September 25, 2007

Philly ALT.NET... How 'bout it?!

by Brian Donahue

With a little jealousy in my heart about not being able to make it to the upcoming ALT.NET OpenSpaces Conference in AustinBroken Link: http://altnetconf.com/home/index.castle, I've been thinking that I'd really like to have a local ALT.NET user group here in Philadelphia.  First things first - "what the heck is ALT.NET," you ask?  It is a term coined by David LaribeeBroken Link: http://codebetter.com/blogs/david_laribee/ to describe a segment of the .NET developer population that (to steal directly from David):

1. Is always keeping an eye out for a better way.
2. Reaches outside the mainstream to adopt the best of any community: Open Source, Agile, Java, Ruby, etc.
3. Is not content with the status quo. Things can always be better expressed, more elegant and simple, more mutable, higher quality, etc.
4. Believes tools are great, but they only take you so far. It’s the principles and knowledge that really matter. The best tools are those that embed the knowledge and encourage the principles

At the base technical level, it is about using the .NET framework to build apps the way YOU want them to be built, rather than allowing the framework/tools dictate how you should build your app.  Beyond that, it encompasses a programming philosophy that transcends Microsoft and .NET.  ManyBroken Link: http://laribee.com/blog/2007/04/10/altnet/ others have writtenBroken Link: http://codebetter.com/blogs/jeffrey.palermo/archive/2007/09/23/what-are-the-alt-net-principles-a-topic-i-ll-be-proposing-at-altnetconf.aspx more eloquently on the topic than I.

But isn't there already a Philly.NET User GroupBroken Link: http://www.phillydotnet.org/?

There sure is!  And it is very large, well run, and they put on some great meetings and events.  I want to create a subgroup for several reasons.  Philly.NET is very big, but it lacks a sense of community.  There is no mailing list, and the forums on the site are don't seem to work.  Due to the size, the meetings are more often lecture/learn events with very little dialog.  The majority of the topics focus on new products and information coming out of Microsoft.  This is not a bad thing - that information is useful.  But there is so much more in the .NET world to discuss.  By meeting sometimes in smaller groups, I hope we can foster more conversation about better ways to build software.  UPDATE:  After attending the ALT.NET ConferenceBroken Link: http://altnetconf.com/, and talking about how to spread the sense of community and inclusiveness that was experienced there, I've re-worded my above statement to better reflect the values we discussed as being part of ALT.NET.  I hope we can helpt to foster more community interaction in Philly.NET, and contribute to the greater .NET community.

One of the things that I learned from being a part of the Agile Philly and Philly on RailsBroken Link: http://www.phillyonrails.org/ user groups is how incredible it can be to be part of a group that has open, passionate dialog about their subject matter.  I'm passionate about .NET and the principles of ALT.NET and I know there are others in this area that are too.  I want it to be easier for us to find each other and share our thoughts about the .NET space.

I've taken some initial steps by setting up a PhillyAlt.NETBroken Link: http://phillyalt.net/ website/wiki and a Yahoo GroupBroken Link: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/phillyaltnet for group communication.  Please join us!  There are no events set up yet, but I hope to get one going in the next couple months.