Well, it started with a very esp8266-specific thread, and the question of how unrealistic the stated goal of 1000 votes is. It's also a harder (and thus more interesting) problem than estimating the number of users of, say, pyboard or wipy -- because for that you can just look at the sales data. Finally, esp8266 is a relatively new, yet "official" port, so it makes a nice specimen for analysis.
You are of course right that limiting it to just a single port would be counter-productive in terms of growing the community. However, despite what @pfalcon wrote here, it's not my intention to discuss community-growing strategies or responsibilities here -- I just want to know, roughly, how well we are faring so far.
The state of the community
Re: The state of the community
Sorry, if missing the topic!
I am/was just a reader of this forum.
Discovering micropython and the esp8266 was a real revelation for me. I am prototyping a greenhouse controller for a active/passive solar powered aquaponics hobby project and was more or less on the route to use as Raspberry Pi until I made some calculations about the solar power yield outside of summer and the cost and needed area/space for solar modules and batteries. So every (m)W counts and I was investigating several options for micro-controllers. Classical Arduino boards fell out of the equation because I really wasn't keen on getting back to C and having no integrated network capability. Lua was something I didn't want to learn, as well as JavaScript (Ruby, Lisp, Forth, Assembly, ...).
Having already worked with python (but was always falling back to Perl for basic (< 50-100 lines of code) conversions and general post- and pre-processing tasks) finding micropython got me interested in the board options there. The ESP8266 was the obvious choice for me. Having a low power consumption, WiFi and the choice of /certified/ top-notch development boards for <20$ (with micro-usb, battery option, ...) and sub 5-10$ deployment boards was just too much to pass up.
I am very thankful for micropython on ESP8266 and had my prototype with 5 sensors and 3 actuators, together with some backend data-logging, visualization and remote control code, ready in way less time than expected (4h (including server set-up)). Sitting in front of an Apple computer I think ESP8266 and micropython is the "next big thing"
Coming back to the topic: According to the yt-videos I watched (adafruit/esp8266) there are between 11 and 13 thousand people interested in this topic. Thats not much if compared to girls who want to stay on top of the latest beauty trends, but not just a handful either.
Looking back in history, it took linux about 20 years to become the universal os (for routers, GPS, mobile phones, televisions and washing machines, ...) and python about 6 years to get both feet into education and 12 yrs to become mainstream maybe asking about the state of the community less then 10 months after the start is a little too much.
Thanks to everyone involved in micropython and thanks to everyone involved in micropython for the esp8266!
... and yes I am supporting the suggestion to make writing to flash optional for every (explicit) WiFi activation.
(pls excuse any strange grammar, I am german and english is not my native language)
I am/was just a reader of this forum.
Discovering micropython and the esp8266 was a real revelation for me. I am prototyping a greenhouse controller for a active/passive solar powered aquaponics hobby project and was more or less on the route to use as Raspberry Pi until I made some calculations about the solar power yield outside of summer and the cost and needed area/space for solar modules and batteries. So every (m)W counts and I was investigating several options for micro-controllers. Classical Arduino boards fell out of the equation because I really wasn't keen on getting back to C and having no integrated network capability. Lua was something I didn't want to learn, as well as JavaScript (Ruby, Lisp, Forth, Assembly, ...).
Having already worked with python (but was always falling back to Perl for basic (< 50-100 lines of code) conversions and general post- and pre-processing tasks) finding micropython got me interested in the board options there. The ESP8266 was the obvious choice for me. Having a low power consumption, WiFi and the choice of /certified/ top-notch development boards for <20$ (with micro-usb, battery option, ...) and sub 5-10$ deployment boards was just too much to pass up.
I am very thankful for micropython on ESP8266 and had my prototype with 5 sensors and 3 actuators, together with some backend data-logging, visualization and remote control code, ready in way less time than expected (4h (including server set-up)). Sitting in front of an Apple computer I think ESP8266 and micropython is the "next big thing"
Coming back to the topic: According to the yt-videos I watched (adafruit/esp8266) there are between 11 and 13 thousand people interested in this topic. Thats not much if compared to girls who want to stay on top of the latest beauty trends, but not just a handful either.
Looking back in history, it took linux about 20 years to become the universal os (for routers, GPS, mobile phones, televisions and washing machines, ...) and python about 6 years to get both feet into education and 12 yrs to become mainstream maybe asking about the state of the community less then 10 months after the start is a little too much.
Thanks to everyone involved in micropython and thanks to everyone involved in micropython for the esp8266!
... and yes I am supporting the suggestion to make writing to flash optional for every (explicit) WiFi activation.
(pls excuse any strange grammar, I am german and english is not my native language)