Call for participants: Gephi code sustainability retreat 2021

We are organizing a code sustainability retreat, and we are looking for Java developers willing to contribute to Gephi’s core codebase over the next few years.

Our goal: Make Gephi’s codebase sustainable, and beyond this, recruit a team of developers into the project in anticipation of a fundraising phase. We believe that Gephi deserves care, that there is enough interest to fund it, and this is our first step to get there.

When: November or December 2021. Exact dates to be announced in September.

How long: About one full week (4 or 5 days).

Where: In Copenhagen, Denmark, and online.

How many participants: We aim at about 5 Java developers, not counting the Gephi core team (2-3 people).

Funding: We pay for travel and accommodation thanks to the sponsoring of Aalborg University. We will also offer a small compensation for the work (~100€/day).

What we will do during the retreat: Our lead developer will share knowledge about the codebase. We will get an overview of the state of Gephi, set up a more technical road map (identify the main challenges, decide of the best course of action) and code part of it – in short, we will push the cart further. Furthermore, we will get to know each other better and have some good time together.

HOW TO APPLY: Send an email before September 15 (2021) to the organiser: mathieu.jacomy@gmail.com
Note from MJ: Some of you have already applied, thanks a lot! If I’ve answered you, you’re in the candidates’ list.

What’s next: We will select participants for this first issue, tell each of you whether you have made it or not, settle the dates with participants, and prepare the retreat together. That’s a first time for us but we plan to do it again next year and on, see our road map for more info.

Feel free to ask if you have any question (to my email above, in comments, or via Twitter to @Gephi).

Note: We will also organize some sort of side event bridging over the dev/academia demarcation, because the retreat is hosted by a university and because Gephi naturally drives hybrid interest. If you’re interested in the research side of this, it might be even more interesting to you. More on that later on!