Re: Octave rejected as a GSoC mentoring org

[Nicholas Jankowski]

Also, this year, we should work on keeping students. From the

beginning, we should emphasise that the goal is to become long-term
contributors to Octave.

- Jordi G. H.

was thinking of this after the previous conversation. Seems to me the key to keeping the student is to select students who would have a regular use for Octave after completion of the project. Picking up a random CS student for a summer who then goes off to doing other very different things isn't likely to have a reason to stick around. There's at least a minimal investment required for someone to stick around and provide support, even if it's just with the periodic email to the mailing list. A user has more reason to see the product improve, and would be more likely to make that investment. 

Can the answer to 'What's your intended use for Octave after completion of the project?' be used as selection criteria?

nickj