pyVmomi and VMware’s internal R&D Innovation Offsite for 2015

I've been invited to speak at VMware’s internal R&D Innovation Offsite (RADIO) on the topic of my experiences with pyVmomi. This is a rare honor, and I'm very pleased even just to be invited. For the pyVmomi community this potentially is a big boost to our visibility.

I expect to be sharing the stage with some heavy hitting presenters with big ideas to share in a fast-paced TED Talk like format. So, I'm spending a good deal of effort making sure I make the most of the opportunity.

I only have so many hours in a work week. That extra effort in one area means other areas slow down a bit. For you, that translates into a bit less predictability in when things are going to happen on pyVmomi in the near term. Right now, the plan of action looks something like this:

• Roll out a beta of v5.5.0.2015.1 by the end of Q2 2015 as a bug fix only release
• Begin alpha work of v6.0.0.2015.2 for alpha release by the end of Q3 2015

The links above are to the issue tracker for issues targeted to their respective releases and these lists may change in real time as the community works through the release. Naturally, these are aspirational statements at the moment so the plan may have to change as we roll forward. But, I think this flexibility is the strength of our process on this project.

I have also resolved to spend more time mentoring new developers. That kind of work may cut into my actual code output and slow things down a bit when it comes to things that I personally code. The return for that slow down will be that we will grow a larger core group of developers who will be highly skilled and capable of executing projects like this one in the broader community. That's something the world just needs more of in general, so I think it's a good investment.

In a nutshell in 2015, I want to focus on mentoring more developers who can help drive this type of work forward. If you want to help and don't know how to get started, reach out to me and I'll do my best to connect you to the right places depending on your skill level. If you just want to start cutting code, feel free to jump into the samples project and start slinging away.

Either way, welcome to the party... it's just getting started.