[MINC-users] The future of MINC

[Luis Concha]

Hello all. Very interesting discussion regarding the future of MINC. I would
like to support Giovanna's comments regarding the end-users. As I see it,
you have this opportunity to improve MINC, but it should happen at two
different levels: (i) development issues, which have already been addressed
in previous posts, but, importantly, (ii) usability. Granted, minc users
tend to not be black-box users, but they are not necessarily programmers.

With notable exceptions, the minc tools are seen as obscure outside of the
BIC, which is a shame, given how fantastic they are. When someone tells me
this, I always feel sorry for them, because they are truly missing out. But
I also do not blame them; minc tools are obscure, indeed. I will not repeat
what Giovanna said, but will only urge you to consider making improvements
beyond the development level.

worth 1/2 cent.

Luis






>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:54:45 -0500
> From: Giovanna Pellecchia <giovanna.pellecchia at camhpet.ca>
> Subject: Re: [MINC-users] The future of MINC
> To: minc-users at bic.mni.mcgill.ca
> Message-ID: <4D499A65.30606 at camhpet.ca>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
>
> Howdy all,
> the debate is taking an interesting turn, especially after Louis
> Collins' offer (and not for the reasons you may think!).
>
> I have a limited experience with MINC, but if you are interested in
> expanding the MINC end-user base, with the ultimate goal of generating
> more MINC development, maybe my experience might be representative of
> the world out there.
>
> I joined Antonio Strafella's lab here in Toronto in 2006 and started by
> installing the MINC tools on his computers.
>
> The most frustrating issue for a newbie was that I could not find a
> single accessible place where to get code, packages, documentation and
> help. Finding the right tools still requires an insider's knowledge and
> there is no user-friendly documentation to be found.
> As a complete outsider of the BIC and isolated from the MINC community
> at large, I would have been in deep trouble, if it had not been for
> Jason Lerch (who trained at the MNI), who helped me with finding the
> code, understanding abstruse compiling errors, pointing at known (for
> long-time MINC users) issues, and making everything work seamlessly.
>
> There are a few contributors who are extremely prolific, but as it
> stands now, MINC is a closed community of people who used to know each
> other. As I see it, unless MINC is able to generate a wider interest, it
> will not trigger more development or original contributions. It is a
> more general issue than just deciding where to shift the code development.
> That's why I think Louis Collins' offer hits the mark. Increasing the
> end-user base requires an investment in training and tutoring, and may
> require (an) ?official? coordinator(s) that deploy(s) resources as seen
> fit by the community.
>
> I am certain that there are a few labs, like mine, who are developing
> with the MINC world and would be happy to contribute, if not with good
> code at least with good documentation, if given a chance to do so in a
> simple and welcoming way.
>
> Just my one cent.
> Cheers,
> Giovanna.
>
>
>