Overview
We don't want to give you/your mentors any easy excuse for failure. The best way to prevent this is to have regular updates so that missing students / missing mentors / blockers can be detected early on.
If these updates seem onerous; then don't apply to Codehaus. Our mentors successfully manage offsite developers using these kind of updates.
Schedule
Status updates should be sent on Monday (I don't care when on Monday, as long as it's still Monday somewhere in the world).
Address
We want an email sent to the status@gsoc.codehaus.org list (if you have subscription issues then send it to support@codehaus.org and we'll get that sorted for you).
Format
Subject: <Codehaus Project> <Subproject> status update <date of the Monday>
Content:
- What you've completed in the last week
- What you're working on for the next week (7 days)
- Are there any blockers (infrastructure, mentors, holidays, assistance)
Exceptions
You will send a status update.
It is ok to send a status update saying - "I'm going on a cruise holiday for 2 weeks". See Absences for information on our policy surrounding absences.
Confidentiality
If there is anything embarassing or otherwise, then please discuss with your mentor.
This is opensource, your progress will interest more than just your mentor - hence the posting to public lists.
Your mentor may request you cross-post your status reports to project lists; if they don't request this; then it will be at your discretion.