Re: foundation application..

[Magdalen Berns <m berns thismagpie com>]

> I suggest we just make the rules much clearer to people on the outreach
> pages by clarifying what "non-trivial" actually means. GSoC/OPW interns are
> told to make more contributions after their 3 month internship before
> applying. That suggests that the contributions they make over their 3 month
> internship of 40 hours per week are trivial. It's no wonder contributors
> find the process of making a membership application intimidating considering
> that, isn't it? How could a volunteer compete with an someone who is being
> paid to work on GNOME full time (even if it is just for 3 months)?

I can't find a single reference of anyone ever saying contributions
made by interns during their internship are considered as trivial by
the Membership Committee.

If the contribution is non-trivial then the contributor is eligible for membership under the rules. I can find you a reference to demonstrate that interns are told project of an internship is not enough to allow successful interns apply for foundation membership, but you seem to be aware that this is a practice already so I will try to address some concerns you may have.

 

One of the main requirements of gaining
Foundation Membership is being active within the community for a
little while *after* the internship has ended to demonstrate the fact
there's a real interest staying around and contributing to the
Project.

This is a practice which completely contradicts the bylaws definition a contributor who is eligible for membership.

 * All contributors have made a significant contribution (BYLAW)

 * All contributors are eligible for membership (BYLAW)

 * Some interns have made a significant contribution over their internship

 * No interns are eligible for membership

This does not make sense.

 

The rationale behind this decision is mainly related to the
fact a good number of interns stopped contributing right after their
internship ended and it was clear to us their intent wasn't sticking
around the community nor they probably were passionate about our
project to justify staying around some more. We found extending the
contributions period (usually one or two months) for interns the best
solution to build a membership base made of people who really love and
care deeply about the project and the values it promotes.

The bylaws do not say anything about a contribution period (and I had not heard of it before myself either, to be honest). However, they do explicitly state that individuals who should get credit for their contributions (not the corporations who pay them), the same as ordinary volunteers might. Either sponsored contributions are as valuable as ones that aren't sponsored, or they aren't: The bylaws say that they are... If there is an exception being made in the case of some interns then that seems quite significant.

The bylaws do not say anything about what might motivate contributors to contribute, nor their level of commitment to GNOME, when it defines a "contributor" in terms of foundation membership but it does fairly clearly describe about what a "contributor" is. The main thing that is unclear in the bylaws is what defines a "non-trivial contribution" really and this becomes even more confusing because the practice is to state that all interns who make contribution from 40 hour weeks over a period of 3 months are not eligible until they contribute more stuff.

What you are suggesting would be accepting every single intern
regardless of this person being really interested and passionate about
joining the Foundation. That will probably lead to a wider membership
base for sure but how long these people are going to really stay
around if their interest of contributing to the project was only
tracked by the stipend they received?

I am assuming that many - if not, all of the interns who passed their internship make a non-trivial contribution to achieve that but with that said, I am not suggesting that doing an internship should grant automatic membership (and that idea is not in the bylaws either, so it's potentially just as problematic in the same sort of way).

Magdalen