== August 28, 2008 ==
'''Attendees''': tef, Tom, Elaine, Eric, Conrad

=== Action Items ===
 - 2a. Conrad
 - 2b. Al
 - 2d. Conrad
 - 2e. Elaine
 - 2g. Conrad

=== Minutes ===
 1. Hardware updates:
  a. A desk-side low-end machine with on-board graphics is being ordered.  It will be PCI-E based so that we can use it for testing low-end graphics cards eventually.
  b. tef gave an update on interesting items at Siggraph.
   - Stereo-capable projectors (e.g., DepthQ from LightSpeed Design) are now available for ~$6,000.  They are not as bright and have lower resolution than our Christie projector but are far cheaper, so there may be more research labs who are interested in stereo in the near future.
   - Miracube LCD stereo panel (24", 1920x1200) can place left-eye on odd scan lines and right-eye on even scan lines.  A polarized screen in front of the panel makes it possible to use _passive_ stereo glasses with this display.  Cost is ~$4,900.  Unit should be easier to test than IZ3D screen since there should be no need to change existing code.  tef will try to get one for evaluation.
   - Disposable active stereo glasses are available.  No buttons to push; no batteries to change.
   - Web3D consortium is pushing X3D format.
   - "3D printing" service bureaus (e.g. Shapeways) are popping up.  They accept input (e.g., X3D or STL format files) and send back a solid model.  Model must be architecturally sound and color may be an issue.
 2. Retiring Chimera platforms
  a. Daily build script will be updated to automatically install latest application and build trees on developer machines.  Currently, only the daily build tree is sync'ed on socrates.
  b. IRIX platform will be retired on 9/15/08.  All IRIX machines will be turned off on that date.  User files will be on backup tape.
  c. Tru64 platform is "on notice."  Tru64 will become unsupported when (a) there is a problem that is hard to fix and is unique to Tru64, or (b) socrates is upgraded to a Linux machine.
  d. Note that 1.2540 is the final release for IRIX and Tru64 will be added to the download page.
  e. News item on Chimera home page making the same announcement will be added.
  f. Mac Aqua build will be promoted to "Production" status for next release.  Promotion will encourage users to try out the release and report problems.  There is uncertainly as to the usability and reliability of current Aqua release for general use.  Mac X11 build will be supported for at least one more production release.
  g. The script for generating Chimera download page will be investigated for creating a "Unsupported" or "Deprecated" section.  Once Tru64 and IRIX releases are retired, the last builds will appear in this section.
 3. Removing Chimera features
  a. Four criteria are used to evaluate whether a feature should be removed
   - Complexity of code (Will removal save maintenance effort?)
   - Utility of feature (Are there other ways to do the same thing?)
   - Number of users of feature (Is it important to user community?)
   - Quality of implementation (Will disgruntled users outnumber satisfied users?  Will unhappy users leave Chimera for another package?)
  b. There was discussion on philosophy for adding features to Chimera. Is it is better (a) to release a partially completed feature which makes some users happy but frustrates many, perhaps majority, of users, or (b) to wait until the feature is polished.  Cases were made for both.  The main agreement is that following up after feature release is a major component of making a feature successful.
  c. Three extensions were used as examples of removal candidates.
   - Ray tracing.  Conrad argued that the mechanism works, but that it is difficult for the average (non-artistic) user to create a striking ray-traced image; this does not constitute a good reason for removing the feature.  TomG argued that if most users cannot get what they want, there is no good reason to keep the feature; many users have reported to TomG that they spent hours/days on ray tracing and never got a satisfactory result.
   - Model Loops.  It was agreed that this is an example of a feature that should be removed.  In fact, it probably should not have been released in the first place since it was never finished, i.e., there is no useful end product.
   - Nucleotides.  It was agreed that this is an example of a feature that needs to be improved.  The images are useful but are difficult to recreate since Nucleotides data cannot be saved into sessions.  Rather than remove the feature, it needs to be fixed.
  d. Moving forward:
   - Identify a set of candidate features for removal and see if there are objections from the user community.
   - Identify and prioritize features that are not well implemented. Higher priority features need to be fixed.  Lower priority features may "go on hiatus."