Re: PyNGL binaries being moved...

From: Mary Haley <haley_at_nyahnyahspammersnyahnyah>
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 13:39:37 -0600 (MDT)

Hi Jeff,

No, unfortunately you are not the only one that finds this annoying.

I'll give you the same answer that I gave to an NCL user who was also
NOT happy when we moved the NCL binaries to the ESG website:

Metrics of software usage have become very important for top NCAR/UCAR
managers, and our old style of allowing people to download software
without any verification was giving us terrible metrics. We had no
way to verify whether the people coming in were repeat users, new
users, or people just goofing off. People were not required to fill
out the form or even enter in a valid email address, so much of the
information was bogus.

With the new system, we can get much better metrics and give better
reports to our managers of how many people are downloading PyNGL and
NCL and what kind of science it is being used for. This kind of
information is becoming essential to the future of NCL and PyNGL.

We have been keeping a close eye on how users react to this new method
of downloading binaries. We've done this for about two months with
NCL, and have received only a couple of complaints that I can
remember. (I have to admit, though, one of the complaints was rather
strong).

It is our hope that in the spirit of getting this software for free,
users will be willing to go the extra step to register and give us
more information on how they use NCL or PyNGL.

Thanks for your comments, Jeff. I would love to hear from others how
they feel about this, both positive and negative.

--Mary

On Thu, 7 Apr 2005, Jeff Whitaker wrote:

> Mary Haley wrote:
>
>>
>> Dear PyNGL testers/users,
>>
>> Two announcements: we now have a PyNGL binary for Cygwin, and the
>> PyNGL binaries have been moved (the Cywin binary is in the new
>> location).
>>
>> In an attempt to collect better metrics on PyNGL usage and thus
>> determine future directions for PyNGL, we are moving the PyNGL
>> binaries to the Earth System Grid (http://www.earthsystemgrid.org/)
>> website, effective immediately. (We recently did the same thing with
>> the NCL binaries.)
>>
>> For those of you unfamiliar with the Earth System Grid:
>>
>> The Earth System Grid (ESG) integrates supercomputers with
>> large-scale data and analysis servers located at numerous national
>> labs and research centers to create a powerful environment for
>> next generation climate research.
>>
>> Downloading PyNGL from the ESG requires an account registration with a
>> name and password, and a short form to fill out. Somewhere in the
>> "Statement of work" field, please indicate that you are a PyNGL
>> user. If you have already registered on the ESG for NCL downloads,
>> then you don't need to register separately for PyNGL downloads.
>
>
> Am I the only one who finds this highly annoying? Another survey to fill
> out, another password to remember. It's only going to discourage people from
> using NCL/PyNGL, and for what? Better metrics? Phhpt.
> -Jeff
>
> --
> Jeffrey S. Whitaker Phone : (303)497-6313
> Meteorologist FAX : (303)497-6449
> NOAA/OAR/CDC R/CDC1 Email : Jeffrey.S.Whitaker_at_noaa.gov
> 325 Broadway Office : Skaggs Research Cntr 1D-124
> Boulder, CO, USA 80303-3328 Web : http://tinyurl.com/5telg
>
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Received on Thu Apr 07 2005 - 13:39:37 MDT

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