I’m good at Python but I’m having trouble getting the code running. If it’s not an abuse of the site I might put up a top-level post for people interested in hacking on lesswrong to find each other and help each other out. Are there enough of us for that?
I got stuck trying to install Postgres 8.2 on my Intrepid machine—the advice I could find online mentions snapshot.debian.org but that seems to be broken :-(
There should be a mailing list. Any open source project must have one, even if the issue tracker is supposed to take care of most of the day-to-day working exchange. You should ask the project owners if there’s one already, and if there isn’t, set one up, for example, using google groups. Theintroductorypages should also link to the mailing list.
Only in a way. It’s as easy to set up a mailing list as it is to create a post, but the post is a short-term solution, so I don’t see any advantages in doing that.
The stronger our reply notifications are, the more like a mailing list it becomes. If we could subscribe to posts, for example, then a post would be just like a mailing list, but with easy threading and archival.
Posts don’t have named threads. Google groups and gmail provide threading and archival. Gmail allows to set up custom filters. Group admins can manage membership.
All that is good, but we can get there later. I don’t know if there are more than three of us yet. Once there are more than six people who want to discuss the software, we can look at better mechanisms.
Indeed, it’ll be useful only if people in the know join it. I believe the archives should be public, and probably joining should be automatic, but the first post moderated.
I got it working on my MacBook, using PostgreSQL 8.2. When installing psycopg I had originally installed it for the wrong version of PostgreSQL (8.3), so I had to uninstall it and reinstall it with the right version.
Darius recently updated the Hacking on Less Wrong wiki page to include instructions for getting up and running on Ubuntu 8.10. He’s just set up an install on 9.04 as well and has some notes on the experience. I’ll ask him to add them to the wiki page too.
Whatever it is you want to do with your life. I can’t think of many fields in which a rational outlook wouldn’t be of use. This goes back to fundamental values, interests, talents, etc. -- the dictates of rationalism can’t decide everything for you.
So after all these post about rationalists having problem cooperating, I am left wondering: Cooperate on what? Are there any existing projects to join? As a student I am not able to support by giving any large amounts of money, but I do have time to spare on a worthy cause.
Rationalist hardliner response: stop slacking off, hurry up and make a lot of money. There must be some way to convert that extra time into wealth. Then donate some of the money to a project, or start your own.
Not everyone agrees with me on this—evangelism has bad associations—but I currently think that spreading rationalism itself enough to change the incentives for politicians would be a worthy goal.
There was this post and if you’re good at Python we’ve got plenty of open issues.
I’m good at Python but I’m having trouble getting the code running. If it’s not an abuse of the site I might put up a top-level post for people interested in hacking on lesswrong to find each other and help each other out. Are there enough of us for that?
I got stuck trying to install Postgres 8.2 on my Intrepid machine—the advice I could find online mentions snapshot.debian.org but that seems to be broken :-(
Go ahead and put up the post.
There should be a mailing list. Any open source project must have one, even if the issue tracker is supposed to take care of most of the day-to-day working exchange. You should ask the project owners if there’s one already, and if there isn’t, set one up, for example, using google groups. The introductory pages should also link to the mailing list.
An LW post is a mailing list, in a way. I’d say go ahead and put up the post for now. Mailing list can be added later.
Only in a way. It’s as easy to set up a mailing list as it is to create a post, but the post is a short-term solution, so I don’t see any advantages in doing that.
The stronger our reply notifications are, the more like a mailing list it becomes. If we could subscribe to posts, for example, then a post would be just like a mailing list, but with easy threading and archival.
Posts don’t have named threads. Google groups and gmail provide threading and archival. Gmail allows to set up custom filters. Group admins can manage membership.
All that is good, but we can get there later. I don’t know if there are more than three of us yet. Once there are more than six people who want to discuss the software, we can look at better mechanisms.
mailing list created: http://groups.google.com/group/lesswrong-dev
I started working on some bugs, and the lack of a mailing list makes things a bit complicated.
I’ll add it to the wiki if it gets used; it might be better if the project owners created one instead.
Could you change the settings to make it more open by default? You can always change it back if you hit problems.
You’re right—changed.
Indeed, it’ll be useful only if people in the know join it. I believe the archives should be public, and probably joining should be automatic, but the first post moderated.
I have added links to the mailing list in the README in the code (which GitHub shows) and also on the ‘Home’ wiki page.
I had some difficulties with it as well but I seem to have the code working locally now. I’d be happy to help others get it working as much as I can.
What OS did you get it running under, and how did you get the right version of PostgreSQL installed?
I got it working on my MacBook, using PostgreSQL 8.2. When installing psycopg I had originally installed it for the wrong version of PostgreSQL (8.3), so I had to uninstall it and reinstall it with the right version.
Gentoo Linux, and by using package-specific flags in the Portage package manager to force specific versions for stuff.
I seem to recall there were versioning issues with some Python packages as well, and a bit of modification needed in the example.ini file.
Darius recently updated the Hacking on Less Wrong wiki page to include instructions for getting up and running on Ubuntu 8.10. He’s just set up an install on 9.04 as well and has some notes on the experience. I’ll ask him to add them to the wiki page too.
Whatever it is you want to do with your life. I can’t think of many fields in which a rational outlook wouldn’t be of use. This goes back to fundamental values, interests, talents, etc. -- the dictates of rationalism can’t decide everything for you.