Re (tilly) 2: PerlMonks as do gooders- or, MonkCorps

The main reason that I never weighed in is that I only just read the node.

Personally I am at best lukewarm on it. I don't like people looking at the talent arrayed here and drooling over how it can be used. This section of the talent already is fully utilized. I work for a for profit company, sure. However I also view time and energy spent on Perlmonks as donated time. And I have other things that I like to do, both with and without a computer in front of me.

So I wouldn't be involved. I suspect many others would likewise be unavailable. And monks who are inclined to volunteer have no shortage of ways to do that already. Off of the top of my head, worthy projects include SEUL, The FSF, plus virtually any large volunteer organization has data infrastructure needs. Do as Larry Wall does, volunteer to help at your churches website!

In fact looking through the comments, I see a lot of people who can think of things they want resources thrown at. I don't see a lot of people saying that they cannot find places to put their energy. Until we get that, I have to wonder how well it would work.

(Sorry)

Comment on Re (tilly) 2: PerlMonks as do gooders- or, MonkCorps

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Re: Re (tilly) 2: PerlMonks as do gooders- or, MonkCorps by Hero Zzyzzx (Curate) on Apr 27, 2001 at 16:50 UTC
That's fine, I don't expect that every monk has the time to spare to do perl coding for free. However, It's not that easy to find "volunteer organizations with data infrastructure needs." Most non-profits are so far removed from technology (besides being consumers of it) that to even talk in those terms is to lose them. However, they often have some idea of what they want to do, but absolutely no way of knowing even where to start. A couple of examples: I know a non-profit in Boston that contacted me about building a job board for homeless African-Americans. Involved project, sounds perfect for a college student, but way too time intensive for me. I could post this on a volunteer section, and someone would get involved, or wouldn't. Another one: an environmental organization is running a boycott campaign and would like to set up a way for visitors to sign up for action alert lists and send emails to political targets. Far easier project, maybe a couple of simple scripts. A good weekend project for a monk. Hopefully the projects would vary enough in time and intensity that a monk could find something to fit in with the time they have available. I know this idea is warm-and-fuzzy. I think there's a need, and I really feel that if I do volunteer work now, I want to code. It's too valuable a skill to waste.	[reply]

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Re: Re (tilly) 2: PerlMonks as do gooders- or, MonkCorps
by Hero Zzyzzx (Curate) on Apr 27, 2001 at 16:50 UTC

That's fine, I don't expect that every monk has the time to spare to do perl coding for free. However, It's not that easy to find "volunteer organizations with data infrastructure needs." Most non-profits are so far removed from technology (besides being consumers of it) that to even talk in those terms is to lose them. However, they often have some idea of what they want to do, but absolutely no way of knowing even where to start.

A couple of examples: I know a non-profit in Boston that contacted me about building a job board for homeless African-Americans. Involved project, sounds perfect for a college student, but way too time intensive for me. I could post this on a volunteer section, and someone would get involved, or wouldn't.

Another one: an environmental organization is running a boycott campaign and would like to set up a way for visitors to sign up for action alert lists and send emails to political targets. Far easier project, maybe a couple of simple scripts. A good weekend project for a monk.

Hopefully the projects would vary enough in time and intensity that a monk could find something to fit in with the time they have available.

I know this idea is warm-and-fuzzy. I think there's a need, and I really feel that if I do volunteer work now, I want to code. It's too valuable a skill to waste.

[reply]