From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org ([208.92.234.80] helo=lists.gentoo.org) by finch.gentoo.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1Ny3ne-0007iG-4z for garchives@archives.gentoo.org; Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:54:10 +0000 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id E66D5E0B44; Sat, 3 Apr 2010 13:54:02 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-bw0-f210.google.com (mail-bw0-f210.google.com [209.85.218.210]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7FEAEE0B3F for ; Sat, 3 Apr 2010 13:54:01 +0000 (UTC) Received: by bwz2 with SMTP id 2so2353005bwz.10 for ; Sat, 03 Apr 2010 06:54:01 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from :user-agent:mime-version:to:subject:references:in-reply-to :content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=jjK508g+rJ6A6HRdt+BhkoESSBigse6q0ZAwvUv/Fwg=; b=RM7fhU/veGJdAmLp3yyqMoiuC4fWJ0E7LU/RkuygTNu+3S+Cr6Qu4Yk+Tym9xmeD4F b2IUpZXwajMWz5Dv5z3lX97DykI2kIqyp3glMoU+ETTM+ZHgBQuKUO1H4QMrJDQU8Uqi Yi/EpSZkKPm3n7et0jze32NDJi2xBaT3NNvC8= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=message-id:date:from:user-agent:mime-version:to:subject:references :in-reply-to:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=p/s+o6GuvFe07MDWZL3X85iP8GTc3xPkhXG4NjcWssA1dSE6amRoahdMrsyFVmcPbM EY09cyJBmZIDKro0+MUDLm3cxNTJvmd8QPzogSuOjGqz0pfEXMrwWord3ViAj4Qv+WGF GeEB9gCY3wqhC3WATSUxzNUczZkFHTApOFtZc= Received: by 10.204.24.65 with SMTP id u1mr4335533bkb.12.1270302840738; Sat, 03 Apr 2010 06:54:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [192.168.1.18] ([95.147.53.129]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id x16sm87472468bku.5.2010.04.03.06.53.59 (version=SSLv3 cipher=RC4-MD5); Sat, 03 Apr 2010 06:54:00 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <4BB74877.8090106@gmail.com> Date: Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:53:59 +0100 From: George Prowse User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.1.9) Gecko/20100317 Lightning/1.0b1 Thunderbird/3.0.4 Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-dev@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-dev@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 To: gentoo-dev@lists.gentoo.org Subject: Re: [gentoo-dev] [Gentoo Phoenix] recruitment process References: In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Archives-Salt: 624d9c1b-20da-4023-b03b-c7bc88764c1a X-Archives-Hash: 602c53324da714397c12a7fc1472b19e On 03/04/2010 14:40, Ben de Groot wrote: > On 3 April 2010 13:33, Richard Freeman wrote: >> I really think that the Gentoo recruitment process needs improvement. Right >> now it seems like a LOT of effort is required both to become a Gentoo dev >> and to help somebody become a Gentoo dev. That means we have great people, >> but not many of them. > > I agree. So what can we do to improve this process? > > I myself am not fond of the quizzes, and from what I've seen most > recruits find them tedious as well. It can be quite demotivating, > maybe because it reminds one too much of highschool or something. > I took a long time myself to finish them, and that wouldn't have > been necessary, as my mentors ensured me I was ready to become a > dev. And I see the same thing happening with some of my own recruits. > They can be ready, but just find the quizzes a chore. > > So I think we need to rethink how to do this. What I have found very > helpful is to have my recruits working on actual ebuilds. The > sunrise project is ideally qualified to mold ebuild editors into > shape. Working on official overlays such as qting-edge and/or doing > proxy maintenance is also very helpful. > > Recruiters (with some additional manpower) could make a list of > technical issues that recruits need to be aware of, and then gather > a number of ebuilds that display these problems and let recruits > correct some of these, under guidance of their mentors. This may > possibly be more fun and closer to the actual work that is required > of developers. > > Of course this doesn't address the organizational side of things, so > we need to come up with something else for that. > > Another problem I see is that our documentation seems to be scattered > all over the place. I propose that we make at least one portal page > for (prospective) developers that will link them to all the resources > they might need. It also means our existing documentation needs to > be brought and kept up to date. > > Are there any other ideas on how to improve our recruitment process? > I suggested a while ago that you should have recruitment drives and recruitment days. Set aside a day where a few devs can answer any questions about what it takes to be a developer - the skills required, the time that needs to be set aside, the behavior expected and goals that developers aspire to. Set up some threads on the forums, a channel on irc, a list like gentoo-recruitment and a FAQ on the front page of the website. Armed with a list of where developers are spread too thinly, a willingness to answer questions (no matter how stupid you believe them to be) and some prior organisation then i see no reason why Gentoo wouldn't get an immediate influx of at least 20 well-qualified developers and more that are willing to give their time and limited knowlege to help out "If you build it, they will come"