> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:24:44 -0400 > Subject: Re: AOO volunteers: essential skills and tasks > From: robw...@apache.org > To: ooo-dev@incubator.apache.org > > On Fri, Oct 19, 2012 at 6:16 PM, jan iversen <jancasacon...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I think it is important to remember, that a volunteer is not signing up for > > anything. > > > > A volunteer, in my view, is a person who wants to help with his/hers > > skillset...so if we start saying you have to pass level x before continuing > > we have already lost (At least I can relate that to myself) > > > > That might be true for you. But I can tell you from experience that > we've had volunteer after volunteer who have posted a note to this > list, said they wanted to help, stuck around for a few days, and then > were never heard of again. They never found a hook that they could > attach themselves to. They never figured out how to get started. The > couldn't find where to get started. The lack of accomplishment and > progress leads to frustration, and then they are gone. >
Hi Rob My name is Manuel, from Argentina. I've just subscribed (about 10 days ago) to this mailing list, willing to learn and try to contribute on the UX effort. I'm not a developer (as in software dev) and I've never contributed to open source software before. A total newbie ;-) So, I've been told to read the Project wiki to identify open tasks. I've been trying to keep up with this mailing list, and understand the info published in Cwiki, or Mwiki. I have to admit I've been having a hard time doing so, because the amount of information is quite overwhelming for a newbie like me. And if I want to start "doing something", I really don't know were to. I could have continued asking for help, but I realized that it was a better idea to go on reading about the project, and try to understand how you people get organized, and what's expected of me (and others like me). I'm not thinking about giving up (just yet ;-) but I think it would be a great idea to write some kind of a "newbies' tutorial", like the one you're proposing. Just gathering all the already existing info, and encouraging volunteers to do this or that for themselves. And we should find it when clicking on the "I want to participate in OpenOffice" link, on the landing page in openoffice.org. It would be most useful for us. +1 on the "staging accomplishment" you propose. Personally, I like it. It gives the sense of progress. And it would be great if specific areas within the project could use this model on their sub-projects as well (development first steps, marketing first steps, etc). -Manuel > Maybe we can find some way of expressing this without offering too > much offense ? > > -Rob > > > I have been in this business since 1975, and I have never made it through > > any of all these "master classes" and other exams. I am just one of the > > guys who get things done, like in the early days before tcp/ip. > > > > What I am trying to say is, let´s help people work with us....that´s what > > it´s all about, if we can help people to easier help us, then we have a > > win-win situation. > > > > And in respect of introducing myself, which I forgot please read this > > resume: > > http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/User:JanIversen > > > > jan. > > > > Jan. > > > > > > > > On 19 October 2012 23:08, Rob Weir <rabas...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> On Oct 19, 2012, at 4:45 PM, Kay Schenk <kay.sch...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> > >> > > >> > > >> > On 10/19/2012 01:07 PM, Rob Weir wrote: > >> >> On Fri, Oct 19, 2012 at 12:17 PM, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > >> >>> I am thinking about what new project volunteers need to get started. > >> >>> Obviously there are area-specific things. For example, developers > >> >>> need to know how to download and build. Translation volunteers need > >> >>> to understand Pootle, etc. But there are also some basic things that > >> >>> all volunteers should probably do. > >> >>> > >> >>> Although we have all of this information (or at least most of it) on > >> >>> the website or wikis or mailing list archives, it is scattered all > >> >>> over the place. I think it would be good if we could collect this > >> >>> information (or at least links to this information) into one place and > >> >>> put a linear order behind it, a step of specific steps we want new > >> >>> volunteers to take. > >> >>> > >> >>> Now, I can hear the objections already -- you can't tell volunteers > >> >>> what to do. That is why they are volunteers. You can't regiment > >> >>> them, etc. This is true. But at the scale we need to operate at -- > >> >>> I'm aiming to attract dozens of new volunteers on the project by the > >> >>> end of the year -- we need some structure. So what can we do to make > >> >>> their first 2 weeks in the project easier for them, and easier for us? > >> >>> > >> >>> One idea: Think of the new volunteer startup tasks in terms of > >> >>> "stages" or "levels", a defined set of reading and other activities > >> >>> that leads them to acquire basic skills in our community. > >> >>> > >> >>> For example: > >> >> > >> >> To make it more concrete, this is what "Level 1" might look like: > >> >> > >> >> http://incubator.apache.org/openofficeorg/orientation/level-1.html > >> >> > >> >> -Rob > >> > > >> > This is very good! I esp like the last part about providing a way for > >> volunteers to "sign up" if you will. This will be a nice touch. > >> > > >> > I'm also wondering if there's some way to tie this in to our current > >> "Help Wanted" page: > >> > > >> > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OOOUSERS/Help+Wanted > >> > >> Yes, It is worth looking at the new volunteer view of things, from end to > >> end. > >> > >> My current thinking is this: as we scale the number of volunteers > >> we'll soon want a better way to track items like these. Maybe putting > >> them into BZ would work? Introduce a new field to record "difficulty" > >> in BZ and filters to list unassigned easy issues? > >> > >> > > >> > Maybe someone has some ideas? > >> > > >> >> > >> >>> Level 1 tasks: > >> >>> > >> >>> 1) Read the following web pages on the ASF, roles at Apache and the > >> Apache Way > >> >>> > >> >>> 2) Sign up for the following accounts that every volunteer should > >> >>> have: ooo-announce, ooo-dev, ooo-users, MWiki, CWiki, BZ, Forums > >> >>> > >> >>> 3) Read this helpful document on hints for managing your inbox with > >> >>> rules and folders > >> >>> > >> >>> 4) Read this code of conduct page on list etiquette > >> >>> > >> >>> 5) Send a note to ooo-dev list and introduce yourself > >> >>> > >> >>> 6) Edit this wiki page containing project volunteers. Add your name > >> >>> and indicate that you have completed Level 1. > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> Level 2 tasks: > >> >>> > >> >>> 1) Using the Apache CMS in anonymous mode > >> >>> > >> >>> 2) Readings on decision making at Apache > >> >>> > >> >>> 3) Readings on project life cycle and roles within the AOO project > >> >>> > >> >>> 4) Introduction to the various functional groups within the project: > >> >>> development, qa, marketing, UX, documentation, support, localization, > >> >>> etc. > >> >>> > >> >>> 5) Pick one or more functional groups that you want to help with. > >> >>> Edit the volunteer wiki and list them. Also indicate that you have > >> >>> now completed Level 2. > >> >>> > >> >>> Get the idea? After Level 2 this then could branch off into > >> >>> area-specific lists of start up tasks: how to download and build. > >> >>> How to submit patches. How to update a translation. How to define a > >> >>> new test case. > >> >>> > >> >>> Is any one interested in helping with this? > >> >>> > >> >>> -Rob > >> > > >> > -- > >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >> > MzK > >> > > >> > "Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never > >> > dealt with a cat." > >> > -- Robert Heinlein > >>
