Rework introduction section in GSoC project ideas list

Make it clear that we explicitely require the students to contact us,
and to submit a patch as part of the application process.

Most of this information is redundant with the introduction section of
the student application form. This is not a problem: If they read it
twice, there is a better chance that they will take it seriously...

1 files changed, 54 insertions, 27 deletions

diff --git a/community/gsoc/project_ideas.mdwn b/community/gsoc/project_ideas.mdwn
index 00d3a702..fb5849b2 100644
--- a/community/gsoc/project_ideas.mdwn
+++ b/community/gsoc/project_ideas.mdwn
@@ -8,33 +8,60 @@ Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license
 is included in the section entitled
 [[GNU_Free_Documentation_License|/fdl]]."]]"""]]
 
-This list offers a wide range of tasks: From rather straightforward to pretty
-involved ones; from low-level kernel hacking (drivers, VM) to high-level
-translators; from fixing bugs, implementing new functionality based on existing
-interfaces, to creating totally new mechanisms.
-
-If you have questions regarding the projects, or if there is more than one that
-you are interested in and you are unsure which to choose, don't hesitate to
-[[contact_us|communication]].
-
-Most project descriptions mention a possible exercise related to the respective
-task. Doing this exercise is part of the application process -- the purpose is
-to get more familiar with the stuff you will need to complete the project and
-with the Hurd community. Contact us if you encounter any difficulties -- we
-will assist you with as well as we can :-)
-
-Please report on the progress you make with the exercise. This allows us to get
-a better picture of how well you can cope with the task; as well as how well
-you manage the necessary communication with us :-)
-
-The exercise is part of the application process, but it's perfectly OK if you
-do it only after handing in the first version of your application. (The
-experience you get with the exercise should help you to further improve your
-application afterwards...) In general, don't hesitate too long -- the sooner
-you submit your first proposal, the sooner we can give feedback!
-
-Take a look at our [[application_template|student_application_form]] to get an
-idea what your application should contain.
+We offer a wide range of possible projects to choose from. If you have an idea
+not listed here, we'd love to hear about it!
+
+In either case, we encourage you to contact us (on [[IRC]] and/or our developer
+[[mailing_lists]]), so we can discuss your idea, or help you pick a suitable
+task -- we will gladly explain the tasks in more detail, if the descriptions
+are not clear enough.
+
+In fact, we suggest you discuss your choice with us even if you have no trouble
+finding a task that suits you: as explained in the introduction section of the
+[[student_application_form]], we ask all students to get into regular
+communication with us for the application to be considered complete. Talking
+about your project choice is a good start :-)
+
+(We strongly suggest that you generally take a look at the
+[[student_application_form]] right now -- the sooner you know what we expect,
+the better you can cater to it :-) )
+
+Many of the project descriptions suggest some "exercise". The reason is that
+for the application to be complete, we require you to make a change to the Hurd
+code, and send us the resulting patch. (This is also explained in the
+[[student_application_form]].) If possible, the change should make some
+improvement to the code you will be working on during the summer, or to some
+related code. The "exercise" bit in the project description is trying to give
+you some ideas what kind of change this could be.
+
+Sometimes it's hard to come up with a useful improvement to the code in
+question, that isn't too complicated for the purposes of the application. In
+this case, we need to find a good alternative. You could for example make an
+improvement to some Hurd code that is not directly related to your project:
+this way you won't get familiar with working on the code you will actually need
+for the task, but at least you can show that you are able to work with the Hurd
+code in general.
+
+Another possible alternative would be making some change to the code in
+question, that isn't really a useful improvement, while still making sense in
+some way -- this could suffice to prove that you are able to work with the
+code.
+
+Don't despair if you can't come up with anything suitable by yourself. Contact
+us, and we will think of something together :-)
+
+In either case, we strongly suggest that you talk to us about the change you
+want to make up front, to be sure that it is something that will get our
+approval -- especially if the idea is not directly taken from the project
+description.
+
+Also, don't let this whole patch stuff discourage you from applying! As
+explained in the [[student_application_form]], it's not a problem if you do not
+yet have all the necessary knowledge to do this alone -- we don't expect that.
+After all, the purpose of GSoC is to introduce you to free software development
+:-) We only want to see that you are able to obtain the necessary knowledge
+before the end of the application process, with our help -- contact us, and we
+will assist you as well as we can.
 
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