Re: [eigen] Google Summer of Code

[Stephen McCracken <stevemcc@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mar 6, 2010, at 12:08 PM, Benoit Jacob wrote:

That's exactly the problem --- what we're really looking for is people
who are likely to turn into long term contributors, to take care of
boring stuff in the project, etc. 

How many of your core contributors use Eigen in the course of their paid employment?  In my case, I'm unlikely to become a core contributor unless I can get a job at a FOSS-friendly company (Willow Garage, say) where I use Eigen regularly in my work.  If I did a GSOC project with Eigen, it would significantly improve my chances of getting hired at WG and ultimately becoming an Eigen contributor.

Now, it happens that WG also uses Python.  So if my primary goal is to go work for WG, then I might be just as happy doing a SciPy GSOC project.  In that case, I'd be more likely to get hired on a Python-heavy project, and perhaps become a Python core contributor.

So I think that mentoring a GSOC project does increase the probability that your student will become a core developer, even if the student is initially "agnostic".  Whether or not that uncertain benefit is worth the investment of your time, I can't say.

--Steve