Since Plone didn’t participate in GSoC this year, but the project ideas were already defined, why don’t we continue working on those ideas instead of leaving them as they are? How can I get involved if I’d like to help move them forward?
Let's be honest: there is only little room for juniors in software projects these days - both in open-source and in commercial projects. As a senior, I can deliver software and features within a day or two that would have take a team weeks and months - in better quality, documentation and clean architecture IF DONE RIGHT. I have been a GSCO mentor two times and the outcome was disappointing - almost wasted life time. I could re-create the functionality of one of my former GSOC projects with AI in two hours.
GSOC has degraded to a part-time event for Indians student that both need something in the their CV beside the monetary aspect. I think that the GSOC had its time and should be closed and terminated.
I am not defending the current situation with juniors that is to some degree caused by AI but the situation is as it is for all of us - from junior to senior range.
Regarding your posting: talk to the related mentors ask them if they want to proceed on a particular topic with a particular person. I guess that the outcome is likely better with a commitment of an applicant outside GSOC than with a students with a certain take-the-money-and-run attitude.
Again, don't get me wrong but we are all in a strange position these days and nothing is as it was two years ago.
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I was a mentor for GSoC once, and I wouldn't do it again. I dislike the rigidity, formality, and commitment required of the program.
I especially dislike the flood of garbage and inconsiderate behavior from jerks who effectively walk into the party, spit in the punch bowl, then leave.
There have been a few GSoC aspirants who I loved collaborating with. Their work shows consideration and thoughtful effort. @ujsquared helped create the documentation cookieplone template. @Kathrina-dev, @aryan7081, and @Hrittik20 have shown care when creating pull requests and responding to feedback. It's a pleasure to work with them.
Is it possible to get that level of quality from contributors without GSoC? I don't know. That's why I'm looking forward to a year without it to see what happens. I expect the flood of garbage from careless jerks will subside.
I'm also a very active contributor to icalendar, which has a superior approach with first-time contributors than Plone. Sure, the technical stack is vastly simpler, and there's no Plone Contributor Agreement to sign, but the maintainer is very warm and welcoming, whereas Plone feels that there's no one there, except for a few old timers like @davisagli and @wesleybl offering kind feedback and direction.
I get it. Many of us are too old, approaching retirement, caring for aging parents, raising families, and otherwise dealing with life to care enough about the future of Plone. Lots of old contributors have already checked out or moved on.
Yet there's always a core group of contributors who show up, help out, and do what they can to make Plone a little better. I think that documentation is the best place to do exactly that. It's where old-timers can share their experience with first-timers as well as their colleagues to benefit Plone. Documentation is also the best marketing tool for Plone.
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Thankyou for your kind words. I learned a lot while contributing to Plone. Thanks to @wesleybl @davisagli and @stevepiercy for giving constructive feedback while reviewing PRs and guiding me wherever I took wrong steps. Plone and its people are so great that I started loving to contribute to Plone and keep contributing in future. I’ll try to close a few project ideas, especially documentation-related, as suggested and contribute wherever I can add value.
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I wouldn’t want people to think that the rather negative words of the above Plone old timers is representative of how we all feel.
Yes, there are a lot of insensitive and seemingly uncaring interested students but there are some wonderful ones who eventually stand out and do very nice work and are a joy to collaborate with.
My gosh, @zopyx and @stevepiercy are so negative.
Every GSoC student I've met at our conferences has been wonderful and i wish we could keep them in Plone. Some do stay and return to be mentors themselves on top of continuing to contribute to Plone as part of their employment.
If you are interested in contributing to something that was listed as a possible GSoC project, please reach out to the interested mentor(s) or continue posting here to ask questions and refine the idea or your understanding of the work needed.
Seriously, the overall situation is as it is. Hiding postings or flagging postings that refer to reality does not make things better.
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I personally support the idea of taking a break from GSoC (at least for the next few years). This is something I had discussed with @polyester in Brazil(If he remembers). I believe this would allow us to better focus on the upcoming priorities and long-term direction of Plone where we be heading in the coming years.
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Really?
I also said.
And @aryan7081 had this to say.
I agree with your comment 100%.
The GSoC participants who get accepted are a tiny percentage of the GSoC aspirants. We have hundreds of people in Discord and GitHub churning out slop and rude behavior. I'd suggest that you come spend some more time as a contributor to repos that routinely get slammed with slop from the GSoC aspirants. The negative impact they have on the people developing the product and community around it is real.
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