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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:31:19 +0100
From: Knut Anders Hatlen <Knut.Hatlen@Sun.COM>
Subject: Re: Google Summer of Code thoughts
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Bryan Pendleton <bpendleton@amberpoint.com> writes:

> I've been thinking about next summer's Google Summer of Code
> (http://code.google.com/soc). In particular, I've been thinking
> about possible Derby-related projects that we might suggest to
> potential SoC interns.
>
> I've listed several possibilities below, and am interested in
> getting some feedback, including:
>  - do these projects seem appropriate (not too big, not too small,
>    can be sub-divided into smaller projects and smaller steps
>    successfully, have a coherent theme, would be appealing to an
>    intern, would be well-received by the Derby community, etc.)
>  - are there other projects like these that are worth considering?
>  - how can we attract interns motivated to succeed at efforts
>    like these?
>
> Would you be interested in getting involved as a mentor for
> one of these projects, or perhaps for another Derby project?
> The more mentors we can get, the more students we can host, and
> the more the Derby community benefits.
>
> What is the next step? How should we capture and develop project
> ideas such as these, and how can we start building interest for
> interns who might want to apply for these projects? Should we
> put this information somewhere in the wiki? How could we organize it?

Hi Bryan,

I think those are very good proposals. It sounds like you're thinking
that we're using bug fixes and smaller improvements to get the interns
warmed up and familiar with one area of the code, and that they can
progress into feature work in that area once they're up to speed. That
sounds like a great idea to me. That's a good way to motivate them, and
we're also more likely to get some smaller improvements checked in even
if the full project turns out to be too big.

We could use this wiki page (which still talks about GSoC 2006) to
collect ideas: http://wiki.apache.org/db-derby/CodingProjects. It
probably needs some cleanup, since some of the projects have been
completed, and those listed as mentors may not be as motivated as they
were three years ago.

-- 
Knut Anders