Re: [Tcl-soc2008] Tcl/Tk GSoC 2009: A phone to Matthew Burke

[Clif F. <cl...@cf...>]

Hi,
  Here's a note from Matthew, and my answers to his questions.
  
  I may not be fully correct on some things, there are some things
that I'm not sure of, and one I've got in CAPS for someone else to
answer.

  Please feel free to expand, correct, or implement anything I've
got here.

  Thanks,
  Clif

On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 10:54:18AM -0400, Matthew M. Burke wrote:
> ... 
> I've just skimmed the FAQ for this year...
> I've attached the questions, 
> to the bottom of this email.  
> If you and/or the folks on the list 
> could draft answers to the questions, I can wordsmith them tonight/tomorrow 
> and then submit the application.
>
> Here's the URL for the program http://socghop.appspot.com/
>
> Here are the questions:

  And as many answers as I know...

> Group Name:
  Tcl Community Association
  
  We also work under Tcl Association, but that name is a DBA for
  Noumena Corporation that I set up a couple years ago to get the
  ball rolling, and I haven't had time to transfer it to the Tcl 
  Community Association.  Google doesn't need to know that, but some
  folks on this list might wonder why the name changed.
  
  The Tcl Community Association is fully registered 501-C(6) with the US
  Govt and State of Michigan.    The current board consists of Me, my wife
  Carol (operating as president and treasurer), Cyndy Lilagan, Gerald Lester, 
  and Ron Fox.

> Home Page URL:
  www.tcl.tk - no homepage for the Assoc yet.

> Public Email:
  Umm, I guess that would be me, at least for the time being.
  cl...@no..., cli...@gm...
  
   IS THERE A BETTER EMAIL ADDRESS TO USE?

> Description:
> Why is your group applying to participate? 
  1) We think it's a great idea and we're willing to help.
  2) To promote the Tcl/Tk language and encourage it's expansion and use.
  3) As a community service to help students learn and develop into being
     truly professionals.
  4) 

> What do you hope to gain by participating?
  1) New packages and tools in the Tcl/Tk collection.
  2) New users and advocates for the Tcl/Tk language.
  3) A shared focus for the disparate collection of active 
     advocates and users of the Tcl/Tk language.

> What is the main public mailing list for your group?
  Umm.  Do we have one?  We tend to develop ad-hoc mailing lists for 
  individual projects, rather than an overall mailling list.
  
  Jeff: Can som...@tc... be set up?  Should someone (Steve?) do this 
  through the website where the wiki is hosted?

> Where is the main IRC channel for your group?
  Per the WIKI:  I believe that all the IRC's are linked.  I'm certain
that efnet and freenode are linked.
  
    * Freenode (meta-server: irc.freenode.net), #tcl (contains ijchain, which bridges the Tcler's Chat to IRC). Probably the best area for Tcl-related chat.
    * EFnet (info: http://www.efnet.org/ , http://www.efnet.net ), #eggtcl (for eggdrop scripters) and #tcl (the intelligent crowd will wake up if you ask something interesting)
    * IRCnet (info: http://www.ircnet.org/ , http://www.ircnet.com/ ), #tcl (mostly eggdrop scripters), #tcltk
    * DALnet (meta-server: irc.dal.net, #tcl (eggdrop), #tcltk

> What criteria do you use to select the members of your group? Please be as 
> specific as possible.
  
  Personal contacts, visibility in the larger programming community
(chat, comp.lang.tcl, attendance at the annual conference).  There is
no formal admission policy.
  
> Has your group participated previously? If so, please summarize your 
> involvement and any past successes and failures.

  Yes.
  We mentored 9 students (I think) in 2008.  Most completed their
project satisfactorily.  I believe that we had mostly positive reviews
from the students.  Our mentors have a better idea of the level of time
commitment this can involve.  I believe that some of last year's mentors
have recognized that they became over-committed and have dropped out of
this year's pool.

> If your group has not previously participated, have you applied in the 
> past? If so, for what sort of participation?

> What license does your organization use?   See the official list.

  BSD.

> What is the URL to the ideas list of your organization?
   http://wiki.tcl.tk/22182

> What is the main development mailing list for your group?
tcl...@li...

> What is the application template you would like contributors to your 
> organization to use.

  ANYONE GOT A SUGGESTION?

> What is your plan for dealing with disappearing contributors?

  Hunt them down like rabid dogs and tie them to the keyboard until...
  Oh... something reasonable...

  In the past, there has been some personal connection between the
contributors and the rest of the community.  The social pressure has
been sufficient to keep people from disappearing.  
  
> What is your plan for dealing with disappearing members?

  Hunt them down like rabid dogs and...  Oh, I already used that line...

> What steps will you take to encourage contributors to interact with your 
> community before, during, and after the program?
  
  Email, chat and personal connections help keep people involved after
the project is completed.  I've exchanged bits of mail with Kryszstof
over the past year about the Tk Printing and general stuff.  I know
Tomasz has maintained contact with students he's continued working
with.  Some mentors (mostly  Tomasz) have other funding available for
students and use the GSoC as a way to find interns for future work.

  
> What will you do to ensure that your accepted contributors stick with the 
> project after the program concludes?

  Hunt them down like...
  
  We invite the contributors to attend the annual Tcl/Tk Conference and
establish personal relationships with the most active members of the
community.  The conference offers attendance discounts and publication
credits to  participants in the GSoC programs.

> Please select your backup group administrator.

  I think that Tomasz and I are best two choices.  I think you can see
us pointing fingers at each other and saying - "he'd be a better
choice".

  If I end up with 2 projects to mentor, I'm going to be very busy and
won't have time to actually watch schedules and ping folks.  That's my
main job for the Tcl Conference, and one extra schedule (outside of
pay-work schedules) is pretty much what I can handle.  If my projects
don't get chosen, I'll have more time for admin'ing.


  Hope this helps,
  Clif

-- 
... Clif Flynt ... http://www.cwflynt.com ... cl...@cf... ...
.. Tcl/Tk: A Developer's Guide (2nd edition) - Morgan Kauffman ..
... 16'th Annual Tcl/Tk Conference:  2009,  Portland, OR  USA ...
.............  http://www.tcl.tk/community/tcl2009/  ............