On 28 March 2012 02:38, Kevin Grignon <[email protected]> wrote:
> Many great thoughts here. > > In addition to supporting the open source movement, perhaps we could > market participation as a way to learn and develop skills. > Maybe a certificate for AOO development professional? Work out the key skills needed to contribute to development and write a set of indicative assessment criteria. Get a mentor to verify the candidate's evidence that they can meet the criteria. If there was interest in it we have the facilities to support it including secure on-line testing facilities and a Drupal system for managing coursework evidence which we would do as a free contribution to the project. We'd just need help defining the criteria from the most experienced developers. > As a newbie, it appears that much our message is around what we need - > which is essential to understand, however we may want to focus on why > someone may want to join and help them realize their goals. > > For example, if someone is looking to demonstrate their skills and develop > portfolio work products, then AOO offers a sandbox of opportunity. > And a potential certification of skills. > > Some thoughts. > > Regards, > Kevin > > > On Mar 27, 2012, at 10:47 PM, Rob Weir <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 9:39 PM, Louis Suárez-Potts <[email protected] > >wrote: > > > >> Hi, > >> On 2012-03-19, at 08:41 , Rob Weir wrote: > >> > >>> Any ideas and the best ways how we can improve in this area after AOO > >>> 3.4 releases? > >> > >> Lots, and these would complement the rather good ideas already proposed. > >> What we did at OOo actually worked--to attract developers and > contributors > >> of all sorts. What worked against us I do not think I need spell out, > but > >> the cussedness of the code was not really the determining factor. > >> > >> What really would help, besides giving would-bes a clean entry, is to > have > >> mentors, more or less do-able tasks that are identified as such. (We > tried > >> getting to this many times, and I strongly urged my erstwhile > colleagues in > >> this area for, uhm, years. Finally happened, and we got our to-dos but > >> still not clearly identified according to level of difficulty. I can > >> conceive of several here whose work would assist in the identification > of > >> tasks newbies could approach--and even post-newbies-and perhaps even in > >> mentoring.) > >> > >> Also, what helps tremendously is what we are doing already: presenting a > >> community that is open, friendly, and generally has a good attitude > about > >> what it is doing and where it is going. There are millions using OOo as > >> their primary ODF implementation, and those mostly include those who > have > >> come to it via the national or sub-national government agency. I think > it's > >> about time that they are looking to AOO for the next step. > >> > >> > > I think the idea of a new contributor mentor is essential. This is true > > for coders, but also website, translation, documentation, test, UI, etc. > > What we have today is very much a "swim or sink" and "drink from the fire > > hose" approach. If someone is highly motivated, highly skilled and > > persistent, and is able to withstand the apparent chaos of the ooo-dev > > list, and penetrates the noise and asks questions, and repeats their > > questions until answered, then they might have a 50/50 chance of > > contributing. > > > > But let's be honest with ourselves -- there are a range of projects > someone > > can contribute to. For would-be volunteers it is a buyer's market. If > we > > make it too hard to get involved and contribute, technically, > procedurally, > > socially, then we lose. > > > > But getting new volunteers on board requires effort. If someone is > > spending 100% of their time on their own features, then they have no time > > to help new volunteers become productive. > > > > One approach might be to define "essential skills" or "essential > knowledge" > > that a new volunteer needs to master in order to become productive, and > > then a list of project members who are willing to help mentor new > > volunteers to acquire those skills. > > > > For example, for the website, the essential skills might be: > > > > 1) Assume HTML/CSS, we're not here to teach that > > 2) Help them get started with Markdown Text > > 3) Help them use the CMS to generate patches > > 4) Help them build website locally via the scripts > > 5) Understanding the larger site design, including recurring page > elements, > > footers, etc. > > 6) In parallel with above, understanding Apache, roles, decision making, > > lazy consensus, CTR versus RTC, what Infra does versus what the project > is > > responsible for, etc. > > 7) Help them establish a record of contributions to become a committer > > > > Anyone who has done the above can do 95% of what is needed to become a > > master of our website. > > > > It would be wonderful if we had something like that, a check list even a > > curriculum, for other common functions, as well as volunteers able to > take > > on new project volunteers willing to help. > > > > This is all an investment in the future success of the project. We grow > by > > attracting new volunteers. But the investment is time spent on > mentoring. > > This would all be over-kill for the average Apache PMC of 8-12 people. > But > > with 10 million lines of code, a PMC nearing 100 members, and the largest > > project at Apache, we need an approach to training new volunteers that > > works to scale. I think something like the above helps get us closer. > > > > -Rob > > > > > > And I can think of at least two, and probably more, national bodies so > >> interested. > >> > >> Do these give us developers straight away? I don't know. The problem > with > >> OOo was, as [not] said ultimately political, not codical (comical?). > >> Engaging these longtime users, as well as new ones, with the > possibilities > >> represented by this community, which is open and unencumbered--ought to > be > >> easier. > >> > >> My own approach is to focus on ODF and on the benefits offered not only > by > >> the AOO implementation but by its community. > >> > >> -louis > -- Ian Ofqual Accredited IT Qualifications (The Schools ITQ) www.theINGOTs.org +44 (0)1827 305940 The Learning Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and Wales.
