On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 9:42 AM, Lucas Nussbaum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 27/02/08 at 00:42 +0000, Steve McIntyre wrote: > > Hey folks, > > > > Google are running their Summer of Code programme again this year[1], > > and if we want to take part again we need to apply between March 3rd > > and March 12th. If we're accepted as a mentoring organisation, then > > students will be able to apply to work with us up until the 1st > > April. [2] > > Hi, > > I have had a problem with the way GSOC was handled in Debian in the past > years. > > Many of the students that were selected were already well-known Debian > contributors or developers. The first problem with that is that some of > those students used their GSOC time to work on their usual Debian tasks > instead of their GSOC project, leading to disapointing results, > unsuccessful projects, less projects being accepted the next year, etc. > The other problem is that some Debian developers who could have applied > as well didn't, because they thought that GSOC was only for new > contributors. > > I think that GSOC is a great opportunity to get fresh blood inside > Debian, and that we should use it for that, not to get funding for usual > Debian work. We should have a policy of not allowing existing Debian > developers to apply as students. If DDs want to use GSOC to get some > work done inside Debian, they could become mentors instead. > > However, I'm not sure that many DDs agree with this, so maybe we should > just aim for *clarification*. So any of the three following solutions > would work for me: > > (1) Forbid DDs and people in the NM process waiting for FD/DAM to apply > as students. > > (2) Make it crystal clear (through a mail to d-d-a) that DDs that are > otherwise eligible can apply as well. > > (3) Compromise: allow current contributors to apply, but, when > classifying applications, do it like that: > > 1. Application from outsider > 2. Application from current contributor > 3. Application from outsider > 4. Application from current contributor > [...] > > What do you think?
I disagree with 1). Both 2) and 3) are fine with me. If some projects in the past were a failure, it is solely the problem of the management (=student's mentor:), it doesn't matter if the student was or wasn't a DD. If the student is working on something else (doesn't matter it is also related to Debian), his mentor should fail him in the middle summer evaluation. Where are the results of the last year? I only found this: http://wiki.debian.org/SummerOfCode2007 But the information about the results of each project is missing. It needs to be clear from the beginning, that if the student is not going to work on his project as written in his application (as a full time job), he will be failed. And all this information should also be available on the wiki. That wiki says Debian got over 100 applications last year - so I am 100% sure there were many students who would gladly work to meet their applications goals if they were given the chance. I suggest: * Each application needs to be a concrete plan. * Everyone is encouraged to apply. * You get many applications, both from DDs and non-DDs * you sort them from best to worst. * google assigns N slots to Debian. * You choose N students - you can choose the first N, but you can also take into account their past contributions in Debian, you can take into account that we want new blood, etc. You also take into account if there is a mentor available to mentor the application. Many factors influence the result. Disclaimer: I was a mentor last year of 2 students for the SymPy project (informally actually of 5 students, see [1]). I am in NM. And I could be a GSoC student too, but I'll be a mentor again this year for the SymPy project, if any students get accepted of course. :) Ondrej http://ondrej.certik.cz/ [1] http://code.google.com/p/sympy/wiki/GSoC2007 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
