SR501Lope

Actually ... no, they won't. The Council Services Division has stated that "about a dozen" vendors were initially invited to participate, and five submitted proposals. Four followed through. Unfortunately if you were not on the initial list way back in '99, you have been frozen out ever since. The CSD continues to inform even commercial companies that they are still not allowing additional vendors to participate, despite continued promises to the contrary. Don't get me wrong. PackMaster, TroopMaster and the rest are great programs that provide a big benefit for units. My own pack and troop use them in their day to day operations. However, not every unit has $70-$80 to spend on such software and they shouldn't need to if a group of Scouters is willing to provide similar software for free. And I apologize as I shouldn't have gone off on a rant. We'll just keep plugging away with what we have and perhaps it will still be of use to those who can't pay the commercial fees. It's just my roundtable background that makes me feel like the concept of leaders helping leaders should trump any commercial interests.

The modules we're building aren't designed to be plugged into the actual data network but just to handle the data in the ScoutNet 2000 format in the same manner PackMaster and TroopMaster do. Simply publishing the data format layout does not pose any security or privacy risk. We're continuing our work even without the official formats but we'd like to be able to have units export their information in ScoutNet 2000 format to simplify the rechartering process. Plus I agree that the event registration modules would be useful with or without the proper formatting. We've already built routines to extract scout, leader, and unit information from the district field report print file and put it into a relational database. I'd just feel better knowing we were following a national standard rather than using a proprietary format we designed on our own. To me it is the programming equivalent of the BSA Engineering Service publishing their plans for a patrol chuck box. How many troops have benefited from the release of this simple document? It gives you the materials you need, a blueprint for the design, and instructions on how to put it together. We should have the same thing for unit management systems which would also benefit a large number of scouts.

There's a group of techno-weenies in our district that are trying to create an web-based, open-source module that would be freely available for all troops, packs, and crews that they could use to keep track of their rosters, advancements, events, etc. much like TroopMaster or PackMaster. Because absolutely no information is coming out of the BSA's Council Services Division (which is in charge of the ScoutNET project) we are currently reverse engineering the system from the information that we can get from our local council (field reports, registration files, etc.). Does anyone have any technical specs on these formats that they'd be willing to share? Additionally, what is the National Office gaining by making this information secret? Are they getting some kind of license fee kickback from the four vendors they initially certified? We thought they would jump on the idea of having Scout leaders writing software and making it freely available to the entire Scouting community but all we have found are roadblocks. It's really frustrating because a system like this that was developed openly could also help at the district and council level. We'd love to take the next step and build camp/event registration modules built on the same formats. Today you have to pay for them but with Scouts from across the country working together, we could provide it for free and benefit the whole community. Why is this so hard sometimes?

We have a good-sized troop with an elected SPL and three ASPLs who were appointed by the SPL. One ASPL is in charge of our two Quartermasters, our Chaplain Aide, and our OA Troop Rep. Another is in charge of our Scribe, our Librarian, and our Historian. The third is in charge of our six Instructors (Aquatics, First Aid, Camping & Hiking, Knots & Lashings, Map & Compass, Nature Study, and Outdoor Cooking). I know it is repeated in other sources but it is on page 106 of the Senior Patrol Leader Handbook under "Other Troop Positions" as follows: "With the assistance of the Scoutmaster, you as senior patrol leader will select the Scout who will hold each position." It goes on to list all of the troop-;eve; youth leadership positions.