Re: Some questions on a proposal

[LRN]

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On 26.03.2012 2:28, Stayvoid wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> "Putting your full name on the proposal is not enough. Provide
> full contact information, including email addresses, websites, IRC
> nick, postal address and telephone number. Also provide full
> contact information for a friend or relative that the organization
> can contact to find you in case of emergency." [1]
> 
> Is this really needed (postal address, full contact information for
> a friend)? I've seen a successfull proposal with a name and
> location information only.
Wow, that's extreme.
If you're not comfortable providing such details about yourself -
don't. While Google needs your contact information to send you money,
the organization you apply to cannot demand that kind of info.
Of these only email addresses, websites and IRC nick are something
that you should really tell your organization.
If you feel that you're OK with it, give your mentor some more
information (such as your phone). That depends on your student-mentor
relationship.
As an active developer, you should be constantly in contact with other
developers. Answering emails within 24 hours should be sufficient
(better do it "within 12 hours", because timezone differences might
add extra delays).
As for emergencies: if you don't have Internet access for 24 hours or
longer, you can't work anyway (can you program without googling now
and then? I can't, at least no longer than an hour or so), so there's
no point in contacting you. If you're not answering emails longer than
1 week, you're probably dead, so again - there's no point in
contacting you.
If something happened to you, do try to send an email to your
mentor/organization, telling them about your possible absence for N
days. If an absence is planned, do notify them in advance.

GSoC timeline is known, deadlines are defined. There are no "omg, i
didn't know that i have to finish foo and bar before tomorrow!" kinds
of emergencies.
As a student, your actions will be checked by your mentor and other
developers, and you won't be put on critical tasks (such as
live-patching control software for a nuclear reactor), where your
active online presence might be required at any time to avoid
considerable damage. So there are unlikely to be any "you did
something, and now everything is broken, go fix it!!!" emergencies
either. If you broke GIT HEAD, fix can usually wait until tomorrow
(and someone else might be able to fix it without your involvement).

GNU might ask you to assign copyright to them. But even in that case
they won't need your postal address, not at first (they will, if your
postal service sux, and they'll have to mail you forms for you to sign).

Also, your application is world-viewable (i.e. public), as far as i
remember. Putting too much personal info into it seems like a bad idea
to me.
> 
> What do you mean by "summary"? [2] Should it include a suggestion
> from this page [3] and my comment?
Yes. I.e. don't just refer to a suggestion that was made outside of
your application. Your application must include complete summary of
your proposed work, even if it's a carbon copy of a suggestion from
some ideas page.

> What do you mean by this: "and how the mid-term evaluationof your 
> project will be made"? [2] Should I describe some tasks which can
> be finished before the mid-term evaluation?
Yes. There should be a clear goal that you expect to meet by mid-term.
Otherwise it's impossible to tell whether you're failing or succeeding.
> Will it be enough to follow this template [2] or there is a need
> for additional information?
If additional information is required, i'm sure the developers will
ask you. Application is not a one-shot thing. You submit it, then
discuss it with the developers (especially if you haven't discussed it
in advance), and amend it, until it's agreeable for all parties (or
you give up).
> 
> What is the perfect size for the proposal? I'm thinking about two 
> pages: one for the plan and another one for the rest.
That should do. If anything else is needed, you'll be asked.
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