Hi there, I think this is a worthwhile idea, but would like to suggest that if you're going to go down the approach of badges/accomplishments then it would be good to consider how to encourage existing DDs to become active in mentoring.
My experience is that making the package is the easy bit - the tricky bit is getting someone to take notice, provide feedback and eventually upload the package. Regards, Roger On Sun, Nov 9, 2014 at 7:20 PM, Christian Kastner <deb...@kvr.at> wrote: > The first steps in contributing to Debian are usually the hardest. > Normally, new contributors are pointed to the standard docs [eg: > 1,2,3,4,5], but processing such an amount of information is often a > daunting task, and not a very fun one either. > > On the other hand, we have quite a few mentors who would like to help, > but often do not have the bandwidth to walk a mentee through the entire > process of, say, packaging a new software, or to mentor someone > responding to a RFH. > > The WNPP list in itself is useful, but when looking at it again > recently, I distinctly recalled how foreign most of the packages were to > me when I first started contributing -- not a great motivator into > getting involved with something. And I recognized a number of RFHs that > have received numerous replies over the time, but couldn't be followed > up upon with because RFHs are frequently the result of a lack of time in > the first place (openldap anyone?). > > > With the recent gamification of just-about-everything, I was wondering > whether following such an achievement-oriented approach, with > opportunities for contribution formulated as a list of specific tasks, > instead of general avenues, would be helpful in overcoming this initial > difficulty. (This would be in addition to mentors.debian.net and other > established avenues for entry to Debian, not a replacement). > > > Tasks > ===== > > I see a task having, at least, the following properties: > > * A specific objective (bug fix, enhancement, debugging, cleanup, > documentation, translation, ...). This should probably be tied to a > Debian bug number. > > * A description of the required skills (packaging, debugging, C, ...) > > * A difficulty rating (1:low to 5:very high) > > * An estimation for the amount of work to be done (hours, days) > > * An urgency (influenced by severity, popcon, ...) > > * A list of one or more mentors will to help. > > > Benefits for Mentees > ==================== > > For mentees, this would: > > * Provide a much simpler entry point into contributing to Debian. > Mentees would be able to start with smallish tasks fitting their > skill and interest profile. They could start contributing without > becoming overwhelmed with dozens of pages of dense documentation. > > * I expect that would to eventually lead to a better understanding > of Debian technically, and to closer personal contacts to the > community. > > * Later on, they could progress to the more difficult tasks, in > preparation towards eventual DM or DD status. > > > Benefits for Mentors > ==================== > > For mentors, I believe the benefits are even greater: > > * Mentors willing to help but lacking time for full mentorship could > still help with smaller tasks. Every little bit counts. > > * A new avenue for getting things fixed in Debian (QA). Instead of > having ancient O, RFA, and RFH bugs, some of which have been > proven to be insurmountable, the relevant packages can be improved > step-by-step. > > * In a similar vein, regular Maintainers could off-load some of > their work to mentees. I've seen enough bugs in packages where the > only blocker seems to be "lack of time". > > * Mentors could get another perspective on the history of a mentee's > work within Debian. > > > Costs > ===== > > All in all, I think the additional cost to mentors wouldn't be that > great. It should be easy to write up the tasks: that does not require > time, only a lot of experience. > > > I'd appreciate feedback on the idea; and if this turns out to be > worthwhile I'll look into an implementation. > > Christian > > > [1] https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ > [2] https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/ > [3] https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/developers-reference/ > [4] http://mentors.debian.net/ > [5] Package how-can-i-help > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-mentors-requ...@lists.debian.org > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org > Archive: https://lists.debian.org/545fbe79.8020...@kvr.at > -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-mentors-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/CAH7zdydFP-8aoi=HHmQwJKmRcdjkQEvT+CKXoiiTk4hkZ9GF=g...@mail.gmail.com