[fedora-classroom] Extending the fedora classroom to be more than just planned classroom sessions

[Ankur Sinha]

Hello everyone,

As the subject says, I'm interested in extending the fedora-classroom
project. 

Of late, I've been looking to improve the ways that potential
contributors can interact better with us, the community, the *whole*
community. Now, while some potential contributors would already know
what and where they want to contribute with, I think a larger share
comes in _looking_ for some guidance to help them get started. At the
present, there isn't really a communication channel that does this.
Sure, we have the different mailing lists, but none of them are
_dedicated_ to guiding new potential contributors. I'm looking to make
one. :)

It is generally ambassadors that meet these potential contributors at
events etc. (since Ambassadors are "the face of fedora"). The
ambassadors therefore act as the first point of contact who would then
direct these potential contributors to the different channels. (However,
the ambassadors, while they may be part of other SIGs, would probably
not be a part of *all* SIGs and cannot know everything that goes on in
the project) Mostly, therefore, potential contributors end up applying
for ambassadorship. The sponsorship process in place for the ambassadors
suggests that new people first join one of the fedora sub-teams and then
apply for ambassadorship. It's logical really: how would you speak about
fedora if you don't know about it?

The question therefore arises: how do we make these potential
contributors interact with the entire community, not just ambassadors
that they meet? How do we make it easier to get in touch with SIGs so
that potential contributors will have an easier time getting started?
One solution is something like the "gnome-love" initiative[1]. I really
like it. It's informal, people guide new people (not spoon feed, mind
you!) and I really think the gnome-love project helps make new folks
feel at home with the project. This reduces the learning gradient quite
a bit IMO. 

While my initial thought was just to shamelessly copy gnome and start
fedora-love (I even drafted a proposal[3]), I realized that we already
have the fedora-classroom project in place. We have an IRC channel too.
The intention of this sub-project is to teach the community. I was
wondering what you folks felt about making this the first point of
contact for potential contributors? Of course, we'll get in more people
from the SIGs who are interested in seeing what new talent walks in and
stuff. What do you folks think about "extending the fedora classroom to
be more than just planned classroom sessions"? It's quite a face change
really :)

One of the questions that you'd probably ask is: what's wrong with folks
just joining up the various mailing lists and getting started?
Quite a bit:
1. A lot of new contributors aren't sure of what sig they'd like to
start in. IMO, it would be helpful if some of the community were
available to guide them and help them make a decision
2. The various mailing lists are dedicated to work. They're not really
meant for mentoring purposes. We wouldn't like a flood of potential
contributors emailing the lists asking for guidance. 
3. We also have askfedora and the user mailing lists. However, I feel
these are dedicated to troubleshooting. 

So, what d'ya folks think? :)

NOTE: I think this was taken up quite a while back, which is probably
how the page with mentors[2] listed came about. Not sure though.

[1] https://live.gnome.org/GnomeLove
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mentors
[3]
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Ankursinha/Proposal_Fedora_Love_mailing_list


-- 
Thanks, 
Warm regards,
Ankur: "FranciscoD"

Please only print if necessary. 

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Ankursinha
http://dodoincfedora.wordpress.com/
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