[Foundation-l] "wiki (usability) summer" - like google summer of code?

[Tim Starling]

THURNER rupert wrote:
> hi,
> 
> on http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Summer_of_Code_2008 there was a
> statement that such efforts are restricted by "mentoring-manpower".
> 
> now that there are real people and a budget dedicated to improve
> usability, could it make sense to leverage that effort by bounties
> given in a way comparable to google sumer of code?
> 
> imo this might also used to attract additional donations from
> individuals, as it is simple paraphrasable. and usability is a real
> pain to a lot of people.

GSoC has never produced anything useful for us, so I don't know why you
think it would be a good model. Our record with contract development has
also been pretty poor.

Our most active volunteers are adept at collaborating online in public
forums. That's because they're self-selected for that trait and they're
adequately motivated that they can perform useful projects without
supervision. Remote workers brought in via GSoC and contracts seem to have
difficulty integrating with this culture, and either perform their work in
isolation or collaborate only with their designated mentor.

The idea of a collection of remote workers paid by the line of code might
sound nice to an online community member, but I'm beginning to think that
it's risky at best. A software development team working in an office
together might be old-school, but at least the management practices are
established, with good results commonly produced.

-- Tim Starling