Members of the IRAF User's Committee and the IRAF software development groups from NOAO and elsewhere will hold an informal lunch-time discussion (1-2 pm) on Wednesday, 10 June, for users of the IRAF data analysis system as part of the June 1998, meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Diego. A short presentation will outline recent upgrades, present status, and long-term plans for major changes in the IRAF system. Users are invited to comment on these plans and suggest priorities for future work, as well as to meet with IRAF programmers for one-on-one discussions.
Planning is underway to migrate the IRAF software to a more modern, state-of-the-art, software architecture. With limited resources and the ongoing support requirements of the current system this process will take some years, but the work will be done in stages and parts of the new system will be released as they become available. User input will be especially helpful in guiding the priorities for these developments.
Watch the AAS announcements for more about this meeting.
George Jacoby (IRAF Project Scientist)