From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Jonathan Nieder Subject: Re: Git and GSoC 2013 Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:52:48 -0700 Message-ID: <20130327185248.GE28148@google.com> References: <20130327183410.GA26066@sigill.intra.peff.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: git@vger.kernel.org To: Jeff King X-From: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Wed Mar 27 19:53:30 2013 Return-path: Envelope-to: gcvg-git-2@plane.gmane.org Received: from vger.kernel.org ([209.132.180.67]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1UKvTO-0002jG-08 for gcvg-git-2@plane.gmane.org; Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:53:22 +0100 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1753554Ab3C0Swy (ORCPT ); Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:52:54 -0400 Received: from mail-pb0-f45.google.com ([209.85.160.45]:63138 "EHLO mail-pb0-f45.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753312Ab3C0Swx (ORCPT ); Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:52:53 -0400 Received: by mail-pb0-f45.google.com with SMTP id ro8so5409111pbb.18 for ; Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:52:53 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=x-received:date:from:to:cc:subject:message-id:references :mime-version:content-type:content-disposition:in-reply-to :user-agent; bh=O/1wUEEkXAT7M+g9YELtar7Z3s3/tN1MtHHXuVtLV+8=; b=cBYnjRaPAzSAeA23qyjF5+23aKvzqQb/wwM3A4Smq/mdX6y30u0/UnZTqahxKzWiwz hIiZSOr/kwuiBUySrrrEWvqBUIjQ3qqI5AIhK4yIlIXUuo6FI9UxH3vAIvuupo3AfiAy kwMvXFz8eGbJR+seB56xPlKcipOsRqzlqbU4fag3+qNE6IY5H5lP4ddoUaxxlaEov6/d BBlEe9XJpCXJ8/nJlk0DRPXdw973AWTJ4NUr5svVsu4sv+EjAhLVKUwCevPjj+C4gFYZ g4RVkrf1gfBeo0wlJHttOGRZqK7LVR2x2CF8bf20gWCkHa/UaVpiBrYWUvWkpld2pia+ L+Jg== X-Received: by 10.68.164.33 with SMTP id yn1mr31181977pbb.166.1364410373115; Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:52:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: from google.com ([2620:0:1000:5b00:b6b5:2fff:fec3:b50d]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id eh5sm22357353pbc.44.2013.03.27.11.52.51 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:52:51 -0700 (PDT) Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20130327183410.GA26066@sigill.intra.peff.net> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Archived-At: Jeff King wrote: > There was a big thread about a month ago on whether Git should do Google > Summer of Code this year[1]. [...] > In my opinion, a lot of the issues come down to project selection; Let me throw in some other issues. :) * I think the git project has been very disorganized in vetting candidate students. Other organizations have formal requirements (for example, "must submit at least one properly formatted patch to qualify") but we seem to rely on a candidate's good sense, independence, and general sense of trustworthiness without providing guidance beyond that. At first glance that wouldn't seem to be a problem --- the accepted students have been very good anyway --- but I think that if we could communicate more clearly what we need, we might find there are more qualified students that we have been missing, and promising students might end up working a little in advance of GSoC to adapt themselves to the project. * Similarly, we are not very good at making clear the expectations for students during the program and making sure they are met. At least I know I was lousy about this as a mentor. For example, students delay too long before posting patches on-list and do not ask for help quickly when they are stuck. By the end of the summer they may start to get a sense of the usual contribution workflow when they could have been more effective by following it from the start. Some organizations require (as a non-negotiable rule) regular blog posts from their students, as a way of advertising to others what work they are doing and how to help them out. That could help here. * We didn't plan in advance for "What happens when summer ends and the students don't have free time any more?" * We don't advertise any good recourse available to students if a mentor is unexpectedly too busy or hard to contact. I don't know if that's happened in practice. Matthieu Moy's summer projects worked better in all these respects, I think. I don't think we should apply. Better to take a break and prepare for next time. My two cents, Jonathan