[Sugar-devel] first-time only issues

James Cameron quozl at laptop.org
Fri May 3 02:02:03 EDT 2019


Thanks.  Yes, it makes sense.

But it is like directing an investigation.  A true and well-done
investigation is one where the investigator is independent of bias.

When we bias the newcomers toward certain tasks, we tend only to get
those tasks done.  An example is how we've had many activities ported
to GTK 3 and still not yet released.

I've got "Maintain an activity" on my "How to get started as a Sugar
Labs developer";

http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2019-April/056615.html

And also on our "Contribute code"

https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-docs/blob/master/src/contributing.md#modifying-activities

There seems to be a hope that the reason why we don't have newcomers
doing this is because they find it too hard, and they want something
easier, like changing colours.

I'm not sure that this is true.  I think the reasons why we don't have
newcomers doing anything this are far more profound;

1.  very few other people are doing anything; development has slowed,

2.  work done by others earlier has not been merged, or not released,

3.  there are more interesting things to do,

A way to be sure is to ask our newcomers why they chose not to do
anything.  Or why a newcomer made a few patches and did not help to
get an activity released.  We might also ask the oldtimers why they
have chosen not to help, or not to learn new skills.

On Fri, May 03, 2019 at 11:08:44AM +0530, Amaan Iqbal wrote:
> I meant if the color palette update(actual update in the code), Improvised look
> (in the code), suggestion etc is of some value, then their PR can directly be
> merged. 
> 
> Also we can have a section in each repo Readme for some 'expected
> functionalities' to have, which the newcomers can directly update. So that they
> can get the feel of getting the PR merged. 
> 
> For redundant codes, the newcomers may find 2 places where similar code is
> appearing and remove either of them and send corresponding PR. 
> 
> Regarding console errors, we may have basic issues, specific to each error say
> of datatype mismatch etc which doesn't block the expected behavior but better
> to fix them. These issues can be worked upon by the newcomers and will require
> finding out which module is located where. This will help them dig deeper into
> the code base and contribute further. 
> 
> I hope it makes sense. 
> 
> Thanks, 
> Amaan 
> 
> On May 3, 2019 9:37 AM, "James Cameron" <[1]quozl at laptop.org> wrote:
> 
>     Interesting idea.  But I've an ethical problem with creating issues
>     that don't need to be fixed, and will never merge.  It seems arbitrary
>     and unfair to a new contributor.
> 
>     On the other hand, some of the issues you listed have general value;
>     such as minimising console output.
> 
>     On Fri, May 03, 2019 at 09:05:07AM +0530, Amaan Iqbal wrote:
>     > I have a suggestion here. We may create some issues with beginner labels,
>     such
>     > that solving it may not be really helpful to us at first, but it can give
>     > insights of the code base to the new contributors. 
>     >
>     > For instance, an issue for trying new color palette for our SugarLabs
>     website.
>     > Or an issue for trying different border radius, color to a section of any
>     > activity  etc. 
>     >
>     > These may be useful in the long run especially if a new contributor can
>     come up
>     > with something out of the box. Or atleast it will help them get familiar
>     to our
>     > code base. 
>     >
>     > These can be marked as 'reserved for beginners'. Some examples of these
>     issue
>     > can be 
>     > * Try color palette ABC to our website 
>     > * Try color palette EFG to our website 
>     > * Change the border radius of xyz element to make it look better
>     > * Update padding/look of xyz section of abc activity 
>     > * Come up with 2 instances of redundant codes in xyz repo of SugarLabs
>     > * Come up with the idea of 2 features improvement for xyz repo
>     > * Come up with an idea to implement xyz functionality 
>     > * Minimize console errors of abc activity
>     >
>     > I guess some of these would be interesting to the user even if they don't
>     know
>     > how to code. It will definitely help in attracting a good number of new
>     > contributors. 
>     >
>     > Also, it would not affect the development time of the experienced
>     contributors
>     > since these issues would not require deep understanding of the code base
>     or any
>     > skill. 
>     >
>     > Thanks,
>     > Amaan
>     >  
>     >
>     > On May 3, 2019 4:07 AM, "James Cameron" <[1][2]quozl at laptop.org> wrote:
>     >
>     >     You're saying leave some flaws rather than fix them.
>     >
>     >     In general that's a good idea for attracting new members to a
>     >     community, but it takes investment in preparing the issue, and if
>     that
>     >     investment is greater than fixing the flaw there's not much benefit.
>     >
>     >     Also, when I do create issues, some experts use it as an opportunity
>     >     to post off-topic criticism, and some beginners don't apply any
>     >     diligence before asking questions.  The issues sit there with the
>     >     criticism or questions and answers, and nothing else gets done.  We
>     >     have plenty of them.
>     >
>     >     What we really need is a well-functioning community of people with a
>     >     common goal who will listen to each other.  Create that first, then
>     >     the beginner issues can be created.
>     >
>     >     On Thu, May 02, 2019 at 06:23:13PM +0530, Sumit Srivastava wrote:
>     >     > I've already been saying we need more issues that are marked as
>     beginner
>     >     > issues.
>     >     >
>     >     > We have too few!
>     >     >
>     >     > To the community: Let me know if you see an issue that needs to be
>     marked
>     >     as a
>     >     > beginner issue, or comment on it and someone will tag it.
>     >     >
>     >     > Regards
>     >     > Sumit
>     >     >
>     >     > On Thu, 2 May 2019, 5:29 pm Walter Bender, <[1][2][3]
>     walter.bender at gmail.com
>     >     > wrote:
>     >     >
>     >     >     Something to consider: [2][3][4]https://publiclab.org/notes/
>     gauravano/
>     >     03-29-2019/software-community-growth-through-first-timers-only-issues
>     >     >
>     >     >     --
>     >     >     Walter Bender
>     >     >     Sugar Labs
>     >     >     [3][4][5]http://www.sugarlabs.org
>     >     >     [4]
>     >     >     _______________________________________________
>     >     >     Sugar-devel mailing list
>     >     >     [5][5][6]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     >     >     [6][6][7]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>     >     >
>     >     > References:
>     >     >
>     >     > [1] mailto:[7][8]walter.bender at gmail.com
>     >     > [2] [8][9]https://publiclab.org/notes/gauravano/03-29-2019/
>     software-
>     >     community-growth-through-first-timers-only-issues
>     >     > [3] [9][10]http://www.sugarlabs.org/
>     >     > [4] [10][11]http://www.sugarlabs.org/
>     >     > [5] mailto:[11][12]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     >     > [6] [12][13]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>     >
>     >     > _______________________________________________
>     >     > Sugar-devel mailing list
>     >     > [13][14]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     >     > [14][15]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>     >
>     >     --
>     >     James Cameron
>     >     [15][16]http://quozl.netrek.org/
>     >     _______________________________________________
>     >     Sugar-devel mailing list
>     >     [16][17]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     >     [17][18]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>     >
>     > References:
>     >
>     > [1] mailto:[19]quozl at laptop.org
>     > [2] mailto:[20]walter.bender at gmail.com
>     > [3] [21]https://publiclab.org/notes/gauravano/03-29-2019/software-
>     community-growth-through-first-timers-only-issues
>     > [4] [22]http://www.sugarlabs.org/
>     > [5] mailto:[23]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     > [6] [24]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>     > [7] mailto:[25]walter.bender at gmail.com
>     > [8] [26]https://publiclab.org/notes/gauravano/03-29-2019/software-
>     community-growth-through-first-timers-only-issues
>     > [9] [27]http://www.sugarlabs.org/
>     > [10] [28]http://www.sugarlabs.org/
>     > [11] mailto:[29]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     > [12] [30]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>     > [13] mailto:[31]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     > [14] [32]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>     > [15] [33]http://quozl.netrek.org/
>     > [16] mailto:[34]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     > [17] [35]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> 
>     > _______________________________________________
>     > Sugar-devel mailing list
>     > [36]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     > [37]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> 
>     --
>     James Cameron
>     [38]http://quozl.netrek.org/
> 
> References:
> 
> [1] mailto:quozl at laptop.org
> [2] mailto:quozl at laptop.org
> [3] mailto:walter.bender at gmail.com
> [4] https://publiclab.org/notes/gauravano/
> [5] http://www.sugarlabs.org/
> [6] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [7] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [8] mailto:walter.bender at gmail.com
> [9] https://publiclab.org/notes/gauravano/03-29-2019/software-
> [10] http://www.sugarlabs.org/
> [11] http://www.sugarlabs.org/
> [12] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [13] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [14] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [15] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [16] http://quozl.netrek.org/
> [17] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [18] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [19] mailto:quozl at laptop.org
> [20] mailto:walter.bender at gmail.com
> [21] https://publiclab.org/notes/gauravano/03-29-2019/software-community-growth-through-first-timers-only-issues
> [22] http://www.sugarlabs.org/
> [23] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [24] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [25] mailto:walter.bender at gmail.com
> [26] https://publiclab.org/notes/gauravano/03-29-2019/software-community-growth-through-first-timers-only-issues
> [27] http://www.sugarlabs.org/
> [28] http://www.sugarlabs.org/
> [29] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [30] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [31] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [32] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [33] http://quozl.netrek.org/
> [34] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [35] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [36] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [37] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> [38] http://quozl.netrek.org/

-- 
James Cameron
http://quozl.netrek.org/


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