Interesting idea. And then a decent but inexpensive chromebook would do the trick nicely. They can even run debian in development mode.
On Sun, Jun 30, 2019, 10:42 Craig Russell <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Sage, > > Thanks for this. > > When I thought of why to provide laptops for interns, I thought of the > challenges of compiling a large code base. I thought of a possible > solution, which is using virtual machines (managed by the mentor > organization) to do the heavy lifting. Obviously, this would mean that the > intern would need a laptop and internet access but would not need a fully > up-to-date laptop. > > I'm not quibbling, just looking for more insight. > > Thanks, > > Craig > > > On Jun 30, 2019, at 7:04 AM, Sage Sharp <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > The short answer is yes, the ASF could provide laptops to selected > interns. > > > > I'm setting the boundary that this thread *NOT* devolve into a discussion > > of where the funds for those laptops come from. Please create a *separate > > thread* for discussions about that. Let's keep this thread on the topic > of > > what sending laptops would look like, what incentive that provides, and > the > > known pitfalls. > > > > Mozilla already provides laptops to selected interns. It's the only > > Outreachy community to do so. Mozilla provides laptops because compiling > > the massive Firefox code base is very slow and/or impossible on older > > laptops. I'm not sure how they work around that issue in the application > > phase, but I can ask the Mozilla coordinators. > > > > Word about how the Mozilla interns get a laptop seemed to spread quickly > to > > applicants from Indian universities (Outreachy's largest demographic). > > Applicants are very excited about the possibility of getting a laptop, so > > much that they often search for Mozilla projects to apply to first. > Mozilla > > also has several other things that make them one of the more popular > > communities for applicants, including a welcoming community, mostly web > > development projects, and accepting a large number of interns. > > > > There are some issues on Mozilla's side with sending a laptop. They often > > get held up in customs. One intern from India did not get the laptop > until > > the internship was over. > > > > That means Mozilla wants to lock down their intern selections as early as > > possible in order to get their interns' address for laptop shipping. They > > have to bend Outreachy's rule about not talking about intern selections > > until the intern announcement date. They send interns an email asking for > > their address to send "some Mozilla swag". I say it's bending the rule > > because some applicants may guess asking for their address means they > were > > selected as an intern. > > > > Giving the laptop to an intern directly is a way to avoid long customs > > delays. If all the interns attend an ASF event during their first weeks, > a > > laptop could be given to them there. It also has the added benefit of > > immediately connecting interns to the community. > > > > The only problem with in-person events is getting a visa in time. That's > > impossible enough for Indian interns that Mozilla has simply stopped > > inviting them to events on a short notice. > > > > I've thought some about what it would take for Outreachy to provide > laptops > > for all 40+ interns. Sadly I think that budget number is out of our > reach. > > If it was possible, we could try to work with a laptop supplier that > ships > > directly within India. Or give interns enough of a stipend to buy one > > themselves. > > > > A laptop itself may not solve all the barriers interns face. Some Indian > > schools impose an evening curfew for all women students, in order to > > protect them from gendered street violence. However, that means they have > > less hours in the computer lab than the male students. Some of the > women's > > dorms do not have wireless internet. Interns from both India and Africa > > often face power or internet outages. Outreachy mentors are expected to > be > > lienent when that happens. > > > > That's a brain dump of what I know about sending laptops to Outreachy > > interns. Let me know what questions you have! > > > > Sage Sharp > > Outreachy Organizers > > > > > > On Sat, Jun 29, 2019, 7:47 AM Alex Harui <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> Can I get a summary of all of these Outreachy threads? I'm not on > >> private@diversity and I think I've read every email on this list, but > I'm > >> seeing numbers like $10.5K being discussed and I have no clue where that > >> number came from. I'm on fundraising@ as well and still don't recall > any > >> source for those numbers. Also, I thought that there was more than one > >> entity that was willing to donate directly to Outreachy and there was > only > >> one or two ASF sponsors who were unable to redirect their money > directly to > >> Outreachy, so I don't understand why we are still having these long > >> discussions. > >> > >> I thought that if some entity was to donate money directly to Outreachy > >> that there were no objections from anybody even if it benefited one or a > >> few ASF projects and not others. I would hope that would be the > >> recommended workflow. > >> > >> If it turns out there are some entities that are ok with the money they > >> donated to the ASF going to Outreachy but for some reason can't directly > >> donate to Outreachy, I would hope that we would make it clear that this > >> workflow is not our recommended workflow but we would redirect some of > >> their money to Outreachy and either let Outreachy pick which ASF project > >> gets an intern, or can we document somewhere that this money was donated > >> "on behalf of Entity X". > >> > >> And then, IMO, the ASF is not paying for code. Can we all agree to that > >> and get going on Outreachy? > >> > >> It was interesting to see it pointed out that there is a financial > barrier > >> to entry at the ASF. It would be nice if the ASF could find a way to > help > >> lower that barrier without "paying for code", but maybe we should put > that > >> in its own thread and spend more time brainstorming on that while we get > >> going on Outreachy. IMO, the ASF has other barriers as well. Every ASF > >> project I've looked at is huge compared to many of the projects I've > seen > >> on Github, so the learning curve may be tilted against inexperienced > >> programmers and they may need a more expensive computer to build the > source > >> without it affecting the interns productivity. But even then, the > >> entities donating directly to Outreachy could fund that more expensive > >> computer. The ASF should not feel obligated to take on smaller projects > >> just to make Outreachy interns more successful. Contributing code to > the > >> ASF is more like becoming a commercial truck driver, contributing to > GitHub > >> is more like becoming a ride-share driver. > >> > >> One thought on the financial barrier before I forget: the ASF offers > VMs > >> to projects. Could they offer laptops as well? > >> > >> Thanks, > >> -Alex > >> > >> > >> > >> > > Craig L Russell > [email protected] > >
