Thoughts and Goals
by Patrick W. Barnes
Over the last five years, the GSoC program has evolved quite a bit, and the
Fedora Project has continued to adapt to the changes and to improve our own
practices at the same time. The people leading the program have changed on
both sides, the web resources have changed, the size of the program has
changed... it has been a fun journey.
When JBoss.org wanted to participate in the GSoC program, Google said they
would have to participate with the Fedora Project since both are run by the
same commercial entity (Red Hat). This forced us into a tough brand collusion
situation. While the two projects are almost completely independent of one
another, we have been forced to engage on common ground and work together
under a name we cannot represent.
Each year since I took up leadership of Fedora's participation in 2006, I have
tried to improve our resources for students and mentors bit by bit. Since
JBoss.org joined with the Fedora Project for the GSoC, this has been even more
of a challenge, and even more worthwhile.
In setting up new resources, writing new materials, working with Google and
engaging in various other activities in support of Fedora and JBoss.org's
summer coding ventures, I have tried to keep a few key goals in mind:
* Avoiding absolute connection to Google's program
I want the resources we set up to be generic enough that they can be used for
other summer development programs, not just Google's program, and not
necessarily just for programming.
* Remaining open to JBoss.org and other Red Hat-sponsored FOSS projects
It is unfortunate that Google insists on the brand collusion, but it is also
an opportunity. I want to make all Red Hat-sponsored FOSS projects, even
beyond Fedora and JBoss.org, to feel welcome participating.
* Avoiding brand collusion
We are forced into some brand collusion by Google, but we can keep the damage
to a minimum. I have tried to make the nature of the connection to Red Hat
absolutely clear. Our efforts are not directly sponsored by Red Hat, we do not
act or speak on behalf of Red Hat, and while we support programs that are
directly connected to Red Hat, this summer coding team has no official affiliation
with Red Hat.
* Working to the mutual benefit of all involved
If at any point this program becomes more harm than good to any of its
participants, I would rather kill it than let it cause trouble. We have a
wonderful opportunity to bring fresh blood into the FOSS community at large,
with the potential to retain strong talent in the Fedora Project, JBoss.org
and any other participating FOSS project. This is also a great exercise for
the involved mentors and administrators. The only real cost to mentors and
students is time. I want to keep it that way.
* Engaging students for long-term participation in FOSS
I would much rather introduce someone new to FOSS and endear our ways to them
than pad the wallet of an experienced contributor. That is the purpose of the
GSoC, and of my participation. If anyone gets a job or finds a way to profit
from their participation, that is awesome, but it is not the driving goal.
I have been the program administrator for the last few years mostly because I
was first to step up to the plate and push it forward. Karsten Wade has been a
great help in coordinating activities and making things happen that are
outside of my abilities. Bob McWhirter was instrumental in allowing JBoss.org
to participate with the Fedora Project. Yaakov Nemoy has been a valuable aid
in taking our participation toward the next level. I appreciate the
involvement of all of our past mentors and administrators, and if anyone wants
to step up and make this program better, do not wait for my permission.
I am happy to continue in my role as an organization administrator, but I
welcome all of the help I can get to make this program the best it can be.
Thank you all.
That is all I have for now.
--
Patrick W. Barnes
patrick(a)patrickwbarnes.com
http://patrickwbarnes.com/
LinkedIn:
http://linkedin.com/in/patrickwbarnes
All messages cryptographically signed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenPGP
--
13 years, 9 months
Fwd: Re: Google Summer of Code press blog
by Mel Chua
FYI - see below. Short version is that the Marketing team will soon get
to practice its collaborative press release writing skillz with Kara for
the Summer of Code announcement.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Google Summer of Code press blog
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:54:38 -0500
From: Kara Schiltz <kschiltz(a)redhat.com>
Reply-To: kschiltz(a)redhat.com
Organization: Red Hat
To: Mel Chua <mel(a)redhat.com>
CC: Karsten Wade <kwade(a)redhat.com>, "Paul W. Frields" <pfrields(a)redhat.com>
This all sounds good to me. I can start working up some questions.
Thanks,
Kara
Mel Chua wrote:
> This all sounds totally awesome to me - would it be ok to forward this
> thread to
> https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/summer-coding to keep
> other GSoC organizers/mentors in the loop of what's going on with PR
> for this, and to
> https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing so folks
> interested in press release writing can lend a hand?
>
> Re: collaborative writing - breaking it into a list of questions
> sounds great, and then maybe we can have a gobby (collaborative text
> editor) sprint to weave everything together? This does sound like a
> great opportunity for us to try out more collaborative-PR stuff.
>
> --Mel
>
> On 02/25/2010 05:31 PM, Kara Schiltz wrote:
>> Thanks, Karsten. This is great. I'll put a placeholder on our PR
>> pipeline for a GSoC press blog. I'm thinking we should be ready to go
>> with a shell for the blog and then we can just plug in Fedora as a
>> mentoring organization once Google makes the announcement on March 14.
>> That would allow us to maximize our time during the student application
>> window 3/14-3/29.
>> I'm up for suggestions on how to make this a collaborative project.
>> Maybe we pose a list of questions (who, what, when, where, why, etc) and
>> have folks break it up and each take a question to respond to? We can
>> then take those responses and weave them together into a press blog. I'm
>> open to any suggestions!
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Kara
>>
>> Karsten Wade wrote:
>>> On Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 01:53:05PM -0500, Kara Schiltz wrote:
>>>> Hi Karsten,
>>>>
>>>> Wanted to follow up on the GSoC Activity Day at SCALE last week. What
>>>> are your thoughts on doing a press blog sometime in March that's
>>>> focused on Google Summer of Code and what our plans are for 2010? We
>>>> could also tie in more about success and participation in prior
>>>> years. Let me know if enough details were fleshed out at SCALE to
>>>> create a compelling press blog on GSoC.
>>>
>>> Kara,
>>>
>>> This sounds like a good idea. We need to wait until at least 14
>>> March, after Google announces mentoring organizations. We presume
>>> we're natural to be on it, once we've applied, but there is never a
>>> guarantee.
>>>
>>> I'm including Mel on this because she is working on the GSoC project
>>> for the next week or so, and can help make sure we get this on the
>>> GSoC part of the Fedora Calendar. We could work it up as a next
>>> iteration on collaborative press release writing. :)
>>>
>>> Once we are sure we're in as a mentoring organization, there is a
>>> window until 29 March when student applications open. This is a prime
>>> time for generating publicity to target audiences:
>>>
>>> * Educators who can inform their students;
>>> * Students to work up quality proposals;
>>> * Existing community members to consider being a student in the
>>> program;
>>> * Existing community sub-projects who work with mentors;
>>> * Industry and other mentoring organizatiokns to notice what and how
>>> we're doing things while they are still happening.
>>>
>>> Having the 5-year report I did end of last year[1] is also good
>>> material to point at.
>>>
>>> By focusing on the essential audiences, I can see this being useful to
>>> the Fedora and JBoss efforts, all while demonstrating trusted open
>>> source leadership in action.
>>>
>>> - Karsten
>>>
>>> [1] My post and the report, which was derived from an internal report:
>>>
>>> http://iquaid.org/2009/11/04/summer-coding-benefits-to-fedora-project-and...
>>>
>>>
>>> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/GSoC_report_2009
>>>
>>
>
13 years, 9 months
GSoC Fedora Activity Day @SCALE 8x - 19 Feb Friday
by Karsten Wade
Next Friday at SCALE 8x in Los Angeles I'll lead a Fedora Activity Day
(FAD) on getting ready for GSoC 2010.
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SCALE_8x_2010_FAD
A FAD is a concentrated day or more of work effort where two or
more contributors get together to get something done. In our case,
we're going to work on process, how-to content, finding and solving
mentor sub-project problems, publicity, etc. As with all others, this
FAD is sponsored by the Fedora Ambassadors.
In preparation I'm working on these pages:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/GSoC_2010
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Summer_Coding_SIG
Let's talk about what you think could be done at the FAD. We'll have
about 8 hours of activity with an average of 3 persons active at all
times. More if they show up, but that's the guaranteed core to start.
Ideas?
I'm also beginning publicity for the FAD as well as our GSoC 2010
effort over-all. There has been a SCALE update with details about the
FAD, and we have a mention with similar details in a press release
from Red Hat about SCALE.
- Karsten
--
name: Karsten 'quaid' Wade, Sr. Community Gardener
team: Red Hat Community Architecture
uri: http://TheOpenSourceWay.org/wiki
gpg: AD0E0C41
13 years, 10 months
GSoC payment for 2009 in limbo
by Karsten Wade
We just got word from Google that last years mentor organization
payments were not paid out to Fedora/JBoss. (I haven't been watching
the lists and missed the other discussion.)
There is now less than a week to give them someone to pay.
I'm unclear what to do ... ideas?
- Karsten
--
name: Karsten 'quaid' Wade, Sr. Community Gardener
team: Red Hat Community Architecture
uri: http://quaid.fedorapeople.org
gpg: AD0E0C41
13 years, 10 months