[fedora-india] [Fwd: [X-post]Join Fedora SIG]

Sat Jun 16 05:00:39 UTC 2012

Hi folks,

I expect you've read the announcement on one of the lists already. For
those of you who didn't:

-------- Forwarded Message --------
> From: Ankur Sinha <sanjay.ankur at gmail.com>
> Reply-to: ankursinha at fedoraproject.org
> To: Fedora Ambassadors <ambassadors at lists.fedoraproject.org>, Fedora
> Devel Mailing List <devel at lists.fedoraproject.org>, Fedora Test list
> <test at lists.fedoraproject.org>
> Subject: [X-post]Join Fedora SIG
> Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:54:52 +0530
> 
> Hello folks!
> 
> First, please forgive me for the X-post. The email concerns more than
> one team and I really didn't know what mailing list to send it to. I've
> therefore sent it to the 3 major lists that I hope would cover most of
> the community. 
> 
> ----
> 
>     We've been recently looking to reduce the learning gradient that new
> folks need to hike up when they look to contribute to Fedora. Users
> looking to give back to the community is amazing. I feel we need to go
> out and give them as much help as we can. The importance here is that
> most of them will be new to the workflows, SIGS, teams and processes
> that Fedora community uses. Quite a few of them will be new to Linux
> even. For these novices, learning all that is required to become
> contributors is a daunting task. However, what is important is that all
> of them have the *potential* to make awesome contributors!
> 
>     At the moment, this is how folks go about it:
> 
>     1. Look at the join-fedora page[1]
>     2. Select what they want to do, or randomly pick one that looks
> most familiar
>     3. Join the various mailing lists
>     4. Ask how they can help
>     5. Start working, and learn while they work, get sponsored etc.
> 
> Even though this works, there are a few issues here IMO:
> 
>     1. Quite a few folks aren't sure what they want to do. The join
> fedora page is confusing for them at times. They don't know first hand
> what each role is about, so they aren't sure if they should join up SIG
> A or SIG B. This doesn't make them "folks that can't contribute (they
> can't even figure out what SIG to join! heh!)". It makes them "folks who
> need to find where they fit in, what they're good at in the Fedora
> community"
>     2. The various mailing lists: devel, mktg, infra are work oriented.
> While we do guide newcomers that ask for help on the lists, these
> newcomers are usually scared to ask questions. They feel they'll make
> fools of themselves if they ask simple questions in front of established
> contributors. 
> 
>     Basically, the working mailing lists aren't exactly the best
> environment for new comers. They are task oriented. They aren't
> dedicated to aiding new comers. We also don't want lots of introductions
> etc. on the work mailing lists either. We want them to be dedicated to
> *work*.
> 
>     I therefore suggest setting up communication channels dedicated to
> aid newcomers. I've already run into a "Welcome SIG"[2] initiative. The
> "welcome SIG" was intended to be more broad. It was intended for users
> too. If we set up "welcome SIG", I'm afraid it'll turn into another
> troubleshooting channel. We already have #fedora, the users mailing
> list[3], askfedora[3] for troubleshooting. I'd like to set up a channel
> dedicated to prospective contributors: something like a "Join Fedora
> SIG"(proposal on the wiki here[4]). Gnome already has something on these
> lines: the Gnome Love[5] project. It works. I'm on the mailing list.
> People ask for help, they get their guidance. Slowly, they turn into
> contributors. I'd like to again stress that the current mailing lists,
> while already present and open to the public are not *dedicated* to this
> purpose of guiding newbies. I suggest:
> 
>     1. #fedora-join on Freenode
>     2. fedora-join mailing list
> 
>     The goals of these are:
> 
>     1. Set up a communication channel between the existing contributors
> and prospective contributors. Speaking to current team members is always
> encouraging. We could even set up a system to send "easyfix" tasks to
> this mailing list giving folks a chance to work on them and learn in the
> process.
>     2. Guide/aid prospective contributors to turn into solid
> contributors. Rather than just pointing them to join.fp.o, talk to them,
> see what issues they face, help them decide where they want to get
> started.
>     3. Via these channels, form better mentor-mentee relationships.
> Here, I mean "mentor" in the real sense of the word. Rahul, for
> instance, brought me into Fedora almost 6 years back via a font
> packaging IRC work shop. He's still my mentor and I still email him when
> I get stuck in a situation. Such relationships improve the community,
> both work wise and fun wise.
>     4. Give prospective contributors a communication channel to converse
> amongst themselves. This is very important. Take the GSoC mailing list
> for instance. It is set up specifically so that the candidates can talk
> to each other. Since they're all in the same boat, they feel more
> comfortable discussing certain issues amongst themselves. They'll also
> be aware of what different people are up to which will give them a
> better idea of what they can do.
> 
>     I'm looking to set up this channel. Whatever I've written above is
> mostly what *my* neurons could think up. I initially thought that
> extending the classroom SIG to also function as the Join Fedora SIG
> would work, but Kevin suggested we keep them separate. (The function of
> the classroom SIG is for the community to teach each other). Basically,
> I'd like to look for potential, not polish. We can help them gain the
> polish that established contributors have.
> 
>     What are your views on this folks? Here, I'd request folks to follow
> "plussing": please criticize this as much as you want, find issues, but
> only if you have a "plus" to give as a solution. (I ran into it in a
> book I recently read. I think it's a great way to go. No harm giving it
> a try :-) )
> 
> 
>     Steps:
>     1. File ticket at infra to set up fedora-join mailing list
>     2. Set up IRC channel #fedora-join
>     3. File ticket with websites SIG to make tiny changes to join.fp.o
> to list Fedora-Join IRC and mailing list channels. 
>     4. Ask infra if we can set up a system to send "easyfix"
> notifications to the channel/mailing list. 
>     5. Get started!
> 
> 
> [1] http://fedoraproject.org/join-fedora
> [2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Welcome_SIG
> [3] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Welcome_SIG
> [4] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Join_SIG
> [5] https://live.gnome.org/GnomeLove
<snip>

The Fedora Join SIG[1] now has a mailing list[2] and an IRC channel[3]
up and running! If you have some time to spare, please hang out here and
help new folks. Even more importantly, if you know folks looking to
contribute, please point them to the mailing list or the channel, which
ever they prefer. 

[1] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Join_SIG
[2] https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fedora-join
[3] #fedora-join on Freenode

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

Please only print if necessary. 

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