[squeak-dev] Re: [Pharo-dev] Unethical behaviour on GSoC 2010 (was The truth on GSOC, ESUG and bad attitude)

btc at openinworld.com btc at openinworld.com
Wed Feb 12 16:48:23 UTC 2014


Janko,

Thank you for sharing the details of your concern.  It is better to deal 
with facts rather than hints and allusions, since the former is 
something the defendant and community can respond to and the latter can 
conjure the worst imagination and polarise both defendant and community. 
I can understand your need for hinting since it can be difficult to call 
out a leader in the community, and perhaps is why you've shouldered this 
burden since 2010.  Unfortunately such burdens can sour our perspective 
on matters. As a reasonably independent observer (in Australia doing 
Smalltalk just 2 years by myself) looking at the facts you've presented, 
this seems to me more to a difference of opinion and perspective than a 
violation of ethics.  Certainly your perspective as a GSoC Admin will be 
different from me observing from the outside, but I think that Stéphane 
as a representative of ESUG has some right to specify parameters for a 
project like GSoC running under their name.  It just would have been 
better this was done more transparently/publicly, and also that the 
project parameters are publicly defined up front before the project 
begins, but then life doesn't always happen like the ideal - there 
always ends up gray areas that were not previously considered. 

I hope that having shared these details, even if community sentiment did 
not go the way you assumed, there is some sense of a burden has lifted.  
I particularly appreciate that you've stepped back from the GSoC Admin 
role you obviously care a lot about, to allow the project to proceed 
with someone outside the conflict.  Personally I would be glad to see 
you involved again at a later time, though some bridge building may be 
needed.


Stef,

I hope that after some time, even though this was damaging to you, you 
might consider there were some honorable intentions that drove Janko's 
motivations over the last three years, even if these were poorly 
communicated.


My kind regards to you both,
-ben


Janko Mivšek wrote:
> Time therefore to expose that sad story from GSoC 2010. So that the
> community can judge by themselves if my claims are insults or real.
>
> For the start, this was not a money matter but meddling into project
> selection process.
>
> Here is the story:
>
> On GSoC 2010 Gilad Bracha proposed a Newspeak/Smalltalk Import/Export
> Tool project idea [1]. After the idea was put on ideas list [2],
> Stéphane Ducasse ordered my co-admin to remove Gilad's idea from the
> list. Co-admin told that to me. I was shocked that someone can come to
> such an idea to remove something even in the idea phase from the GSoC.
> Of course I rejected such an order immediately.
>
> Even more, co-admin was at that time just starting the postgraduade
> study under the Mr.Ducasse mentorship. You can imagine how he felt, like
> between two fires. It is reasonable therefore to suspect that Mr.Duccase
> uses his power as a mentor over postgraduate student to try to achieve
> his goal.
>
> What was the motivation of Mr.Ducasse to made such a blatant act was not
> quite clear to me. And is also not important. Important is that such
> removal attempts are totally unacceptable. Only GSoC mentors have that
> right by reviewing and voting on the projects to be finally selected for
> stipendiums.
>
> In any case, this incident was a start of my thinking and working on
> GSoC to be as transparent, neutral and independent as possible.
>
> Best regards
> Janko
>
> [1] http://gsoc2010.esug.org/projects/newspeak-tool
> [2] http://gsoc2010.esug.org/ideas
>   



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