Satchmo is turning out to be an interesting project. The first true Python contender to challenge the plethora of PHP CMS tools used for the de facto net store front, it fares quite well in the face of this challenge. .

Satchmo is based on the Django framework. More accurately, it is loosely coupled to Django through several external Django plugins. For example, registration functionality is extended through the django_registration external interface, installed as a separate egg in the Python distribution directory. Satchmo makes calls to this extension, leaving Django code untouched.

Compare this to Drupal registration changes, where source code is wedged into the existing framework, applying deep back end database schema changes, as well as code changes throughout the framework. The changes are irreversible, and if they fail, you’re SOL. Look under the hood of Drupal, and you see a tangle of database calls, auth and group checking calls, intertwined around back end logic. It’s not pretty, which is why it’s so hard to maintain and upgrade over time.

The Satchmo/Django coupling is not perfect. If you mismatch incompatible versions of Django plugins to Satchmo, or other applications, cryptic messages can appear from either side, pointing back to code compiled elsewhere and placed in your Python distro. This makes it difficult to trace back, even if you vaguely know where the failure point is.

But this is the worst problem Satchmo has presented to me so far. I can certainly live with that, compared to digging through many chunks of Drupal framework source code and database schema backups to figure out why a recent patch broke authentication, how group permissions were changed, etc.

Satchmo takes full advantage of all of the juicy Django goodness that makes web framework development fun again: built-in internationalization and localization all the way down to currency handling and language choices in templates, built-in registration, email verification and customer account management, built-in form data validation, seamless form-to-database data entry.

This is a revolutionary, much needed improvement in the Open Source store front choices. Now all we need is an Open Source back end inventory system, and a very functional Open Source phone bank system based on Asterisk, with Python wrappers, and life would be wonderful.

Gloria

Want to give a tutorial or talk about what you’re doing in Python? Submit your proposal!

Want to get more familiar with Python? Want to participate in shaping this community, and helping to drive the effort behind new libraries and modules? Want to do something fun and new in the Open Spaces and code sprints? Be sure to be there in 2010. I think it’s going to be a unique, interesting and most spectacular year for PyCon, and I’d really like many women on this list to be a part of this great event.

I know, it’s late for my time zone, and you must be thinking that I’m juiced up on Club Mate right now. Maybe I am, but I was excited about this well before the Mate. I am a bit more involved this year, reviewing talks, discussing some possibilities for new types of Open Space events and code sprints, poking my head into various discussions, etc. It’s getting exciting, but it will be even better if more women show up this year, I guarantee this (HINT HINT).

If you want to come, but can’t afford it, don’t let this stop you! Contact me and I’ll put you in touch with organizers who may be able to help you get to PyCon this year.

Yes, I’m flying. How? No, not Mate. You know how:
http://xkcd.com/353/

Gloria

A large, successful bakery in NYC wants to grow their online presence in the social app space, blogosphere, and related web sites. They need a person (who does not have to be a NYC resident, but will visit occasionally) who knows how to:

(1) Find related web sites and drop relevant strategic links on those sites without “spamming”.
(2) Create an online social app/blog presence for this company, announcing new products, philanthropic events, etc. for this company.
(3) Follow accounts at Facebook, MySpace, product blogs, etc. Help set up the look and feel of these sites (working alongside a writer, a designer, and a software developer).
(4) Help us build this presence in creative ways: event photo slideshows, podcasting interviews of the owners, the technical aspects of the company, etc.

Please submit a resume and some examples of your work online. Also give me an example of how you would promote such a situation. Creativity is definitely encouraged:

I am handling the system admin and software design/development. Over the next few months, I’ll be taking it in new directions, by bringing in a free Python apprenticeship training group, and using this site as training ground for people new to Python. This will bring it some social exposure from the tecchie direction. How and where would you discuss this unique approach of growing a business while providing a public service?

Please send email to gloriajw_66, at the address yahoo dot com

Thank you, and good luck!
Gloria

PS: Working alongside me means this job _always_ has the opportunity to morph in a more technical direction, if you so choose. This straddles many disciplines, and can turn out to be quite fun if you wish to expand your current knowledge.