Wolfgang Jeltsch
First, what organization is Haskell.org?
That would be us, right here. Anyone who is interested enough in Haskell to be involved in mailing lists, IRC, distributing library code and tools, whatever.
Is this a real organization, i.e., a legal entity?
No. (Unlike e.g. the Apache Foundation.)
Does Haskell.org get the $ 500 for each successful project? If yes, what does Haskell.org do with this money?
Yes, we get the money. Last year, Galois kindly served as the account holder that received the cheque. The mentors involved get to decide what happens to it. I think we are planning to spend last year's on machine/bandwidth for hosting hackage.haskell.org.
Furthermore, the Google Summer of Code FAQ talks about *the* project of a organization which seems to indicate that each organization has only one SoC project.
The model is that an open-source organisation does indeed usually have one focus, e.g. apache, Linux kernel, GTK, Gnome, Python. But of course there can be smaller tools and focuses within each overarching theme.
What is the project of the Haskell.org organization then? Is this the general project "The Haskell language plus associated libraries and tools"?
Exactly so.
The FAQ says "Mentor organizations must be organizations or individuals running an active and viable open source or free software project". Does this mean that the above-mentioned general project has to be active and viable (which it is) or that each concrete idea has to be part of an active and viable project?
The former. Decisions about concrete ideas are made collectively by the organisation, and we could certainly decide to go for a relatively immature concrete idea, if it looks both viable and of sufficient value to the community as a whole.
That is, is it allowed to start a new concrete project by letting a student code for it as part of the SoC or wouldnât this be possible since a new project isnât yet active and viable?
Yes, you can do. It will have to compete with other ideas for top ranking.
Who decides which ideas will be worked on and who decides which student works on which?
Each organisation (in practice, this means a group of people prepared to be mentors) reads and ranks student proposals. After a certain date, Google tell us how many projects they will fund, and the top N are given the money.
What are the obligations of a mentor?
(a) To carefully read and vote on quite a lot of student proposals. (b) If chosen to mentor a funded project, to guide the student throughout the project time, primarily by email (and/or IRC). Also to write two reports on progress (mid-term and final), that directly determine whether the student gets paid.
Is it okay to create an idea, become the mentor for this idea and propose a concrete student for it?
Sure. But your idea and student will need to compete for ranking.
What do I have to do to become a mentor?
Start by adding yourself to the wiki.
What are Haskell.org's criteria for selecting mentors? According to the above-mentioned FAQ, Google wants to know these criteria as specifically as possible.
I'm not sure we have definite criteria. I guess that the community generally recognises your name as a contributor to the Haskell language, libraries, tools, or whatever. Regular and visible engagement with the community would count for a lot.
Finally, should the ideas be chosen so that they are solvable by a student working full time on them during the three months of the SoC?
Exactly so. This year, Google have set things up with a greater time period between notification of acceptance, and the official beginning of coding, so that students have more preparation time before full-time work starts.
The problem is that at many German universities lectures go until July. At our university, for example, lecture time ends in mid of July and is followed by two weeks for exams. So a faithful student would only have the last month for working full time on the SoC.
Google have indeed set up the timetable largely with US universities in mind. So yes, it is certainly a disadvantage to a German student that they cannot work full-time for the three months. Regards, Malcolm