Re: GSOC and Debian - urgent action

[Olly Betts]

On Tue, Feb 04, 2020 at 01:58:19AM +0530, Pranav Jain wrote:
> We are applying for GSoC 2020 and are on track to complete the
> application for the same on time.
> 
> We (Outreach team) are also planning to have a meeting this week to
> decide on further steps and to announce a call for projects/proposals.

The GSoC Mentor Guide says:

| Note that the quality of the project descriptions on an organization’s
| “Ideas list” is the main criterion for the organization’s admittance
| into GSoC. It is worth spending some extra effort to ensure that the
| projects you propose are worthy of the GSoC banner.
|
| When Google Administrators review the hundreds of organization
| applications one of the main things they look at is the quality of the
| Ideas list.

https://google.github.io/gsocguides/mentor/defining-a-project-ideas-list

I've heard google usually start reviewing right away, so you really want
the ideas list to be in good shape at the org application deadline.
If they review the Debian application and there's just an empty
placeholder or only a few ideas copied over from those not chosen last
year, that's going to look like we aren't really interested.

Cheers,
Olly

Re: About the slot in Google Summer of Code

[Olly Betts]

On Mon, Apr 01, 2019 at 10:03:30PM -0400, fuujiro wrote:
> I’m interested in *Debian* & Linux/Unix. Wanted to contribute some code to
> Debian in *Google summer of Code*.
> 
> Is there a free *slot*? If yes, I will start a proposal soon without vain
> efforts.

You have things backwards - students apply, then once the student
application deadline has passed each org looks at the proposals
received and request slots.  Only then does Google allocate slots.

Cheers,
Olly

Re: selecting Debian mentors for the mentor summit

[Olly Betts]

On Tue, Aug 07, 2018 at 09:09:54PM +0200, Daniel Pocock wrote:
> I didn't see anybody else comment on the selection algorithm publicly so
> I'd like to throw in a couple of suggestions, so if there are more than
> 2 people who want to go, the following strategy could be used to
> eliminate candidates until only two are left:
> 
> - eliminate candidates who already attended the summit in the past
> 
> - eliminate candidates who had a DebConf bursary this year
> 
> - eliminate candidates who had a DebConf bursary within the last 3 years
> 
> - eliminate candidates who had a bursary for any other major event in
> the last year

I tend to agree to Karen that linking this to bursaries is problematic.

If you're not just going to pick names from a hat then I'd suggest
favouring people with a track record of contributing to Debian who
simply haven't been to Debconf or similar recently, and haven't been
to the mentor summit before.

(I have no horse in this race - I'll be at the summit but as org admin
for Xapian).

> Google set a deadline of 5 September for the two chosen mentors to
> register with Google but to allow mentors to commence their travel
> planning, leave authorization and anything else I would propose that we
> have a Debian deadline for people to express interest by 15 August at
> 23:59 with a prompt decision by admins after that.

That will only leave 8 weeks to sort out visas and book flights, which
is quite tight for those with complicated visa process to navigate.
People have already had plenty of time to say they want to go, and there
are already many more candidates than places.

> As noted in the Google email to mentors on 1 August, every mentor can
> put their name on the wait list for extra places at the summit, you can
> do that now using the link provided by Google.

In some past years a lot of Debian mentors have joined the waitlist, and
OSPO have asked the admins to coordinate to choose just one.  Such
things do change with time, but don't be surprised if that happens.

Also remember that we don't get extra travel funds for wait list places
this year (which is different to some previous years).  Once the GSoC
funds are used, you'll need to find more funds or people will have to
pay for themselves.

Cheers,
Olly

Re: urgent: DebConf18 travel bursary announcements

[Olly Betts]

On Tue, Jun 19, 2018 at 06:12:16AM +0530, Manas Kashyap wrote:
> Is this the finalised mail for Bursary or is there still chances for me to
> get bursary?

According to the announcement email they will try to do a third round by
the end of the month to reallocate any travel grants which aren't
accepted:

| Please note that the travel grants WILL EXPIRE on 2018-06-24 (1st
| round) or 2018-06-26 (2nd round). This will allow us to try to do a
| third round by the end of the month.

Cheers,
Olly

Re: Applications feedback

[Olly Betts]

On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 05:09:03AM +0100, Dashamir Hoxha wrote:
> Molly, I know that you don't pay attention to my advice, but you should have
> participated in the program for mentorship by a Veteran Org:
> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/google-summer-of-code-mentors-list/mwLowXZi7b8

This year's admin team already has the support of a couple of
experienced org admins - Nicolas Dandrimont and I are both hanging out
in the relevant IRC channels, keeping an eye on things and providing
guidance where useful.

This is my 7th time as a GSoC org admin; Nicolas was GSoC org admin for
Debian for several years (not sure how many off the top of my head).
We're also both long-time DDs, so familiar with Debian culture.

Cheers,
Olly

Re: Project Proposal Review

[Olly Betts]

On Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 04:59:27AM +0100, Dashamir Hoxha wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 2:34 AM, Jacob Adams  wrote:
> 
> > I was asked on IRC to review the current project proposals for GSoC
> > 2018 and see how robust they are, i.e. how clear and understandable
> > the requirements are to a prospective student.
> 
> Maybe it is a bit early, since there are about 2 months untill the time
> when students could start to apply for them.

Feedback from the team at Google that run GSoC is very clear that the
quality of an org's ideas list and particularly how it looks to
prospective students is a very important factor when they come to
select which orgs to accept from the many that apply each year.

That selection process starts when org applications close, which is on
January 23rd, i.e. a little under a week away as I write.

So now is the ideal time to be trying to get the project ideas list
into good shape.

Even if that wasn't the case, students will start looking at the
accepted orgs and deciding which to apply to from February 12th even if
they can't actually submit an application until a month later.

> > https://wiki.debian.org/SummerOfCode2018/Projects/OwnMailbox
> > There's still some template text here and the requirements are unclear.
> 
> The mentor is going to provide the details soon, don't worry about it.

I would suggest that any incomplete entries should be removed or
commented out if not fixed soon - the mentors of any such projects can
still re-add them later once they've improved them.

Cheers,
Olly

Re: GSoC, Outreachy and other time commitments (other jobs, etc)

[Olly Betts]

On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 02:18:43PM +0200, Daniel Pocock wrote:
> There have been different statements about this from different mentors
> and Google themselves each year.

What Google's FAQ says *this year* is clear:

| How much time does GSoC participation take?
| 
| You are expected to spend about 40 hours a week working on your project
| during the 3 month coding period. If you already have an internship,
| another summer job, or plan to be gone on vacation for more than a week
| during that time, GSoC is not the right program for you this year.

This is certainly more explicit than the equivalent FAQ entry has been
in previous years, but what the FAQ for 2016 says is what matters for
2016.

I understand you don't like this expectation, but trying to subvert it
within Debian is not productive - getting Debian banned from GSoC isn't
good for anybody.  If you want to change the basis on which students are
expected to work, you really need to take it up with the OSPO team.

Cheers,
Olly