[Soc-coordination] Status of the Taverna/BOINC/Wrapper/GeneticCloning projects

[Steffen Möller]

Hello,

On 04/06/2011 11:06 PM, Obey Arthur Liu wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 2:49 PM, Ana Guerrero<ana at debian.org>  wrote:
>
>>
>>   {*} [[SummerOfCode2011/JavaPackages]]: Java packages for Taverna
>>
>> The project does not have any public student proposal. It has a mentor.
>> The project seems to fail in the "package this category" mentioned in this
>> mail [0].
>>
>>
>>   {*} [[SummerOfCode2011/BOINC]]: Streamline the preparation of BOINC
>> projects
>>
>> The project has 2 students proposal in melange and 1 mentor commited
>> partially
>> to at least another 2 more project.
>> The discussion and comments in melange point that the purpose of the
>> project
>> and its deliverables are not clear.
>>
>>
>>   {*} [[SummerOfCode2011/Wrapper]]: A wrapper aware of dependencies for
>> direct
>>   remote execution
>>
>> The project has 1 students proposal in melange and 1 mentor and 1
>> co-mentor.
>> The discussion and comments in melange point that the purpose of the
>> project and its deliverables are not clear.
>>
>>
>>   {*} [[SummerOfCode2011/GeneticCloning]]: Genetic Cloning with Debian
>> The project has 2 students proposal in melange and 1 mentor commited
>> partially
>> to at least another 2 more project.
>> The discussion and comments in melange point that the purpose of the
>> project,
>> its deliverables and how the project benefits to Debian is not clear.
>>
>>
>> [0] http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2011/03/msg00972.html
>>
>>
> As a long time admin for the Google Summer of Code at Debian, I feel that I
> need to chime in on the thorny issues with the projects quoted above.
> This might not be popular with everyone but they should be removed from the
> Google Summer of Code at Debian immediately.
> Let me explain why.

This is quite a blow, indeed.

> - These projects do not further the technical objective of contributing to
> Debian as a primary concern.
> I feel that the technologies involved and contributions expected from and
> for Debian are secondary to the scientific aspects. Getting code written is
> the endeavor of the Summer of Code but the goal of the Summer of Code at
> Debian is to specifically contribute to Debian. This and only this is our
> mandate.

I was afraid of this discussion. Why did you then stop me from starting
my own organisation in the first place? I added Carol in the loop. Not
that she would interfere with our presumed internal issues, but she
should know about it early.

> - These projects are not targeting teams that span the enough core parts of
> Debian community.
> The GSoC at Debian has a very specific objectives of introducing students to
> broad-ranging parts of the Debian community with the objectives of teaching
> them what Debian is and giving them a rather unique opportunity to engage
> themselves as Debian Developers in the long run.
>
> - It should be clear that Debian as an organization is about creating an
> operating system distribution. Debian (the organization) is not a scientific
> organization. I feel that the core interests of most students applying for
> these projects would be much better served by applying at actual scientific
> organizations (of which there are many participating in GSoC)

Apparently you do not agree with my ambition to have the Linux distribution
as close as possible to the scientific pulses where they are sufficiently
easy to reach for laymen to make reasonable contributions to it.

> - In relation to the previous point, the realistic evaluation points that
> will be used for these projects (successfully running specific research
> experiments) are too removed and intangible for the Debian development
> community at large to satisfy our requirements for transparency,
> accountability and reusability.
>
> - Debian has no obligation to fulfill all the slots Google may give. It is
> in no one's interest to manage more projects than should be. Each project is
> an additional management burden that should be decided on on an individual
> basis, weighted with the expected outcomes.

I got down to two projects and got very experienced people on board to help
with the others.

> As a additional note, I should point out that the only reasons these
> projects have stayed up for so long is that they were mentor and
> DD-introduced. Similar projects submitted by students the previous years
> have been immediately notified of the various issues suggested above and
> forwarded to more relevant organizations. DDs should be held to the same
> standards.
>
> Lastly, I would like to apologize to the impacted students for being caught
> in this unfortunate situation, and encourage them to still seek a Summer of
> Code project, which is a wonderful experience.

Well, I suggest you also apologize to me for not rejecting the projects
upfront (they are up basically since day one) and the mentors I had found
for us, i.e. Hajo Krabbenhoeft, Dr. Alan Williams, Dr. Garrett Morris
and Wookey (ah, ok, you have not listed the cross-building ones).

Not amused

Steffen