The developer that we had signed up for the MERCI Notes bounty ($500) backed out. The money is still available. I've been nudging Gus to start working on smaller projects like this to both prove that the Kata model works as well as raise funds to reinvest in the Dojo and Kata... basically starting with smaller tasks and growing organically vs. trying to build the Taj Mahal of learning solutions. MERCI Notes is a relatively simple submodule for MERCI that has been spec'ed far enough that many developers could bang this out in a few hours.
We want to see all of the bounty items wrapped up before we release an install profile at the end of December. We were giving preference to developers who can work with a PEG station already using MERCI, but at this point we're opening this up to anyone capable of doing the work.
If someone is willing to take this on as a mentoring project to benefit the Kata effort, all the better.
Comments
Dope... I was logged in as
Dope... I was logged in as the general Civic Pixel account making changes to the releases of a few modules earlier. Forgot to log back in as myself before posting that.
Already laid the foundation for the Taj Mahal of Drupal learning
Thanks to some other pioneers in the Drupal 'site in a box' space, we have a pretty solid foundation for the Taj Mahal of Drupal learning. Rebuilding the Drupal Dojo site always seemed like a logical pilot project where we can openly develop something beneficial to the community and create the rules as we go.
That said, smaller projects (especially ones that are complimentary), are certainly fair game if there are people interested and available in driving the effort. Aside from what you've already provided, would there be any more coaching/mentoring on your end?
Gus Austin
So the foundation of the new
So the foundation of the new Dojo is going to be based on project that doesn't use the default Drupal UI and thus requires it's own documentation for basic tasks like changing a permission? Requires a separate username and password to report an issue or submit a patch... and yet another account to actually contribute?
What does it say about Drupal when the Dojo isn't willing to eat it's own dog food?
I'm willing concede that Atrium's UI is the direction Drupal should (and I believe is) headed, but at the cost of breaking basic module functionality (like repeating dates, creating feeds with Views, Comment previews, update process, WYSIWYG, etc)?
Instead of bug fixes for core and/or module issues that will benefit everyone, the team working on the Dojo is going to contributing to the Atrium project. I'm curious to know which developers have signed up for that?
The Kata program is running on a Drupal platform
Personally, I've been trying to use the drupal infrastructure as much as possible, but there are limitations in terms of features/functionality and also what you can/can't do in terms of fundraising and crediting sponsors. OA, a Drupal solution, provides about 90% of what we were looking for out of the box, so it seemed to be a pretty obvious choice to manage the learning program. By no way does this mean that contributing to OA will be a focus of the Kata program. The guidelines need to be solidified (http://drupalkata.com/drupalkata/node/221), but we're using similar programs such as Google SOC and GHOP for examples. Those projects, if I'm not mistaken, are very successful and have been accepted by the community, even though they require you to eat some of their dog food.
The Drupal Dojo website has nothing to do w/ OA and we're giving all the code, themes, install profile, and learning materials back to the community.
Gus Austin
I thought I already posted
I thought I already posted this, but since it isn't here I must be mistaken...
AlexUA would be the authority on GSoC, but my limited experience has been that Google uses the bare minimum technology necessary to connect organizations with tasks, mentors, and students. They really look to the organization who made the request to define/supply the communication/development/testing environments.
You can't really say that OA is the foundation of the Dojo and Kata, but the Dojo has nothing to do with it. OA's limitations will be your limitations. Is anyone using OA to server the number of concurrent users the Dojo had at its peak? What kind of hardware are they running it on?
I think everyone would agree that D.O. and GDO aren't lacking in features because the volunteers running those sites are inept and/or lazy. If certain features OA includes aren't enabled because they are either too big a performance hit or too time consuming to maintain and support, what is the Dojo going to do differently to maintain such a complicated configuration?
Just for the sake of argument, could you list the bare minimum functionality you feel is required to run successful Dojo and Kata programs? Please include any changes to D.O. that would take some of the burden off the Dojo and Kata developers/maintainers.
Kevin Rose had some great advice about building a popular site. The Dojo/Kata already have the Ego, Connect with your community, and Advisors down. The point I like most is what Kevin says about Simplicity.
What are the 2 or 3 key feature of the Dojo and Kata? Is building on OA going to make it easier or harder to do those features really well?