On 2019-06-24 11:32 a.m., Myrle Krantz wrote:
On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 1:05 PM Sam Ruby <[email protected]> wrote:
Also: if you can find some way to capture the "we can't fund
development of Whimsy because it is a project" and "we shouldn't seek
to have an intern for Whimsy because it is not a real project", that
would be great!
I think the wonderful thing about Whimsy is that it's kind of both. It's
a community-driven project, which collects requirements from the needs of
the board. It's probably too small for health (but isn't alone in that).
And despite the lack of funding, it's already driven by ASF-internal
requirements unlike the vast majority of our projects. While we try to
maintain our neutrality with respect to the vast majority of software
development efforts hosted here, the ASF cannot credibly be called
*neutral* when it comes to Whimsy. This probably contributes to
difficulties in growing that community. But because it serves other
projects, it also means that anyone who works on Whimsy, has a greater
chance of coming into contact with many of our other projects, and the
people and communities who drive them.
I really hope that Whimsy remains on our shortlist of projects for an
Outreachy intern.
Sure, we can continue look for interns to deal with internal-facing
projects, even Whimsy, but...look at the previously funded projects. How
many of them are similar to Whimsy? For instance:
https://www.outreachy.org/apply/rounds/2017-december-march/
The closest I see are some of Debian's and the Fedora Hubs project. But
note that, for 2 open spots, Debian offered *9* opportunities. One
cohort, the two selected interns both went into work on Debian's
Continuous Integration - a clearly transferable skill, and an area where
the ASF, incidentally, could really use some support. ;) Fedora's two
interns worked on forking Happiness Packets[1], which again is something
the ASF might want to consider - who of us wouldn't like to get one of
these in their inbox?
So I guess where I'm ending up is the old improv saw, "Yes, and." Whimsy
is just one potential project, but we should be thinking bigger. Much
bigger, as you've said in your other email, than just Outreachy and Whimsy.
-Joan "Yes, and..." Touzet
[1]: https://www.happinesspackets.io/
