On 29/03/2007, at 2:03 AM, Andrus Adamchik wrote:
I've been thinking about it some more, and IMO the problem is at a
more basic level. SoC is a PR action by Google and participating
orgs (including ASF), and as such for the student it does not
follows ESR paradigm of scratching a personal itch.
It isn't always that way. I hang around the edges of the FreeBSD
project and they have had some very successful projects:
http://www.freebsd.org/projects/summerofcode-2006.html
However, of course they are in a position where they can offer a much
greater variety of projects (an operating system is a big thing) and
they have a project which is more well known and therefore students
come in with greater starting knowledge.
So I don't think that SoC is purely a cynical marketing exercise - it
can have good results in the right circumstances. The ideal student
is one who cares about the project, knows enough to make a
difference, and is willing to follow through even after they stop
being paid because they care about what they create. If I found
students like that, I'd give them a job myself.
Ari Maniatis
-------------------------->
Aristedes Maniatis
phone +61 2 9660 9700
PGP fingerprint 08 57 20 4B 80 69 59 E2 A9 BF 2D 48 C2 20 0C C8
