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>[Bob says]
>I thought that, like everybody else at some time or the other, he wanted
>to develop the new software for his own use to get features he couldn't
>get in presently available software.
This is partially true. I would like to run a fund of my own in due time.
I have been fascinated with trading every since I started in Securities
Lending Tech. at Bear Stearns back in '95. And ever since I bought a
couple of calls and profitably cashed in on AOL introducing their first
all-you-can-eat dial-up plan.
QuantStudio is the toolkit to compare Uptick too and I'm in the best
position to look at QuantStudio since I sell it. QS is a pain in the rear
for me to use and I think it's rather complex. The things that I want to
do easily are very hard to achieve.
This might not be the same for everyone but I have a keen eye for
simplifying things and although I'm a programmer myself I do not think
the inmates should be running the asylum. I think usability and
simplicity should be key features of any trading software.
>[Bob says]
>My point was that he would be far better off using any existing platform
>than trying to develop one himself for his own use. It always seems
>easier to "roll-your-own" but from hard experience, it never is.
Well, this is why I went open source for the base engine. Yes, I'll be
putting in a lot of effort gratis and people won't jump in until I'm
almost done but...
With Uptick I don't have to implement indicators or advanced math since
there's TA-LIB and QuantLib. This takes out maybe 40% of QuantStudio.
Then I don't have to bother with charting really since it's almost
implemented for me in other Python packages out there. Take out another
30% of QuantStudio.
What's left is data storage, backtesting, optimization, basic portfolio
management and basic execution. These 30% can be banged out over the
summer and presto you have an almost complete package that rivals and
even exceeds what QS is at the moment or what it will be by that time.
Not taking into account the fact that Uptick will be far more robust,
easy to use, lean and mean since far more people will be tinkering and
improving it than QS can ever afford.
Then I can move on to distributed optimizations on a server farm,
monitoring all instruments on all exchanges and other cool applications,
some of which could be sold.
>[Bob says]
>I didn't understand that he wanted to sell it as a part of a new business
>effort. I must have missed that point somewhere along the way so I
>decided to check his past messages.
Indeed. I'm no altruist. I do think that by making Uptick free I will
reap far more than what I'll put into it.
>[Bob says]
>Then as late as April 15 he was still promoting QuantStudio:
I'm still selling QuantStudio. Uptick is on the drawing board and a few
months away from completion. Plus, I gotta fund the effort somehow and I
can't live off the land.
Plus, some people will prefer .NET to Python.
>[Bob says]
>Writing the code is probably 10% of the effort of developing
>software. There is also:
This is the beauty of making Uptick (the base engine) open source. I
don't have to spend a lot of effort on maintaining it since the whole
internet will be maintaining it with me.
>Documentation,
>Instruction books,
>Training courses,
>Promotional materials,
>A complete library of the usual functions, indicators, and systems
>Interfaces to data vendors
>Interfaces to brokers systems
>Testing on:
> all common versions of the operating systems in use,
> all common graphics cards, and
> other hardware configurations.
Please see my comment above.
>Customer support:
> Helping customers become effective
> Answering questions
This effort I will be leading!
> Handling enhancement requests
> Fixing bugs
>Modifications to respond to:
> changes in the data sources
> changes in broker interfaces
>New versions from time to time to keep the revenue coming in.
Taken care by the free nature of the project.
>Business aspects
> Negotiating contracts with vendors
> Legal paperwork
> Tax paperwork
> Keeping employees happy
> Employee benefits
> Marketing the product
> Technical presentations
> Getting endorsements
> Raising money
> Keeping investors happy
> Keeping banks happy
> Meeting the payroll
Well, I suspect that I will have far better luck at this (and I have
experience with VC funding) if I put Uptick out there in the open than if
I do it as a closed project. I hope to do it well and I hope it will
spread like wildfire and become a standard. Yes, I'm way too hopeful :).
But I'll be far more bankable with for-profit apps built on top of Uptick
as it's original developer and designer.
Joel
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