Thank you very much for your detailed and accurate reply. I'm really encouraged.
Certainly, I’d like to explore the OpenSE. Please do introduce me to a teaching assistant there. The first question is what are your skills? I do developments in my work place, but mostly ad-hoc coding. I need to improve my coding skills. - J2EE. I don't say I'm a bullet programmer, but with some guidance and mentoring I'm sure I'll be able to get there. The second is what do you want to learn from an ASF community? I want to know how to contribute open source projects. I want to learn by doing. I want to take the first step. :) Hareendra On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 3:30 PM, Ross Gardler <rgard...@apache.org> wrote: > On 15/12/2010 04:05, hareendra seneviratne wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> I recently graduated in MIS and willing to learn and contribute to the >> community as a Software Engineer. From where can I start? >> > > Three options, ranging in formality, least formal first: > > You can do this informally, just find a project you are interested in and > start chatting with the devs to match your skills to their needs. Pros - you > get involved quicker, cons - it can be difficult to just start running like > this > > You can work with us here to find the project that is most likely to suit > your needs and get an intro from us to your chosen project. Pros - for some > this feels more comfortable Cons - we don't know all the projects intimately > so we may not make the perfect match. We are just volunteers so this is not > the fastest option. > > You can approach the OpenSE.net project as an independent learner where you > will have access to teaching assistants who are paid to help guide you. Pros > - always someone there to help you regardless of your needs. You'll be > amongst many others in the same position as you, all facing the same issues > and concerns. You'll still be working with the same mentors, but will have > peers and TAs to help outside of the ASF. Cons - this project is in its > first pilot run and is still learning how to do it. > > [Note - If you would like to explore the OpenSE route then it's useful to > know that I'm a part of the OpenSE project and will be happy to introduce > you to one of the teaching assistants there] > > > What are the >> projects or opportunuies available for me? >> > > All the ASF projects continually mentor newcomers to their community. All > we are doing is providing a guided route into those communities. > > The first question is what are your skills? > The second is what do you want to learn from an ASF community? > > Once you've answered those you can start on one of the three routes above. > > > More friendly faces and some guidance needed. :) >> > > You'll find plenty of those in the ASF. > > Ross > > > > On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 7:33 PM, Ross Gardler<rgard...@apache.org> wrote: >> >> On 14/12/2010 12:11, florent andré wrote: >>> >>> Hi Ross, >>>> >>>> I'm interested in for the Lenya project. >>>> >>>> But I'm just a commiter and I ask myself if I can be a mentor for such a >>>> program ? >>>> >>>> For sure, I could be a "friendly face" ! :) >>>> >>>> >>> "just a committer"? That means you know how the project works and have >>> commit access to the repo, so yes, you are certainly able to be a mentor. >>> Being a "friendly face" is a significant bonus. >>> >>> Ross >>> >>> >>> >>> cced d...@lenya >>>> ++ >>>> >>>> On 12/14/2010 10:25 AM, Ross Gardler wrote: >>>> >>>> Below is the text of a mail I sent to the PMCs last night. Copied here >>>>> for information: >>>>> >>>>> Over the next few weeks your project may be approached by students >>>>> participating in a European Commission funded project called OpenSE >>>>> [1]. >>>>> These students will be looking for GSoC style mentors in open source >>>>> projects. >>>>> >>>>> The headline info you need is: >>>>> >>>>> * Mentors will not need to commit as much time as they do to GSoC >>>>> >>>>> * The student/mentor relationship should be largely the same as any >>>>> other relationship with someone new to your project >>>>> >>>>> * Students will, in general, work on existing issues in your project, >>>>> but some may come with their own ideas >>>>> >>>>> * All work by the student should be managed and recorded using your >>>>> projects normal workflow >>>>> >>>>> * Students will not be full time on the project >>>>> >>>>> * Students will not be paid >>>>> >>>>> * Students will have external support from teachers and teaching >>>>> assistants >>>>> >>>>> The key message for your project community is that this activity should >>>>> present minimal additional overhead to your normal community support >>>>> activities. >>>>> >>>>> Having said that, there are a few additional, but small, tasks we ask >>>>> you to perform during the course of a mentored project: >>>>> >>>>> * acknowledge your agreement to mentor a student >>>>> >>>>> * provide a brief evaluation of the students activities half way >>>>> through >>>>> the project cycle (around 6 weeks in most cases) >>>>> >>>>> * provide a brief evaluation of the students activities at the end of >>>>> the project cycle (around 12 weeks in most cases) >>>>> >>>>> Each of these activities is recorded in a JIRA issue in the ComDev >>>>> project. This issue will be created by the student during the >>>>> application process. >>>>> >>>>> It is important to stress that we are not asking mentors to take any >>>>> responsibility for the success of the students work. All we ask is that >>>>> you act as a "friendly face" within your community and provide brief >>>>> evaluations as described above. >>>>> >>>>> Unlike in GSoC these students will (in most cases) be doing this work >>>>> as >>>>> part of their formal education. All students will have external tutors >>>>> and teaching assistants helping them. Therefore, you should only need >>>>> to >>>>> help them with their direct contributions to your project (design, code >>>>> review, applying patches etc.) >>>>> >>>>> Unlike in GSoC students will not be working full time on their projects >>>>> and thus the overhead on mentors will be considerably less. >>>>> >>>>> The Community Development project is encouraging and supporting this >>>>> activity in an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach >>>>> to >>>>> helping students understand open source development whilst bringing >>>>> some >>>>> valued patches to our projects. >>>>> >>>>> You can find some more information about the mentoring programme (which >>>>> will evolve in response to experiences and feedback in this experiment) >>>>> at http://community.apache.org/mentoringprogramme.html >>>>> >>>>> If you have any questions please mail dev@community.apache.org (or if >>>>> you explicitly want to seek out students for your project). >>>>> >>>>> If you agree to mentor a student all we ask is that you also subscribe >>>>> to the dev@community.apache.org list (it's low traffic) and touch base >>>>> with us now and again to let us know how things are going. >>>>> >>>>> Ross >>>>> On behalf of the Community Development Project >>>>> >>>>> [1] http://opense.net/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >> >
