On 06/05/2010 06:06 AM, Tejas Dinkar wrote:
I agree strongly that people with no FOSS experience should be discouraged from taking up the role of and ambassador (thanks to a late night rant I subjected mether to).
I would phrase it differently. I want them to pursue their desire to be play the role of a ambassador by seeking areas where they can apply their interest and skills to actively contribute and broaden their understanding of the nature of the project enough to know that this is truly something they want to be an ambassador of and that takes time and effort. If you sign up to be an ambassador and you cannot make the case strongly for the values that Fedora as a project and as a community espouses, then you just need more time. The typical refrain that I am not a programmer doesn't even apply because there is enough areas including documentation, infrastructure and marketing that requires zero programming knowledge of any kind and can be a burden even because the mindset required is different.
I think I understand the sentiment behind susmit's response. But I think we should be more careful to word our responses such that it is clear that someone is being considered for the position primarily on their merits as a (Fedora/FOSS) contributor.
I agree with that concern. While individual mentors might take different points of view and I do know that they do, at a project level, I don't think we want a blanket rule against anyone becoming ambassadors. The desire to redirect students into other areas of the project comes from a general consensus that students with the time and skillset they typically do are better suited to task oriented activities rather than people skills which takes time but there will always be different personalities who are exceptionally good at being a people representative while being students. I would welcome them to marketing as a platform to try their hand first. On a more personal note, I find it more rewarding to mentor people that I am familiar with to some extend and if I happen to know that they are strong contributors to some sub communities within Fedora, I can work with them easier than if they are complete strangers.
Rahul