Cross-posting.
-greg
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Gregory Varnum <gregory.varnum(a)gmail.com>
> Subject: New, lower traffic, announcements only email list for Wikimedia developers
> Date: 30 June, 2012 1:23:11 AM EDT
> To: wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>
> Greetings,
>
> Following discussions with Wikimedia developers more on the "fringe" and not as engaged in frequent IRC or mailing list conversations, the request for an announcements only mailing list came up. I wanted to let folks know that this list has been created and is ready for membership: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-announce - wikitech-announce(a)lists.wikimedia.org There will also be a signup list for this and other lists at Wikimania Hackathon.
>
> Unlike this list, which allows for discussion, or the MediaWiki-announce list, which focuses exclusively on MediaWiki release announcements, wikitech-announce will be used for occasional announcements on both MediaWiki and broader Wikimedia developer related news items. This includes an announcement when monthly tech or engineering reports are posted, important news updates on git or developer related tools, and information on upcoming sprints, events or other major developer collaborations.
>
> Having presented this idea a few times, there are some common questions I will get out of the way now.
>
> Why not just send these out on MediaWiki-announce? There was quick reaction from several of these less-engaged developers that some really did want JUST MediaWiki release info sent out on that list. In other words, the audience of that list did not like the idea.
>
> Will this duplicate emails sent to wikitech-l? Probably, but it is not designed for folks already utilizing wikitech-l - it is designed for folks who would like less email traffic and want announcements - not conversations.
>
> Is this really going to save folks that many emails? In June, the wikitech-l list had 639 individual messages (so far). It is unlikely that this list would exceed 12 a month. For reference, MediaWiki-announce has sent out 3 messages this month and mediawiki-l had 121 messages. This list presents a middle ground between the two extremes.
>
> Do we not already have enough lists? Yes, but as our developer community grows, so too must our means of communicating. Many individuals, myself included, have been intentionally trying to engage developers generally less present, but just as important to our community. Such as corporate developers with an interest in sharing extensions who can benefit from announcements about git. Similarly, some students would prefer to get basic info that helps them stay on top of the latest developments.
>
> Generally, if you find yourself having a concern about this list, it is probably not the list for you to join. However, if you find yourself excited at the idea of less development chatter while remaining informed, this might just be the list for you.
>
> Thank you to Sumana and TheHelpfulOne for supporting this effort and to Daniel Renfro for proposing this idea and getting the discussion started.
>
> I have volunteered to moderate the list at its start, but will be interested in recruiting others that are willing to help. Anyone with an announcement can submit one, and a moderator will approve messages which fit within the list's scope.
>
> Finally, like any new tool, I anticipate its usage will evolve over time - so please do engage in discussion on any ideas you may have for its future.
>
> Thank you!
> -greg aka varnent
Reminder to folks about the tutorial that saper is doing for Git / Gerrit later today @ 19:00 UTC.
Below is more info, but here is a link with the highlights:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_Extensions/MediaWiki_Wor…
Remember to RSVP!
http://doodle.com/qnrgibpqxyamqhzb
I hope to see folks there!
This is at least the third Git related training and more are coming. In other words - have no fear - help is on the way. :)
-greg aka varnent
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Sumana Harihareswara <sumanah(a)wikimedia.org>
> Subject: [Wikitech-l] online Git/Gerrit tutorial by saper on 8 May
> Date: May 3, 2012 11:49:11 AM EDT
> To: Wikimedia developers <wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, D Benoit <daniellebenoit(a)gmail.com>, mediawiki-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Reply-To: Wikimedia developers <wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>
> Volunteer Marcin Cieslak (saper) is doing the great service of leading a
> Git and Gerrit tutorial on May 8th 19:00 UTC. It will be 1-1.5 hours.
>
> If you intend to come, please fill out this poll so saper knows how many
> people are coming and what they already know.
>
> http://doodle.com/qnrgibpqxyamqhzb
>
> Time conversion:
> http://doodle.com/r?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftimeanddate.com%2Fworldclock%2Ffixedti…
>
> To participate, you'll need to:
>
> * get developer access for Git/Gerrit/Wikimedia Labs
> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Developer_access
> * install a SIP client ("Blink and CSipSimple for Android are
> recommended and tested (with HD audio); I'll provide SIP dial-in")
> * install vncviewer
> * ensure you can ssh from a terminal
>
> Marcin will cover:
>
> Basics:
>
> setting up Git
> submitting a patch
> commenting on a patch in Gerrit
> merging a patch in Gerrit
> enough Git internals not to get lost
>
> Branching:
>
> local branch, making, working & pushing
> remote branch & git-review to that remote branch
>
> Troubleshooting:
>
> cherrypick changes between branches
> amending (rebase vs multiple commit)
> squashing work from a branch into a commit and pushing it
> resolve merge conflicts
>
> Thanks, Marcin!
>
> --
> Sumana Harihareswara
> Engineering Community Manager
> Wikimedia Foundation
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikitech-l mailing list
> Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
I invite you to the yearly Berlin hackathon. It's 1-3 June and
registration is now open. If you need financial assistance or help with
hotel/hostel, just mention it in the registration form.
https://wmberlin.eventbrite.com/
This is the premier event for the MediaWiki and Wikimedia technical
community. We'll be hacking, designing, and socialising, primarily
talking about Gadgets, the switch to Lua, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Labs.
Our goals for the event are to bring 100-150 people together, with
lots of people who have not attended such events before. User
scripts, gadgets, API use, Toolserver, Wikimedia Labs, mobile,
structured data, templates -- if you are into any of these things, we
want you to come!
Details: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Berlin_Hackathon_2012
Thanks to Wikimedia Germany for hosting and coordinating this event.
(Venue still to be determined.)
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation
If you administer a MediaWiki installation and use it as a conference
website when you host conferences and conventions, you might be
interested in this suggested summer project:
> I seek to work on building a Convention extension as part of the Google
> Summer of Code project.I have set up a proposal for the same , here is the
> link http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Chughakshay16/GSOCProposal(2012) .
> I haven't found a mentor to work with me for this project yet, so if anyone
> feels the need for this extension just the way I do, please feel free to
> add the feedback to the proposal page, or reply here.
> More information regarding this extension can be found here :-
> http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Chughakshay16/ConventionExtension
> Thanks ,
> Akshay Chugh
> (irc - chughakshay16)
No skilled MediaWiki administrators or developers have shown interest in
mentoring this project, so right now it's unlikely to progress. If you
think you could mentor him this summer, please reply to me and cc him at
chughakshay16(a)gmail.com . Mentoring takes about five hours a week
(communication, code review, design help, and so on).
(He is applying to participate in Wikimedia Foundation's Google Summer
of Code program -- details at
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Summer_of_Code_2012/management#GSoC_manageme…
and https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Summer_of_Code_2012 .)
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation
This year I want the Wikimedia technical community to have a strong
presence at Open Source Bridge <http://opensourcebridge.org/> in
Portland, Oregon, USA, June 26-29. OSB is tech talks & hack sessions
with hands-on technologists we want, for Foundation staff recruiting
(the Portland tech scene has good people looking for jobs) and for
volunteer recruiting and collaboration (tons of Mozilla people went
there last year). Good talks, clueful people, great food. :-)
If you submit a talk and it gets accepted, tell me, and Wikimedia
Foundation will partially subsidize or fully pay for your flight and
hotel. If you submit a talk and it doesn't get accepted but you still
want to go, talk with me and I'll see what I can do.
Call for talks:
<http://opensourcebridge.org/blog/2012/01/announcing-the-2012-call-for-propo…>
Ideas: the parser rewrite, Wikimedia Labs, how we scale and optimize
performance on a shoestring budget, our git/gerrit migration, securing
PHP-based webapps, various approaches to making our data more
structured/semantic, collaborative design, lessons from our communities,
JS hacks, hetdeploy, offline/mobile, geodata...
Please forward.
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation
Greetings!
Building on the success of our inaugural session, MW.org's WikiProject Extensions is presenting our next MediaWiki Workshops for developers (volunteer and staff). "MediaWiki's ResourceLoader" will be held on 23 February, 2012 at 21:00 UTC in IRC (#wikimedia-dev).
This IRC workshop will be an opportunity to learn more about utilizing MediaWiki's ResourceLoader. Also an opportunity to ask questions about developing MediaWiki extensions.
Everyone is invited to attend. Developers interested in serving as "extensions" or "ResourceLoader" experts are encouraged to signup as participants at: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_Extensions/Workshops#Med…
MediaWiki Workshops typically last one hour, and happen no more than twice a month to present trainings, hold discussions and collaborate on community or WikiProject Extensions projects. Facilitators host the session to introduce any presenters, determine the order of questions, and generally helps to keep things going. Time of day will vary in order to offer people in different parts of the world the opportunity to participate. Future topics will likely include MW.org documentation, API orientation and workshops similar to our inaugural chat to prepare for each MediaWiki release.
More information: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_Extensions/MediaWiki_Wor…MediaWiki.org's WikiProject SysAdmins will also likely host similar MediaWiki Workshops to help third-party wiki system administrators. Stay tuned for more information, and chime in at: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_SysAdmins/Ideas
I look forward to seeing folks on Thursday! Please feel free to forward this along to any interested folks.
-greg aka varnent
-------
Gregory Varnum
Lead Administrator, WikiQueer
Lead, Aequalitas Project
@GregVarnum
fb.com/GregVarnum
I invite you to the yearly Berlin hackathon.
This is the premier event for the MediaWiki and Wikimedia technical
community. We'll be hacking, designing, and socialising.
Our goals for the event are to bring 100-150 people together, with
lots of people who have not attended such events before. User
scripts, gadgets, API use, Toolserver, Wikimedia Labs, mobile,
structured data, templates -- if you are into any of these things, we
want you to come!
Some financial assistance will be available -- more details soon.
This event will be hosted by Wikimedia Germany (WMDE) and supported by
the Wikimedia Foundation. Thank you, WMDE!
Dates: June 1-3 2012. Barely-started wiki page, no registration details
yet: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Berlin_Hackathon_2012 . Organizers:
me and WMDE's Nicole Ebber with assistance from Lydia Pintscher and
Daniel Kinzler.
Mark your calendars!
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation
Greetings!
Reminder about the MediaWiki Workshops for developers (volunteer and staff): Preparing extensions for MediaWiki 1.19 being held on 13 January, 2012 at 19:00 UTC in IRC (#wikimedia-dev).
This IRC workshop will be an opportunity to find out about changes in MediaWiki 1.19 that may require revisions to extensions or skins. Also an opportunity to ask MediaWiki developers questions regarding extension development.
Everyone is invited to attend. Developers interested in serving as "extensions" or "MediaWiki 1.19" experts are encouraged to signup as participants at: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_Extensions/MediaWiki_Work…
More information: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_Extensions/MediaWiki_Work…MediaWiki.org's WikiProject SysAdmins will also likely host similar MediaWiki Workshops to help third-party wiki system administrators. Stay tuned for more information, and chime in at: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_SysAdmins/Ideas
Look forward to seeing folks! Please feel free to forward this along to any interested folks.
-greg aka varnent
-------
Gregory Varnum
Lead Administrator, WikiQueer
Lead, Aequalitas Project
@GregVarnum
fb.com/GregVarnum
Greetings!
Utilizing the model set by Wikimedia staff IRC office hours, MediaWiki.org's WikiProject Extensions is presenting our first MediaWiki Workshops for developers (volunteer and staff). Preparing extensions for MediaWiki 1.19 will be held on 13 January, 2012 at 19:00 UTC in IRC (#wikimedia-dev).
This IRC workshop will be an opportunity to find out about changes in MediaWiki 1.19 that may require revisions to extensions or skins. Also an opportunity to ask MediaWiki developers questions regarding extension development.
Everyone is invited to attend. Developers interested in serving as "extensions" or "MediaWiki 1.19" experts are encouraged to signup as participants at: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_Extensions/MediaWiki_Work…
If there's continued interest / demand, MediaWiki Workshops will typically last one hour, and happen no more than twice a month to present trainings, hold discussions and collaborate on community or WikiProject Extensions projects. Facilitators host the session to introduce any presenters, determine the order of questions, and generally helps to keep things going. Time of day will vary in order to offer people in different parts of the world the opportunity to participate. Future topics will likely include MediaWiki.org documentation, ResourceLouder orientation and workshops similar to our inaugural chat to prepare for each MediaWiki release.
More information: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_Extensions/MediaWiki_Work…MediaWiki.org's WikiProject SysAdmins will also likely host similar MediaWiki Workshops to help third-party wiki system administrators. Stay tuned for more information, and chime in at: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiProject_SysAdmins/Ideas
Look forward to seeing folks next Friday! Please feel free to forward this along to any interested folks.
-greg aka varnent
PS. Sorry if this is a duplicate - was having listserv problems earlier.
-------
Gregory Varnum
Lead Administrator, WikiQueer
Lead, Aequalitas Project
@GregVarnum
fb.com/GregVarnum
You are invited to the Pune Wikimedia hackathon.
Dates: 10-12 February 2012
Venue: Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies & Research (SICSR) at
Symbiosis International University, Pune
Extremely rough event page, soon to get more details:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Pune_Hackathon_Feb_2012
A Wikimedia hackathon is a chance to learn how to develop using
MediaWiki, Phonegap, and our other technologies, and to work alongside
experts. Software engineers, designers, and translators are welcome.
We're planning to focus on internationalisation and localisation, mobile
Wikipedia access, and the JavaScript-based gadgets framework.
Registration link: http://is.gd/rjpNOA
If you're interested, please register to request an invitation, and feel
free to spread the word. Thanks!
(If you need a travel subsidy to attend this event, apply for a
Participation Grant: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Participation )
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation