So today it is a month ago since the Google Code-in competition started and 18 days until it is ending. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk a bit about some of the things that have happened so far and where we’re at.
Since December 7th when Google Code-in started, we have been in touch with 107 students on the Google Code-in site, of which 70 have completed at least one task and thus earned a digital certificate from Google. 11 students have so far earned themselves a t-shirt from Google by completing 3 or more tasks. The student with the highest number of completed tasks right now sits at 17 tasks, followed by one at 16 and another at 15 completed tasks. The student with the 10th most tasks completed has 3 tasks to their name.
We have also had to report 3 students for plagiarising leading to their disqualification. 😦 However, compared to the amount of work and number of students, I think it’s a decently small number.
Overall, I am (still!) really excited about MetaBrainz finally being a part of Google Code-in, and I definitely think the lack of sleep the first week and newbie questions on IRC and on the GCI tasks are worth it. We’re getting some great stuff done, that we may not have gotten around to in any reasonable time ourselves, and we get to help all these students learn about programming, open source, open data, licenses, and a bunch of other things. I’m happy and I’m not looking forward to picking only 5 finalists and only 2 winners. There are definitely more than that I would personally like to see in both categories. 🙂
Have you had any experiences with or thoughts on our Google Code-in participation so far? Please do share them with us in the comments!
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I noticed the influx of newbies on IRC — I see it as a good thing. MB can always use some fresh blood, as well as new perspectives and enthusiasm. That’s how any project stays vital.
couldn’t agree more with Hawke.
sure it has had bit of a “september” feel to it – but as hawke says, fresh blood brings perspectives and enthusiasm – and the worst thing would be for us to stagnate. further having (young) kids come in and ask questions all the time not only means we now get a fresh look into what exactly *are* FAQ, but lets us work on our “newbie bedside manner”, remind ourselves to not bite newbies but to teach them. we where all new once; it ties in with our efforts to be “nicer” to one another. can we “tolerate” 😛 influx of impatient youngsters, we can surly “tolerate” old hands making mistakes.. I’d say anyway. 🙂