[Live-demo] Questioning GSoC 2015 Notebook mentorship

[Cameron Shorter]

On 15/03/2016 8:34 pm, massimo di stefano wrote:
> I’m sorry but in my understanding this should have been part of a 
> mentor's responsibility during my gsoc.
> I had a very good experience with the other 2 mentors who have don a 
> great job in reviewing and addressing the technical part of my GSoC.
> I should remind you that according with pre-GSoC discussion your rule 
> was to contribute in the non-technical aspects of the project.

Massimo,
I feel quite offended and a bit betrayed by your implication that I 
provided sub-optimal GSoC mentorship.
I provided much feedback in helping you refine your proposal, read all 
reports once started, provided feedback and suggested improvements, 
including suggesting template development for others can build on.
But possibly part of the reason I'm offended is that you have struck a 
nerve. I would have really liked to have seen more done in the quality 
of the documentation produced, and indeed that is something that I could 
have tackled myself. I underestimated how much time I'd have to dedicate 
to such a task vs effort required.

Of note, GSoC sponsors coding, not documentation of coding.
Massimo, you certainly passed the programming side of the GSoC project. 
However, to meet OSGeo-Live's existing quality standards, we need review 
of Notebook docs. And I personally haven't kept up, and we haven't 
attracted any other volunteers to review Notebook docs.

So Massimo, I apologise if you feel I let you down as a GSoC mentor in 
2015.

Margherita asked me off list about my personal capacity to dedicate 
enough time to future GSoC mentoring. It is an appropriate question.
To be fair to future OSGeo-Live GSoC participants, I should be clear 
that the level of doc review I can provide will be limited. I'll be able 
to review a template or two, and provide general guidance, however we 
will require further  reviewers if we are going to be able to maintain 
OSGeo-Live's documentation quality for all Notebooks produced.

This makes me question whether we, the OSGeo-Live community, are ready 
to accept GSoC Notebook programmers for OSGeo-Live, until existing 
Notebook documents are reviewed.



-- 
Cameron Shorter,
Software and Data Solutions Manager
LISAsoft
Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf,
26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009

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