Re: [GSoC] Microproject: Updating Documentation

Mahendra Dani <danimahendra0904@gmail.com> writes:

All good suggestions, but we also welcome students who try to scratch their own itch, as long as it is small enough to be suitable as a microproject material. And it is fine to ask if doing X qualifies as a microproject or if it is too involved.

The primary objective for a micro-project is to get used to the workflow, i.e. working with the community mainly via this mailing list, how you explain your changes in your proposed commit log message, how to work with those who gave you reviews, how your updated submission should look like, etc., etc. Given that, it is rare that anything is too trivial as a microproject material, but you would not want to choose something too involved, as it would slow you down in learning the procedure, which is the main focus on the microproject period.

Another thing I noticed in the original message that is worth reacting is that you do not need to ask for permission to start working on anything around here. "Am I allowed to do X for my microproject" is not the question you want to ask; rather "I see document X says A, B, and C, but A is outdated and I think it is better to phrase it like D. Would it be a suitable microproject material?" is something we can work with. Answers may depend on the nature of A, B, C, and D and would range from "nah, A is fine and D is not better because ...; don't do it" to "great, yes A may have been suitable a decade ago, but no longer relevant, and D would be a great addition", to "Yeah, I agree that A is not great, but D is not all that better, how about E?", to "Yes that is a great suggestion, but wouldn't it may be a bit too much as a microproject".

To solicit such productive reaction from others, you'd need to be a bit more specific than "I see flaws and want to improve".

Thanks, and good luck with your microproject selection.