[Sugar-devel] GSoC 2020 Subscribers and Research

[James Cameron]

Welcome Harsith.

Document "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" can be very helpful for
overcoming being shy about mailing list.  Document gives advice on
what to check for before pressing "send".

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

We have 594 subscribers on the mailing list.  Subscribers like to see
discussion threads continue to some point of closure or resolution.
People may learn from your questions.

On Sat, Feb 08, 2020 at 07:36:18AM +0530, Harshith Pvs wrote:
> Hello everyone! 
> I'm Harshith, a CS undergrad from India. I'm writing this to introduce myself,
> as I felt this right opportunity after the previous mail from James about why
> we new guys subscribed.
> Basically, I was feeling shy to mail an entire malling list, as I'm new to this
> concept. Moreover, I've been following every single doc of Sugar Labs, which
> encourages to mail for really helpless situations, rather try finding solutions
> on one's own. So, I didn't feel appropriate to mail one just to introduce,
> though I wanted to.
> 
> And, being skilled in Python and a bit JavaScript, I was going through few
> projects and ideas, as I have already read few others asking same questions how
> to contribute and got me comfortable with  "How to get started as a Sugar Labs
> developer [v9]".
> 
> I don't know how good/bad I could write this mail, but would be pleased to
> listen if I'm going right or suggest me what should I change in my approach.
> 
> Thanks James for your previous mail, and thanks everyone for answering newbies
> mails like mine!
> 
> On Sat, 8 Feb, 2020, 4:38 AM James Cameron, <[1]quozl at laptop.org> wrote:
> 
>     G'day,
> 
>     In past 38 days we had 47 new subscriptions to the sugar-devel@
>     mailing list, an average of nine per week.
> 
>     Each of them were sent a personal signed copy of "How to get started
>     as a Sugar Labs developer [v9]" or earlier.
> 
>     For eight of these, guessing what was happening but wanting to be
>     sure, I asked "We have a chain of new arrivals and don't really know
>     what is happening to cause it.  Can you please tell me who told you to
>     subscribe?  Thanks!"
> 
>     Three of these answered that they have subscribed in order to engage
>     with Google Summer of Code 2020.
> 
>     In addition to new subscriptions, I've also received some personal
>     mail that follows a pattern;
> 
>     > Hello James Cameron!
> 
>     ...
> 
>     > I know you are incredibly busy these days and get a ton of emails
>     > but this will not take any more than 60 seconds to read.
> 
>     or
> 
>     > You must be quite busy these days but this will not take any more
>     > than 60 seconds
> 
>     ...
> 
>     > I'm currently a student at ${EDU} pursuing ${SUBJECT}. I've
>     > experience in software development working with programming
>     > languages such as ${LANGUAGES}.  If required, I can further enhance
>     > my knowledge by learning new frameworks and languages.
> 
>     or
> 
>     > Brief about myself: I'm a freshman at ${EDU} pursuing ${SUBJECT}.I
>     > have my interest in ${PLATFORM} using technologies like
>     > ${LANGUAGES},${FRAMEWORKS},
> 
>     ...
> 
>     > Basically, I want to contribute to Sugar Labs through its proposed
>     > GSoC project on "${TITLE}”. I need your advice on how I can learn
>     > new things, enhance my knowledge and contribute to open source to
>     > accomplish this project.
> 
>     or
> 
>     > Basically I wish to contribute to The Sugar Labs through its GSoC
>     > proposed project  "${TITLE}".  It would be a great opportunity for
>     > me to learn new things, enhance my knowledge and more importantly it
>     > would be awesome to see my contribution in such a popular technology.
> 
>     ...
> 
>     > A small response from your side would make my day
> 
>     or
> 
>     > I totally understand if you're too busy to respond. Even a small
>     > response from your side will completely make my day.
> 
>     ...
> 
>     > Best regards,
>     > ${NAME}
> 
>     My point; radical transparency is really difficult sometimes.  Even
>     when you say you want to be contacted via the mailing list, you'll
>     still get private contacts from people who don't read that.
> 
>     These private mails are not from subscribers, so I've sent them a copy
>     of "How to get started as a Sugar Labs developer [v9]".
> 
>     --
>     James Cameron
>     [2]http://quozl.netrek.org/
>     _______________________________________________
>     Sugar-devel mailing list
>     [3]Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     [4]http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
> 
> References:
> 
> [1] mailto:quozl at laptop.org
> [2] http://quozl.netrek.org/
> [3] mailto:Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> [4] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel

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