Over the last five years, the GSoC program has evolved quite a bit, and the Fedora Project has continued to adapt to the changes and to improve our own practices at the same time. The people leading the program have changed on both sides, the web resources have changed, the size of the program has changed... it has been a fun journey. When JBoss.org wanted to participate in the GSoC program, Google said they would have to participate with the Fedora Project since both are run by the same commercial entity (Red Hat). This forced us into a tough brand collusion situation. While the two projects are almost completely independent of one another, we have been forced to engage on common ground and work together under a name we cannot represent. Each year since I took up leadership of Fedora's participation in 2006, I have tried to improve our resources for students and mentors bit by bit. Since JBoss.org joined with the Fedora Project for the GSoC, this has been even more of a challenge, and even more worthwhile. In setting up new resources, writing new materials, working with Google and engaging in various other activities in support of Fedora and JBoss.org's summer coding ventures, I have tried to keep a few key goals in mind: * Avoiding absolute connection to Google's program I want the resources we set up to be generic enough that they can be used for other summer development programs, not just Google's program, and not necessarily just for programming. * Remaining open to JBoss.org and other Red Hat-sponsored FOSS projects It is unfortunate that Google insists on the brand collusion, but it is also an opportunity. I want to make all Red Hat-sponsored FOSS projects, even beyond Fedora and JBoss.org, to feel welcome participating. * Avoiding brand collusion We are forced into some brand collusion by Google, but we can keep the damage to a minimum. I have tried to make the nature of the connection to Red Hat absolutely clear. Our efforts are not directly sponsored by Red Hat, we do not act or speak on behalf of Red Hat, and while we support programs that are directly connected to Red Hat, this summer coding team has no official affiliation with Red Hat. * Working to the mutual benefit of all involved If at any point this program becomes more harm than good to any of its participants, I would rather kill it than let it cause trouble. We have a wonderful opportunity to bring fresh blood into the FOSS community at large, with the potential to retain strong talent in the Fedora Project, JBoss.org and any other participating FOSS project. This is also a great exercise for the involved mentors and administrators. The only real cost to mentors and students is time. I want to keep it that way. * Engaging students for long-term participation in FOSS I would much rather introduce someone new to FOSS and endear our ways to them than pad the wallet of an experienced contributor. That is the purpose of the GSoC, and of my participation. If anyone gets a job or finds a way to profit from their participation, that is awesome, but it is not the driving goal. I have been the program administrator for the last few years mostly because I was first to step up to the plate and push it forward. Karsten Wade has been a great help in coordinating activities and making things happen that are outside of my abilities. Bob McWhirter was instrumental in allowing JBoss.org to participate with the Fedora Project. Yaakov Nemoy has been a valuable aid in taking our participation toward the next level. I appreciate the involvement of all of our past mentors and administrators, and if anyone wants to step up and make this program better, do not wait for my permission. I am happy to continue in my role as an organization administrator, but I welcome all of the help I can get to make this program the best it can be. Thank you all. That is all I have for now. -- Patrick W. Barnes patrick at patrickwbarnes.com http://patrickwbarnes.com/ LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/patrickwbarnes All messages cryptographically signed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenPGP -- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 198 bytes Desc: This is a digitally signed message part. Url : http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/summer-coding/attachments/20100223/c92990c5/attachment.bin
