From 55f5f76c4b211f693f345827bc67164fd43f2225 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:40:25 +0100 Subject: gsoc: update questions in organisation application form for 2010 Note: The *answers* aren't updated yet! --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 84 +++++++++++++--------------- 1 file changed, 38 insertions(+), 46 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 9fe3a420..5fdf3837 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -8,22 +8,10 @@ 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]]."]]"""]] -* Link ID: - -hurd - -* Group Name: +* Organization Name: GNU Hurd -* Home Page URL: - -http://hurd.gnu.org - -* Public Email: - -bug-hurd@gnu.org - * Description: The Hurd project is a loose community of people sharing a common interest in @@ -71,7 +59,15 @@ contact with the most distinguished researchers in that field from the microkernel operating system groups, and have written a couple of [research papers](http://walfield.org/). -* Why is your group applying to participate? What do you hope to gain by participating? +* Home Page: + +http://hurd.gnu.org + +* Main Organization License: + +GNU General Public License (GPL) + +* Why is your organization applying to participate in GSoC 2010? What do you hope to gain by participating? The primary goal of course is to find and introduce new long-term contributors to the project. @@ -90,25 +86,7 @@ progress is. Last but not least, we hope the participation will have a positive effect on our community -- new impulses, increased communication etc. -* What is the main public mailing list for your group? - -bug-hurd@gnu.org, see http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-hurd - -* Where is the main IRC channel for your group? - -\#hurd on freenode.net - -* What criteria do you use to select the members of your group? Please be as specific as possible. - -The most important criterium is that the person is involved in the project for -some time, knowing the ways; so he can actually instruct the student; and if -there are tough technical questions he can't answer himself, he knows whom to -ask. - -It's also important that the mentors are reliable and helpful, so the students -won't be left on their own with any problems they face. - -* Has your group participated previously? If so, please summarize your involvement and any past successes and failures. +* Did your organization participate in past GSoCs? If so, please summarize your involvement and the successes and challenges of your participation. In 2006 and 2007, we participated under the umbrella of the GNU project, getting one slot each @@ -143,27 +121,39 @@ hoped of course, but probably as much as can be realistically expected... All in all, the participation was a considerable amount of work, but it was definitely worth it :-) -* If your group has not previously participated, have you applied in the past? If so, for what sort of participation? +* If your organization participated in past GSoCs, please let us know the ratio of students passing to students allocated, e.g. 2006: 3/6 for 3 out of 6 students passed in 2006. --- +* If your organization has not previously participated in GSoC, have you applied in the past? If so, for what year(s)? -* What license does your organization use? - -GNU General Public License (GPL) +-- -* What is the URL to the ideas list of your organization? +* What is the URL for your ideas page? http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/community/gsoc/project_ideas.html -* What is the main development mailing list for your group? +* What is the main development mailing list for your organization? This question will be shown to students who would like to get more information about applying to your organization for GSoC 2010. If your organization uses more than one list, please make sure to include a description of the list so students know which to use. bug-hurd@gnu.org, see http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-hurd -* What is the application template you would like contributors to your organization to use. +* What is the main IRC channel for your organization? + +\#hurd on freenode.net + +* Does your organization have an application template you would like to see students use? If so, please provide it now. Please note that it is a very good idea to ask students to provide you with their contact information as part of your template. Their contact details will not be shared with you automatically via the GSoC 2010 site. [[student_application_form]] -* What is your plan for dealing with disappearing contributors? +* What criteria did you use to select the individuals who will act as mentors for your organization? Please be as specific as possible: + +The most important criterium is that the person is involved in the project for +some time, knowing the ways; so he can actually instruct the student; and if +there are tough technical questions he can't answer himself, he knows whom to +ask. + +It's also important that the mentors are reliable and helpful, so the students +won't be left on their own with any problems they face. + +* What is your plan for dealing with disappearing students? The plan is mostly to avoid that happening in the first place. For that, we will be particularily careful with the selection of the students: Making sure @@ -183,7 +173,7 @@ state where it is useful even if not finished. We will also try to limit damage by insisting that students regularily check in their work, so that we get partial results at least if someone disappears. -* What is your plan for dealing with disappearing members? +* What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors? As our mentors all have been with the project for some time, the risk of them disappearing is not too big. If one of them disappears nevertheless, it's not a @@ -193,7 +183,7 @@ We will encourage the students to keep discussions public as much as possible, keeping private conversations with the mentors to a minimum, so the transition should go smoothly. -* What steps will you take to encourage contributors to interact with your community before, during, and after the program? +* What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with your project's community before, during and after the program? We try to make it very clear that we expect the students to get into regular contact with us before the end of the student selection process, and won't @@ -213,12 +203,14 @@ part in other conversations, not directly related to their projects, as well. After the program we continue the regular meetings, still discussing the projects: The application of the code created, future directions etc. -* What will you do to ensure that your accepted contributors stick with the project after the program concludes? +* What will you do to ensure that your accepted students stick with the project after GSoC concludes? We will try to invite all participating students to a conference afterwards, where we will discuss the projects, as well as other Hurd-related topics. We hope this will motivate them to follow up on the work they have done during the program, and generally help keeping them involved. -* Please select your backup group administrator. +* Is there anything else you would like to tell the Google Summer of Code program administration team? : + +* Backup Admin (Link ID): -- cgit v1.2.3 From 00694aaf8930b2ba39f00abd335b9c2f2b16d71b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:01:31 +0100 Subject: gsoc/orgianization_application: Use mission statement in description --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 7 ++++--- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 5fdf3837..a2c65581 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -14,9 +14,10 @@ GNU Hurd * Description: -The Hurd project is a loose community of people sharing a common interest in -developing the Hurd kernel, which is the official kernel of the [GNU operating -system](http://gnu.org). +The mission of the Hurd project is to create a general-purpose kernel suitable +for the [GNU operating system](http://gnu.org), which is viable for everyday +use, and gives users and programs as much control over their computing +environment as possible. When the Hurd was originally started in 1990, it was the last missing major component for a complete GNU system. Today Linux and other free kernels are -- cgit v1.2.3 From 5c995d0a03534252cddba2fc2debf9ef1676df3a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:04:35 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: improve wording Most notably, don't write in the past about things that we do regularily. Also all kinds of other changes in wording. --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 23 ++++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index a2c65581..32a76b1c 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ Aside from that, it is a way to make progress with tasks that require an amount focused work, that is hard to do for volunteers working in their spare time only. -Also it is a good possibility to get valuable input from new people, as well as +Also it is a good opportunity to get valuable input from new people, as well as spreading technical and other knowledge about the Hurd among actual and potential contributors. More generally, participation should help raising awareness among people who might know about the existence of the Hurd, but @@ -156,8 +156,8 @@ won't be left on their own with any problems they face. * What is your plan for dealing with disappearing students? -The plan is mostly to avoid that happening in the first place. For that, we -will be particularily careful with the selection of the students: Making sure +The plan is mostly to avoid that happening in the first place. To this end, we +are particularily careful with selection of students: Making sure that they have no other obligations during that time; that they are motivated enough; that they actually have the necessary skills to complete the task; that they fit in our community. @@ -191,24 +191,25 @@ contact with us before the end of the student selection process, and won't consider their applications otherwise. This way we know that the students are able and willing to communicate with us in the first place. -After the selection, the regular contact will be kept up: We require the +After selection, the regular contact is kept up: We require the students to participate in weekly IRC meetings, where we ask the students actively about the work they do, problems they face, decisions they take etc. -Furthermore, we will ask them to hang around on IRC most of the time while +Furthermore, we ask them to hang out on IRC most of the time while working on their projects, so we keep in close contact. We also require the students to join our main development mailing list, so any -design questions etc. can be discussed there. We will encourage them to take +design questions etc. can be discussed there. We encourage them to take part in other conversations, not directly related to their projects, as well. -After the program we continue the regular meetings, still discussing the -projects: The application of the code created, future directions etc. +After the program we continue the regular meetings, discussing the further +development of their original projects; as well as new projects, after the +original ones are done. * What will you do to ensure that your accepted students stick with the project after GSoC concludes? -We will try to invite all participating students to a conference afterwards, -where we will discuss the projects, as well as other Hurd-related topics. We -hope this will motivate them to follow up on the work they have done during the +We try to invite all participating students to meet us at conferences afterwards, +where we discuss the projects, as well as other Hurd-related topics. This should +keep them motivated to follow up on the work they have done during the program, and generally help keeping them involved. * Is there anything else you would like to tell the Google Summer of Code program administration team? : -- cgit v1.2.3 From 29af850b17ac62bd784afd36a4e97378b699f353 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:08:39 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: update on past participation Somewhat different question; updates for last year; and extra question for explicit head count. Generally change emphasis of text from praising participation as a distinct organisation, to praising our own past achievments. --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 42 ++++++++++++---------------- 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 32a76b1c..1f499f5a 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -93,37 +93,31 @@ In 2006 and 2007, we participated under the umbrella of the GNU project, getting one slot each year. -The 2006 participation was mostly a failure. After some intitial work -(available in CVS), the student disappeared -- moving to another country and -other personal issues from what we heard. - -The 2007 participation was a considerable success. The student was very bright -and dedicated. We got some code, as well as a lot of ideas, which we continued -discussing after the end of GSoC, and he intends to put into code as well in -the future. - In 2008 we participated as an organisation on our own for the first time. This -turned out extremely beneficial: Not only did it give us much better -possibilities to find and select good students, as we hoped. We also get a lot -more applications, mostly of good or excellent quality. - -We ended up with four slots. (We didn't request more, because we were not sure -whether we would be able to mentor them properly, and generally didn't want to -overdo it on our first "full" participation.) There was also a fifth student, -who worked on his project in spite of not getting a slot. +turned out extremely beneficial: With the better visibility, we get a lot +more applications (more than 20), mostly of good or excellent quality. -All five students were pretty successful, most of them completing or almost -completing the original goals -- some even exceeding them. Even our weakest -student, after serious struggling in the beginning, did quite well in the end. +In 2009, we were rejected as an organisation, so we participated under the GNU +umbrella again. -Two students are still regularily working on the Hurd -- not as much as we -hoped of course, but probably as much as can be realistically expected... +While the 2006 student disappeared midway, in all the later years all of our +students were successful -- including even one who worked on his project in +spite of not getting a slot. Half of them are regular Hurd contributors now. -All in all, the participation was a considerable amount of work, but it was -definitely worth it :-) +Selecting the most promising students, as well as suitable mentors, turned out +to be the most tricky part of GSoC participation -- but we learned our lesson +after the first failure: We didn't have any students that didn't meet our +expectations since then, and we also believe our mentoring is exceptionally +good now -- one project that was in serious trouble, turned out well after all, +due to effective mentor intervention. * If your organization participated in past GSoCs, please let us know the ratio of students passing to students allocated, e.g. 2006: 3/6 for 3 out of 6 students passed in 2006. +2008: 4/4 + +(+1 inofficial in 2008) +(under GNU umbrella: 2006: 0/1; 2007: 1/1; 2009: 1/1) + * If your organization has not previously participated in GSoC, have you applied in the past? If so, for what year(s)? -- -- cgit v1.2.3 From f51a0c39bf3b5634351b99d904cd4d5cd53eceaf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:14:48 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: different syntax for including list info URL --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 1f499f5a..4766d961 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/community/gsoc/project_ideas.html * What is the main development mailing list for your organization? This question will be shown to students who would like to get more information about applying to your organization for GSoC 2010. If your organization uses more than one list, please make sure to include a description of the list so students know which to use. -bug-hurd@gnu.org, see http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-hurd +bug-hurd@gnu.org ( http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-hurd ) * What is the main IRC channel for your organization? -- cgit v1.2.3 From 6acdf22e58dbb922d39ea9f377e21f2332c0e194 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:16:49 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: meeting up to twice a week --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 4766d961..476bd1f2 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ consider their applications otherwise. This way we know that the students are able and willing to communicate with us in the first place. After selection, the regular contact is kept up: We require the -students to participate in weekly IRC meetings, where we ask the students +students to participate in IRC meetings up to twice a week, where we ask the students actively about the work they do, problems they face, decisions they take etc. Furthermore, we ask them to hang out on IRC most of the time while working on their projects, so we keep in close contact. -- cgit v1.2.3 From 05109af3cf7d59a0203d6ca09c469921190bf2bb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:18:02 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: conference invitation is not only measure to keep students motivated Make it explicit that we do that *in addition* to the continued IRC meetings -- it's not the major bit. --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 3 ++- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 476bd1f2..abdfcff5 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -201,7 +201,8 @@ original ones are done. * What will you do to ensure that your accepted students stick with the project after GSoC concludes? -We try to invite all participating students to meet us at conferences afterwards, +In addition to keeping up the regular IRC meetings, +we try to invite all participating students to meet us at conferences afterwards, where we discuss the projects, as well as other Hurd-related topics. This should keep them motivated to follow up on the work they have done during the program, and generally help keeping them involved. -- cgit v1.2.3 From 751c59af07e496994ce140333d779ec267d36b06 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:22:49 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: shorten bit on awareness in "why" question Drop the second sentence, which explicitely talks about raising awareness about the Hurd -- I fear it makes it sound like we treat GSoC as some kind of advertising program... --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 5 +---- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 4 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index abdfcff5..b2ec557d 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -79,10 +79,7 @@ only. Also it is a good opportunity to get valuable input from new people, as well as spreading technical and other knowledge about the Hurd among actual and -potential contributors. More generally, participation should help raising -awareness among people who might know about the existence of the Hurd, but -otherwise having very little idea what the project is all about, and how its -progress is. +potential contributors. Last but not least, we hope the participation will have a positive effect on our community -- new impulses, increased communication etc. -- cgit v1.2.3 From 86c987aaf3d5013406755f2f142ae271d8c4754b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:16:38 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: half the packages? 65% now! --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index b2ec557d..3df9e719 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ approach. To offer these possibilities, the Hurd uses a true multiserver microkernel architecture. That makes it quite unique: The Hurd is the only general-purpose multiserver microkernel system in development today that is nearly ready for -everyday use, and offering almost perfect UNIX compatibility. (More than half +everyday use, and offering almost perfect UNIX compatibility. (Almost 65% of the packages in the Debian repository are available for the Hurd.) All other existing true microkernel systems are either research projects not nearly complete enough for actual use, or limited to embedded systems and other -- cgit v1.2.3 From e62808aad8db5f675010edf9bc409c3120765a37 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:17:05 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: minor rewording --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 3df9e719..ee8259b2 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ To offer these possibilities, the Hurd uses a true multiserver microkernel architecture. That makes it quite unique: The Hurd is the only general-purpose multiserver microkernel system in development today that is nearly ready for everyday use, and offering almost perfect UNIX compatibility. (Almost 65% -of the packages in the Debian repository are available for the Hurd.) All other +of all packages in the Debian repository are available for the Hurd.) All other existing true microkernel systems are either research projects not nearly complete enough for actual use, or limited to embedded systems and other special purposes, or both. -- cgit v1.2.3 From 3efc2c0ed4e4cf1154603cd83e68f8e4132ed347 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:24:10 +0100 Subject: gsoc/oranization_application: not "almost" 65% -- it's actually more than 65 --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index ee8259b2..6a6389d8 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ approach. To offer these possibilities, the Hurd uses a true multiserver microkernel architecture. That makes it quite unique: The Hurd is the only general-purpose multiserver microkernel system in development today that is nearly ready for -everyday use, and offering almost perfect UNIX compatibility. (Almost 65% +everyday use, and offering almost perfect UNIX compatibility. (About 65% of all packages in the Debian repository are available for the Hurd.) All other existing true microkernel systems are either research projects not nearly complete enough for actual use, or limited to embedded systems and other -- cgit v1.2.3 From 74ee772de9661c54fe7658589f79e520bb8e0171 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:31:12 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organisation_application: fix some typos spotted by tschwinge --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 14 +++++++------- 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 6a6389d8..471f3bdc 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ spreading technical and other knowledge about the Hurd among actual and potential contributors. Last but not least, we hope the participation will have a positive effect on -our community -- new impulses, increased communication etc. +our community -- new impulses, increased communication, etc. * Did your organization participate in past GSoCs? If so, please summarize your involvement and the successes and challenges of your participation. @@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ we participated under the umbrella of the GNU project, getting one slot each year. In 2008 we participated as an organisation on our own for the first time. This -turned out extremely beneficial: With the better visibility, we get a lot +turned out extremely beneficial: with the better visibility, we got a lot more applications (more than 20), mostly of good or excellent quality. In 2009, we were rejected as an organisation, so we participated under the GNU @@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ spite of not getting a slot. Half of them are regular Hurd contributors now. Selecting the most promising students, as well as suitable mentors, turned out to be the most tricky part of GSoC participation -- but we learned our lesson -after the first failure: We didn't have any students that didn't meet our +after the first failure: we didn't have any students that didn't meet our expectations since then, and we also believe our mentoring is exceptionally good now -- one project that was in serious trouble, turned out well after all, due to effective mentor intervention. @@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ their work, so that we get partial results at least if someone disappears. As our mentors all have been with the project for some time, the risk of them disappearing is not too big. If one of them disappears nevertheless, it's not a -problem for us: We have enough mentors, and someone else will take over. +problem for us: we have enough mentors, and someone else will take over. We will encourage the students to keep discussions public as much as possible, keeping private conversations with the mentors to a minimum, so the transition @@ -182,14 +182,14 @@ contact with us before the end of the student selection process, and won't consider their applications otherwise. This way we know that the students are able and willing to communicate with us in the first place. -After selection, the regular contact is kept up: We require the +After selection, the regular contact is kept up: we require the students to participate in IRC meetings up to twice a week, where we ask the students -actively about the work they do, problems they face, decisions they take etc. +actively about the work they do, problems they face, decisions they take, etc. Furthermore, we ask them to hang out on IRC most of the time while working on their projects, so we keep in close contact. We also require the students to join our main development mailing list, so any -design questions etc. can be discussed there. We encourage them to take +design questions, etc. can be discussed there. We encourage them to take part in other conversations, not directly related to their projects, as well. After the program we continue the regular meetings, discussing the further -- cgit v1.2.3 From b6a58c6837b338eb3661580d9e76b47e764f1489 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:54:47 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: Improve wording Mostly based on suggestions from tschwinge. --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 16 ++++++++-------- 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 471f3bdc..a376ffaa 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ Aside from that, it is a way to make progress with tasks that require an amount focused work, that is hard to do for volunteers working in their spare time only. -Also it is a good opportunity to get valuable input from new people, as well as +Also, the Google Summer of Code is a good opportunity to get valuable input from new people, as well as spreading technical and other knowledge about the Hurd among actual and potential contributors. @@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ In 2009, we were rejected as an organisation, so we participated under the GNU umbrella again. While the 2006 student disappeared midway, in all the later years all of our -students were successful -- including even one who worked on his project in -spite of not getting a slot. Half of them are regular Hurd contributors now. +students were successful -- even including one who worked on his project in +spite of not getting an official slot. Half of them are regular Hurd contributors now. Selecting the most promising students, as well as suitable mentors, turned out to be the most tricky part of GSoC participation -- but we learned our lesson @@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ won't be left on their own with any problems they face. The plan is mostly to avoid that happening in the first place. To this end, we are particularily careful with selection of students: Making sure -that they have no other obligations during that time; that they are motivated +that they have no other major obligations during that time; that they are motivated enough; that they actually have the necessary skills to complete the task; that they fit in our community. @@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ project can perhaps be scaled down, or at least wrapped up to bring it in a state where it is useful even if not finished. We will also try to limit damage by insisting that students regularily check in -their work, so that we get partial results at least if someone disappears. +their work to our source repositories, so that we get partial results at least if someone disappears. * What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors? @@ -178,15 +178,15 @@ should go smoothly. * What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with your project's community before, during and after the program? We try to make it very clear that we expect the students to get into regular -contact with us before the end of the student selection process, and won't +contact with us early during the student selection process already, and won't consider their applications otherwise. This way we know that the students are able and willing to communicate with us in the first place. After selection, the regular contact is kept up: we require the students to participate in IRC meetings up to twice a week, where we ask the students actively about the work they do, problems they face, decisions they take, etc. -Furthermore, we ask them to hang out on IRC most of the time while -working on their projects, so we keep in close contact. +Furthermore, we ask them to be available on IRC while working on their +projects, so we can communicate easily. We also require the students to join our main development mailing list, so any design questions, etc. can be discussed there. We encourage them to take -- cgit v1.2.3 From ea716c653fd6daf08c77e06f433b90e80922ec91 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:08:38 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organisation_application: completely new take on focused work aspect --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 14 +++++++++----- 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index a376ffaa..f2910d0b 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -73,11 +73,15 @@ GNU General Public License (GPL) The primary goal of course is to find and introduce new long-term contributors to the project. -Aside from that, it is a way to make progress with tasks that require an amount of -focused work, that is hard to do for volunteers working in their spare time -only. - -Also, the Google Summer of Code is a good opportunity to get valuable input from new people, as well as +The mentor-student setup, together with the period of focused work during the +summer session, also offer a unique opportunity for kick-starting innovative +new projects apart from mainline development, which are hard to fit in among +the normal day-to-day development work. This is particularily important for the +Hurd, as innovative uses are crucial to show the benefits of the unique +architecture. Several such projects came into being through the GSoC program +over the past years. + +Moreover, the Google Summer of Code is a good opportunity to get valuable input from new people, as well as spreading technical and other knowledge about the Hurd among actual and potential contributors. -- cgit v1.2.3 From 3fe2f81d9c0750f555badbb9dd1139c5f836d4d9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:29:13 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organisation_application: further rewording in "why participate?" section --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 11 +++++------ 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index f2910d0b..7023af65 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -70,8 +70,9 @@ GNU General Public License (GPL) * Why is your organization applying to participate in GSoC 2010? What do you hope to gain by participating? -The primary goal of course is to find and introduce new long-term contributors -to the project. +The primary goal of our participation is of course to find and introduce new long-term contributors +to the Hurd. We are trying to optimise for this in our student selection +process, our mentoring approach, and our choice of project ideas. The mentor-student setup, together with the period of focused work during the summer session, also offer a unique opportunity for kick-starting innovative @@ -81,11 +82,9 @@ Hurd, as innovative uses are crucial to show the benefits of the unique architecture. Several such projects came into being through the GSoC program over the past years. -Moreover, the Google Summer of Code is a good opportunity to get valuable input from new people, as well as +Last but not least, GSoC participation always yields a lot of valuable input from new people, and helps spreading technical and other knowledge about the Hurd among actual and -potential contributors. - -Last but not least, we hope the participation will have a positive effect on +potential contributors. It has a very positive effect on our community -- new impulses, increased communication, etc. * Did your organization participate in past GSoCs? If so, please summarize your involvement and the successes and challenges of your participation. -- cgit v1.2.3 From b593f5bd39ef21e58ff90cec504493dd653608e1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:42:29 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: Reword section on partial results As we don't focus our participation on code produced during the summer, partial code is also not the major consideration when a project fails. --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 10 +++++----- 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 7023af65..2df2311f 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -162,11 +162,11 @@ time if things go wrong. If a student disappears in spite of that, there is little we can do. Of course we will try to contact him and find out what the problem is; whether the -project can perhaps be scaled down, or at least wrapped up to bring it in a -state where it is useful even if not finished. - -We will also try to limit damage by insisting that students regularily check in -their work to our source repositories, so that we get partial results at least if someone disappears. +project can perhaps be scaled down, or otherwise salvaged, so that the effort +already invested in the student and the project is not wasted. We also try to +make sure that all important design discussions are archieved, and that all +code produced is suitable for upstream inclusion from the beginning -- to allow +others to pick up the project if necessary, without having to start from zero. * What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors? -- cgit v1.2.3 From 3f316983c4d4ccafdf4a56645f22588e8c50dca8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Thomas Schwinge Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:41:27 +0100 Subject: community/gsoc/organization_application: Add my Link ID for Backup Admin purposes. --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 4 +++- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 2df2311f..6775a854 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -1,4 +1,5 @@ -[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc."]] +[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010 Free Software Foundation, +Inc."]] [[!meta license="""[[!toggle id="license" text="GFDL 1.2+"]][[!toggleable id="license" text="Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this @@ -211,3 +212,4 @@ program, and generally help keeping them involved. * Backup Admin (Link ID): +tschwinge -- cgit v1.2.3 From de8c9d0ecabe8917e22963c43615b123dc1e5c20 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:33:09 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organization_application: rework description of Hurd project Almost completely rewrote most of the description, dropping the politics, and focusing on the points I have been trying to emphasise in my recent Hurd presentations. --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 72 +++++++++++++--------------- 1 file changed, 34 insertions(+), 38 deletions(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 6775a854..8ec61c12 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -20,46 +20,42 @@ for the [GNU operating system](http://gnu.org), which is viable for everyday use, and gives users and programs as much control over their computing environment as possible. -When the Hurd was originally started in 1990, it was the last missing major -component for a complete GNU system. Today Linux and other free kernels are -available to fill this gap, and the combination of GNU and Linux (often -[incorrectly](http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html) called just "Linux") -is in wide use. However, the Hurd is still interesting due to its unique -design, better fitting the GNU philosophy than traditional monolithic kernels -like Linux. - -The GNU GPL guarantees that all users of software published under this license -get the legal permission to adapt the software they are using according to -their wishes, and also get the source code and other tools necessary to put -this permission to use. However, in traditional operating systems, the kernel -and related low-level system software are protected from normal users, and -cannot be easily modified; only the system administrator has power over these. - -The Hurd offers special mechanisms that allow any user to change almost all of -the system functionality he uses, without affecting the rest of the system, and -thus easily (at runtime) and without any special permissions. - -This ability to run subenvironments more or less independant from the rest of -the system, can be classified as a very sophisticated [lightweight -virtualization](http://tri-ceps.blogspot.com/2007/10/advanced-lightweight-virtualization.html) -approach. - -To offer these possibilities, the Hurd uses a true multiserver microkernel -architecture. That makes it quite unique: The Hurd is the only general-purpose -multiserver microkernel system in development today that is nearly ready for -everyday use, and offering almost perfect UNIX compatibility. (About 65% -of all packages in the Debian repository are available for the Hurd.) All other -existing true microkernel systems are either research projects not nearly -complete enough for actual use, or limited to embedded systems and other -special purposes, or both. - -Marcus Brinkmann and Neal Walfield from the Hurd project are working at the -bleeding edge of microkernel operating system research. They have been in -contact with the most distinguished researchers in that field from the +In traditional operating systems, most system functionality is provided by the +kernel, and thus cannot be easily modified. The Hurd on the other hand -- +following the GNU spirit of giving users more control over the software they +use -- implements a unique design, which makes it feasible to change almost +everything, down to the core features of the system. + +While on other systems, such changes would require a lot of effort and special +privileges to rebuild the system core, with the Hurd this is not necessary: the +extensible architecture enables users (or applications) to simply modify their +local system environment at any time, while leaving the rest of the system in +place. + +The most obvious example is the completely decentralized VFS mechanism: it can +be extended in almost any imaginable way, simply by setting up suitable server +processes (translators). Not only does this empower users, but also it helps +application development: desktop environments such as GNOME for example, when +making use of these possibilities, wouldn't need to create their own VFS +mechanism -- they simply could extend the system VFS to suit their needs. + +One major element of the design which enables this extensibility, is the use of +a true multiserver microkernel architecture. The Hurd is quite unique in being +the only general-purpose multiserver microkernel system in development today, +that is nearly ready for everyday use, and offering almost perfect UNIX +compatibility. (About 65% of all packages in the Debian repository are +available for the Hurd.) The "general-purpose" and "everyday use" bits are +decisive here: all other existing true microkernel systems are either research +projects not nearly complete enough for actual use; or limited to embedded +systems and other special purposes; or both. + +Marcus Brinkmann and Neal Walfield, while working on improvements to the Hurd +design, pushed at the forefront of microkernel operating system research. They +worked with the most distinguished researchers in this field from the [L4](http://l4hq.org/) and [EROS](http://www.eros-os.org/eros.html)/[Coyotos](http://www.coyotos.org/) -microkernel operating system groups, and have written a couple of [research -papers](http://walfield.org/). +microkernel operating system groups, and published a couple of [research +papers](http://walfield.org/) as well in this process. * Home Page: -- cgit v1.2.3 From 05e87d4aa96f445642914346436ebfe2e8bdbc7c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: antrik Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:53:16 +0100 Subject: gsoc/organisation_application: minor rewording --- community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn') diff --git a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn index 8ec61c12..8e672af1 100644 --- a/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn +++ b/community/gsoc/organization_application.mdwn @@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ Also, we will make sure that we are constantly in contact with the students -- asking about progress, discussing technical issues, etc. -- so we can act in time if things go wrong. -If a student disappears in spite of that, there is little we can do. Of course +If a student disappears in spite of all this, there is little we can do. Of course we will try to contact him and find out what the problem is; whether the project can perhaps be scaled down, or otherwise salvaged, so that the effort already invested in the student and the project is not wasted. We also try to -- cgit v1.2.3