Mentoring Program

[Dougie Richardson]

Hi Phil,

> That's a great idea. Each "focus area" (e.g. server guide, wiki, system
> docs) could have its own wiki page with instructions on how to get
> started, who to contact with questions and a list of available tasks.
> We
> could add information which is not specific to mentoring too, such as a
> roadmap for that particular area.

In this respect it is a good idea but the problem is that there is a lack of
structure currently. If we focused on bringing students to a base level with
markup and DocBook, familiarised them with BZR and patching then we would
have a common level from where to distribute students into focussed areas.

With multiple area we also risk introducing redundancy (the basics are the
same really) and differences in working practices. This would introduce
problems with people moving focus areas and could introduce disagreement as
to the best way forward rather than cohesive movement.

> Most of the instructions on how to get started would involve learning
> wiki markup or DocBook and bzr, so we could just link through to our
> existing docs on these topics (which could be improved).

Then why not just bring all students to a starting baseline before assigning
specialisation? That way not only would with have standardisation but also
the student would really appreciate what is involved in volunteering.

> Having multiple contacts for each topic area would help because the
> student would be able to get in touch with people who are actively
> working on that part of the documentation. For example, people often
> express an interest in working on Kubuntu or server docs, but I'm not
> aware of what's going on in those parts of the documentation so can't
> provide much help. Having several people to get in touch with reduces
> the risk of emails going unreplied to for long periods of time as well.

I can see an argument for separating out sub groups within the team, where
appropriate and where there are significant differences: Ubuntu, Kubuntu,
Xubuntu and the Server Guide.

We'd also have difficulty in working out which members are really still
active. A lot of us only surface at the beginning and end of the release
cycle.

> Having a good, regularly-updated task list for each focus area would be
> particularly beneficial as students would be able to work towards a
> specific and useful goal, learning what they need to on the way. They'd
> have much more choice of tasks too.

Some areas have a lot less movement and bugs than others. Specialisation is
indeed essential, making use of people's specific skills but would be easier
to manage if we all come the same way first.

> To be honest, I think that forming groups to concentrate on specific
> areas of the documentation would be really helpful not just for
> students
> but for everyone. All of the members of a group could pitch in to help
> students, suggest tasks, review patches and so on and it would be easy
> for people to move between different groups.

I'm worried there aren't enough active team members to do this and that
there is a risk of members not "interfering" in areas they know someone else
tends to work in - I know that I seldom get involved in server guide issues
for example.

The other side is that students keep saying they didn't know where to start.
If we have a program of tutorials we can have a place to start, give an
accurate insight into the teams work and a standard approach across all the
team.

Cheers,

Dougie