Re: foundation application..

[Dave Neary <dneary gnome org>]

Hi,

On 02/13/2015 09:07 AM, Tobias Mueller wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 07:55:05AM -0600, meg ford wrote:
> > We were discussing the fact (as stated in the email Magdalen quoted) that 
> > interns are not eligible for Foundation membership for six months after their 
> > internship has ended. Are you saying that this waiting period does not exist, 
> > or is not taken into account when the applications of former interns are 
> > reviewed?
> There is no general answer.  Applications are handled on a case-by-case basis.
> The number of objections to the decision of the membership committee I know of is exactly 0.
> Of course, that number is biased towards the lower end as people might not
> have applied in first case.  And it's hard to say how many people have not applied.

The membership committee guidelines single out interns, and say:

We currently do not process applications from GSoC and OPW interns until
two months after their internship ended. After the two months, make sure
the intern kept contributing after the end of the internship. Reply to
the application using the template under Application from intern.

https://wiki.gnome.org/MembershipCommittee/ProcessingAnApplication

And in the form letters, there is one specifically for interns:

> Hi xxxNAMExxx,
>
> Thank you for applying to become a member of the Foundation. It's
> fantastic that you want to join us!
>
> We only accept applications from GSoC and OPW interns two months
> after their internship ended -- unless you already were a GNOME
> contributor before your internship started. 
>
> Keep in mind that, in order to have your application accepted then,
> you're expected to have kept contributing to GNOME once your internship
> ended.
>
> If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact us by
> emailing membership-committee gnome org 
>
> Thanks for your support to GNOME, and please do apply again in the future!
>
> Best wishes,

So the membership committee policy is clear, and (as you say)
transparent. I imagine the follow-on question is whether a successful
internship meets the bar of "non-trivial contribution", and whether
interns are being help to a different standard to others.

> We're quite transparent (that doesn't mean that there is no room for 
> improvement, though).  We have a list of approved 
> applicants here: https://wiki.gnome.org/MembershipCommittee/ApprovedMembers
> With the RT number you can find the relevant application and all its email, 
> because it is publicly archived.  Given that some of you say they don't know 
> what contributions will give you a membership, I guess we need to make those 
> resources of information better known.

I will admit to being a little intimidated about what exactly
constitutes "non-trivial" - my contributions to GNOME had gone way down,
but have not disappeared. At this point, would I be inelligible for
membership? I don't know.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary, Boston, MA, USA
Email: dneary gnome org
Jabber: nearyd gmail com