+1 to your 3 layer strategy. I have made a proposal for the wiki page, however I am not competent to fill in the tasks. http://wiki.openoffice.org/w/index.php?title=Communication/new_contributors&action=submit
I have NOT linked it in anywhere, but a natural link would in "participation" on the main page. Jan. On 31 October 2012 18:59, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 1:46 PM, jan iversen <jancasacon...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Hi. > > > > I think your md pages are SUPER....what I suggested was an additional > wiki > > page (actually someone else called it postoffice) where we put small > tasks > > that need to be translated / written etc. > > > > So I see your pages go hand in hand with Wiki pages, just too different > > levels of interaction with the community. > > > > Right. So maybe when we do a wider "call for volunteers" we can > offer three tracks: > > 1) Sign up for ooo-dev and "drink from the firehose" (our only current > option) > > 2) A short intro on the wiki, one that doesn't exist yet, but maybe > someone can write one. > > 3) A longer self-paced intro on the website (what I'm working on) > > They are volunteers, so we can't force them to do anything. But we > can offer them a few choices. I'm happy to provide one of those > choices. Who wants to provide another? > > -Rob > > > jan > > > > On 31 October 2012 16:59, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > > > >> On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 11:51 AM, Kay Schenk <kay.sch...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> > > >> > > >> > On 10/28/2012 04:30 PM, Rob Weir wrote: > >> >> > >> >> On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 6:29 PM, Andrea Pescetti < > pesce...@apache.org> > >> >> wrote: > >> >>> > >> >>> On 23/10/2012 Rob Weir wrote: > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> New Volunteer Orientation root page: > >> >>>> http://incubator.apache.org/openofficeorg/orientation/ > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> This is an excellent resource. But we received a few requests from > >> >>> prospective volunteers this weekend and I'm believing it would be > >> >>> overwhelming to point them there. I still believe these documents > are > >> >>> excellent, but probably they are assuming our volunteer is above > >> average, > >> >>> or > >> >>> at least willing to engage deeply with the project. They would be > >> perfect > >> >>> for me, for you, or for a newcomer like Jan who has the skills and > the > >> >>> mindset to understand in detail how things work. > >> >>> > >> >> > >> >> And how do we know in advance which volunteers are like Jan and which > >> are > >> >> not? > >> >> > >> >> I think we should find some way to point them to the info and say > that > >> >> they are welcome to jump in and ignore this all, or skim it in > >> >> parallel with direct participation, or read through this stuff first. > >> >> It is entirely up to them. > >> >> > >> >> But generally, the more one needs to interact with other project > >> >> participants and other systems and even other parts of Apache, the > >> >> more this information becomes useful. Although not stated, one > could > >> >> almost say that "Level 4" would be becoming a Committer. So you are > >> >> correct that this is a track for a more determined volunteer, > >> >> > >> >> > >> >>> But we will also have (and we do have: most volunteers I see on the > >> >>> mailing > >> >>> lists in Italian fall in this category) volunteers who don't care > that > >> >>> much > >> >>> about OpenOffice as a project: they use the product and just want to > >> give > >> >>> something back. They want to scratch an itch, or just to do > something, > >> >>> but > >> >>> they are very task-oriented: they want something to do rather than > >> >>> something > >> >>> to read. For example, we may have translation volunteers who would > be > >> >>> perfectly satisfied if we e-mail them a PO file and tell them to > grab > >> >>> POEdit > >> >>> and send the file back; and then they would consider a deeper > >> engagement, > >> >>> but not earlier. > >> >>> > >> >> > >> >> Translation volunteers are different in many ways, but even there I > >> >> think we need some solid orientation material. They won't go far > >> >> before wondering why they cannot write to Pootle and the website, but > >> >> others can. That leads us into discussion of roles at Apache, etc. > >> >> And we really need to expose them to the Apache License at the > >> >> earliest opportunity. We do no one any favors if we're passing > around > >> >> PO files via private mail, and receiving translations without any > >> >> public record of contribution. > >> >> > >> >> In any case, this is an issue we've had for a while. Becoming a > >> >> Committer is a higher hurdle than is appropriate for most translation > >> >> volunteers, due to iCLA, etc. The orientation guides did not create > >> >> this problem, they merely remind us of it. > >> >> > >> >>> And indeed they are not totally wrong: knowing how the Apache Board > >> works > >> >>> is > >> >>> not needed to be able to translate a press release, or a few > OpenOffice > >> >>> strings, into Italian. > >> >>> > >> >>> Could it be that we need a "practical" entry point for people who > want > >> to > >> >>> help and just want to do it immediately? Placing these information > at > >> >>> level > >> >>> 3 of the "Volunteer Orientation" seems too much for volunteers who > want > >> >>> to > >> >>> jump in and do something (while, again, the orientation guide is > >> >>> excellent > >> >>> for a skilled, determined volunteer). > >> >>> > >> >> > >> >> Since "level 3" for translators does not exist yet, it may be too > >> >> early to say whether or not is "practical". (I hope it will be > >> >> practical). If we make it self-contained, it may be possible for it > >> >> be consulted on its own for someone who is not seeking deeper > >> >> engagement with the project. > >> >> > >> >> -Rob > >> >> > >> >> > >> >>> Regards, > >> >>> Andrea. > >> > > >> > > >> > Rob, > >> > > >> > I still support this whole notion. But, maybe it would be better to go > >> with > >> > more of a "checklist" style instead of the in-depth explanations you > >> have in > >> > this document. > >> > > >> > What if you ported this to the wiki (Jan suggested this as well. > cwiki is > >> > easiest for me but I have no object to wiki.openoffice.org) so those > of > >> us > >> > that are interested can more easily contribute to this worthwhile > guide. > >> > > >> > >> Of course you are free to start whatever wiki page you wish. But I'll > >> be continuing with the mdtext pages I've started. This is based on my > >> experience with providing orientation to many of our Symphony > >> developers on how Apache projects work and how to participate in such > >> a community. This approach works. Other approaches might work for > >> others as well. But I'm going to give this a try. > >> > >> -Rob > >> > >> > Thanks for starting this. It is needed. > >> > > >> > -- > >> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >> > > >> > MzK > >> > > >> > "Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never > >> > dealt with a cat." > >> > -- Robert Heinlein > >> >
