From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: "Shawn O. Pearce" Subject: Re: GSoC project mentors Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 10:58:22 -0500 Message-ID: <20070309155822.GB1131@spearce.org> References: <7vhcsw9h8p.fsf@assigned-by-dhcp.cox.net> <20070308150756.GB30674@spearce.org> <81b0412b0703080804r5e2d933fqabab7306a5f0d6db@mail.gmail.com> <20070309005940.GA32211@spearce.org> <81b0412b0703090150r674e754bn921d86eb40563e2a@mail.gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: git@vger.kernel.org To: Alex Riesen X-From: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Fri Mar 09 16:58:39 2007 Return-path: Envelope-to: gcvg-git@gmane.org Received: from vger.kernel.org ([209.132.176.167]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1HPhUF-00085I-79 for gcvg-git@gmane.org; Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:58:31 +0100 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1767331AbXCIP60 (ORCPT ); Fri, 9 Mar 2007 10:58:26 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1767332AbXCIP60 (ORCPT ); Fri, 9 Mar 2007 10:58:26 -0500 Received: from corvette.plexpod.net ([64.38.20.226]:33118 "EHLO corvette.plexpod.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1767331AbXCIP6Z (ORCPT ); Fri, 9 Mar 2007 10:58:25 -0500 Received: from cpe-74-70-48-173.nycap.res.rr.com ([74.70.48.173] helo=asimov.home.spearce.org) by corvette.plexpod.net with esmtpa (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1HPhU2-0007fl-Th; Fri, 09 Mar 2007 10:58:19 -0500 Received: by asimov.home.spearce.org (Postfix, from userid 1000) id CB2A420FBAE; Fri, 9 Mar 2007 10:58:22 -0500 (EST) Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <81b0412b0703090150r674e754bn921d86eb40563e2a@mail.gmail.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.11 X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - corvette.plexpod.net X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - vger.kernel.org X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [47 12] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - spearce.org X-Source: X-Source-Args: X-Source-Dir: Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Archived-At: Alex Riesen wrote: > On 3/9/07, Shawn O. Pearce wrote: > >Committing oneself to being on IRC is a time commitment, isn't it? > >:-) > > yes, but it is a smaller one. And the suggestion was to commit to specific > date and time. > > >IRC time is difficult for me; I do hang out there more often than > >I used to now that the community is doing the same, but I spend > >a good part of my week working from a network where IRC access > >isn't allowed. > > Me too. But I would gladly spent some time on IRC when I'm home, > which usually is after 20:00 CET. Especially if I promised to. Looking at the way other successful projects have worked with GSoC, it seems to really pay to have a couple of mentors per student. The students don't always reach out to the mailing list right away when they don't understand something or are seeking feedback on an approach, as they might be shy or might be afraid of getting flamed by one of the "old hands". This is where having accessible mentors comes in nicely, as the mentor can help the student frame their message and get it into the public forum. Likewise having more than one mentor gives the student somewhere to turn when one of the mentors takes a week of vacation. Most of our projects do have more than one mentor listed now (thanks guys!). As our group's coordinator I intend on trying to make sure every project has at least two mentors assigned to it and actively participating with the student. But given the way our community works, I fully expect the whole community to be involved as patches are posted and discussed on the mailing list. Students need to be interacting with all of us on git@vger, not just their mentors. Having a fairly consistent presence on IRC would also be good. I'm not quite sure yet how I'm personally going to do that this summer scheduling wise, but I think it would be good if we can have a few individuals on #git on a regularly scheduled basis. I'd love to see you there, along with some of our other regulars. -- Shawn.