From Fedora Project Wiki

Revision as of 19:12, 3 April 2010 by Quaid (talk | contribs) (adding sponsor content, some mentor content)

The Fedora Summer Coding connects students, mentors, sub-projects, and sponsors to provide coding opportunities as summer jobs.

This page has information for all the groups involved.


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This page is a draft only
It is still under construction and content may change. Do not rely on the information on this page.

This content is still being worked on and may contain inaccuracies until the draft mark is removed.

General information

The Summer Coding 2010 schedule has the timeline of events.

The page Summer Coding 2010 is the central location to find information about the program.

To communicate with other people about Summer Coding 2010 use these resources:

  • General open discussion mailing list for 2010:
    Discussions between students, mentors, sub-projects, and upstreams.
    Weekly status report from students, in addition to blog.
    General program announcements; all students and mentors are required to be on this list.
    Occasional discussion, resolution, and decision on student project matters, as warranted.
  • IRC #fedora-summer-coding on irc.freenode.net (Web-based chat)
  • SIG mailing list
    How we are structuring and running the program - discussions and decisions.
    Anything related to program oversight, goals, short- and long-term plans - discussions and decisions.
  • Contact project leaders directly:
    • Karsten Wade
    • Patrick W. Barnes
    • Put yourself here if you are a leader and want to be contacted individually by those who need this communication channel.
  • Private mentors list

You are a student

This section is for students interested in contributing to the Fedora Project or JBoss.org through Fedora Summer Coding 2010.

If you have an idea or want to participate through Fedora or JBoss.org, you should already be looking around the community and communicating.

Timeline for students

FIXME


Why work with Fedora and JBoss.org?

Our projects are large and diverse. We are very experienced at working with new contributors and helping them be successful.

Many long-time contributors continue to be around, lending expertise and mentoring. People who stay around the community and do good work are noticed. They get hired for jobs from it, including being hired by Red Hat. Past Google Summer of Code students were hired by Red Hat, as well as interns in various positions. This is just an example, as experience and reputation in the JBoss.org and Fedora Project communities is influential on your career in many ways.

As long-standing communities with many facets, it is possible for you to find many rewarding sub-projects to work on.

Do you want to start from ideas mentors already have?

Mentors and sub-projects have put up sections on the Summer coding ideas for 2010 page. There you can find:

  • Full ideas that you might want to start on;
  • Suggestions and use cases, to help you make up your own idea;
  • Links to the sub-project/upstream where you can learn more.

For example, if you are interested in doing something for the RHQ Project, there is a link to an an ideas page on their website and how to contact the team. If you contact them, you can learn about even more ideas, and share some of your thinking.

Even if a mentor has an idea, you want to find one that inspires you. You must become part of the idea yourself.

Do you have an idea you need a mentor for?

People can be most passionate about an idea that is their own. That passion can be what helps you get through the hard part of the project.

Do you know what person or sub-project in JBoss or Fedora that might be the mentoring group for your idea?

You need to do these two things:

  1. Contact the relevant sub-project for your idea or contact the discussion group.
  2. Be prepared to explain your idea, receive input and criticism, and grow (or reduce) the idea so it has the best chance of being accepted for Fedora Summer Coding.

Are you already working in the Fedora or JBoss communities?

Students who are users, participants, or contributors in the Fedora and JBoss communities are encouraged to participate in GSoC through Fedora/JBoss.

Do you have ideas for what you'd like to see in the project?

Are you working in an area of the project that might want to mentor you for your GSoC work? For example, if you write for the Fedora Documentation Project or translate for the Fedora Localization Project, talk with your group to see if there are ideas you can turn in to a student proposal, with another sub-project member as the mentor.

You are a mentor

Mentors need to join the

Timeline for mentors

What to do with your ideas

Who and how to work with

You may be able to find a student who works as a sort-of intern who can implement a solution to a use case you have.

It is harder to find success where you are completely certain of how an idea needs to be implemented; finding a student with the skills and interest to implement a specific solution is a lot harder than finding a student with enough skills to respond to a use case need.

Mentor responsibilities

You are an essential part of the student's success, the project's success, and the success for your overall organization (Fedora, JBoss.org, or another).

Your responsibilities include:

  • Being an interface for an identified sub-project or SIG in Fedora or JBoss.org.
  • Helping students communicate with the overall project and any upstreams.
  • Be the final, accountable person for deciding if the student is successful or not, which affects payment.

Are you committed to working with all parties?

You are an upstream

Has a student brought a project idea to you?

Do you have one or more ideas you want exposed to students?

Are you committed to working with all parties?

You want to help organize

Check out the Summer Coding SIG or the GSoC 2010 organization app.

You are a sponsoring organization

Fedora Summer Coding is about connecting sponsors (those with resources to share) with students (those with time, passion, and skills to share.)

Why you should be a sponsor?

What do you get out of it?

  • Positively impact FOSS projects.
  • Get your brand in front of smart students who want to work on FOSS.
  • Work on a community program that demonstrates how open source business is done.
  • See something you’d like coded be completed.
  • Other positive brand associations.

What you need to do

We need to start talking, soon.

What are the resources you can supply?

  1. Money to pay stipends to students for spending focused time on these FOSS projects. This is a cross between a summer job and an internship.
  2. Someone to help coordinate and to contribute as part of the Fedora Summer Coding special interest group (SIG).
  3. Mentors, especially if they work actively in sub-project or area the sponsor is supporting.

What does the Summer Coding program do?

The Fedora Summer Coding mentors sort the student ideas, generate the list of approved proposals, work with the students throughout the summer, and make sure you hear back about how things went.

It’s not necessary as a sponsor to have ideas of how your resources should be used, that’s what the Fedora Project and JBoss.org mentors and sub-projects are prepared to do.

You can learn more about the model we are using in this blog post, Summer Of Code Swimchart: Now With More Generic.