[Soc-coordination] Google Summer of Code 2009: is not dunc tank

[Obey Arthur Liu]

Obey Arthur Liu a écrit :
> Hi folks,
...
> I am inviting you to debate what you think is cool, what is useful, what
> is important to Debian, maybe give us pointers to resources or people
> that could be helpful for the projects. We will try to alter our current
> rankings to reflect the zeitgeist in Debian, while taking into account
> the personal information that we have about each student involved.

I'm talking on behalf of the Summer of Code admins at Debian.

Guys, DDs are spread all over the spectrum on this issue. I believe the
majority would err on the side of getting new people involved though.
This is also my personal opinion.

Since we can't agree, and we tried, almost every year, we decided to
strike a balance.

Of the 12 shortlisted projects, only *one* is from a DD.

Of the 3 all quite good projects presented by DDs, we only accepted
*one* after much internal debate.

Since all our shortlisted proposals are primary proposals, and we don't
have a waitlist because the other proposals are clearly not as good as
the ones in our shortlist, if we reject this project, it means we'll
request one less slot from Google. Cool, you saved Google some pocket
change. Are we going pyrrhic enough ?

And please don't compare the Summer of Code with Dunc Tank, it's
insulting to all the students, mentors and admins involved. Should I
remind you all that I'm also a student ?
Dunc Tank was about funding working professionals to work on
release-critical stuff that would otherwise have been done exactly the
same way. They were paid a sum equivalent to a software engineer's salary.
The Summer of Code is about funding students, sometimes undergrads, to
not have to go work at McDonalds during the summer but instead work on
stuff related to what they are studying. The stipend involved is less
than one fourth of what Dunc Tank was all about, for the same work
amount and difficulty when you take into account the average experience
of our students. The whole setup, with project planning, a mentor, is
pedagogical in essence. Anything that is accepted for a Summer of Code
is calibrated as to be challenging to the student and have a pedagogical
added value. Hell, the student gets passed at the final review if we
believe he has completed a reasonable part of the planned objectives,
made visible efforts and learned something in the process. This has
absolutely *nothing* to do with contract work!

Please stop comparing Dunc Tank to the Summer of code. It's just wrong.
I did the Summer of Code last year for Debian, and I can tell you that
no one, at least in the 2009 run that I'm admining here, is going in
with a mercenary thinking.

For a change, try to discuss on the technical aspects of the projects,
what help you could provide to our students, which question you'd like
to ask, etc. That was the point of the mail, not to engage in yet
another pointless flamewar.

Arthur

-- 
Obey Arthur Liu
<http://www.milliways.fr>

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