Re: Facilitating contributions by newcomers
On Sun, Nov 9, 2014 at 1:20 PM, Christian Kastner <debian@kvr.at> wrote:
> With the recent gamification of just-about-everything, I was wondering
> whether following such an achievement-oriented approach, with
> opportunities for contribution formulated as a list of specific tasks,
> instead of general avenues, would be helpful in overcoming this initial
> difficulty. (This would be in addition to mentors.debian.net and other
> established avenues for entry to Debian, not a replacement).
I really like this idea. I often spend more time looking for bugs or
tasks I can help with than actually doing productive work.
> Benefits for Mentees
> ====================
>
> For mentees, this would:
>
> * Provide a much simpler entry point into contributing to Debian.
> Mentees would be able to start with smallish tasks fitting their
> skill and interest profile. They could start contributing without
> becoming overwhelmed with dozens of pages of dense documentation.
>
> * I expect that would to eventually lead to a better understanding
> of Debian technically, and to closer personal contacts to the
> community.
>
> * Later on, they could progress to the more difficult tasks, in
> preparation towards eventual DM or DD status.
>
How do you see the transition from a mentee to a DM going? I think
this might be where things get tough. When there are a pool of tasks
that you pick from, you have small interactions with a larger number
of DDs. However, the DM process now seems to be more oriented towards
having larger interactions. This is a problem I have been facing a for
a while. After 5 years of lurking/contributing, I only know one DD who
may consider advocating me for DM. I feel that spreading my work over
so many teams and package maintainers has not progressed me towards my
goal of DM. This type of system may put others in a similar situation.
Even with that said, anything the makes contributing easier for
newcomers is a good thing.
Regards,
Jordan Metzmeier
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