GSoC application advice for students

[Jamison Hope <jrh at theptrgroup dot com>]

To anyone considering submitting an application to work on Kawa
for Google Summer of Code:

As one of the mentors, it seemed good to me to share some thoughts  
with you.

When it comes time to review proposals and choose which to accept,  
here's
what's going to happen:
1. Google will allocate N slots to the GNU project.
2. All of the different projects under the GNU umbrella [1] will fight  
for
   one or more of those N slots. Note: there are 25 packages listed  
on the
   GNU SOC ideas page, if I counted correctly; most likely, N will be  
< 25,
   probably significantly so, and so we'll have to convince GNU folks
   outside of the Kawa community to let us have even one of those  
slots.

Therefore, your proposal needs to make us want to fight on your behalf.
Here's a partial list of how to do that:

- Get involved with Kawa! Introduce yourself on this list, submit bug  
reports
  or patches, or just ask questions. You want us to recognize your  
name when
  we see it on a GSoC proposal.

- Talk to us about your proposal ideas. We can help you narrow it down  
to
  something that can reasonably be done within the time allowed.

- I won't mind if you disagree with some suggestion that I give you,  
as long
  as you can show me that you've thought about it.

- Be specific in your proposal and set reasonable goals.

- Don't be afraid to ask for guidance. We aren't expecting you to have
  all the answers. This is supposed to be a learning experience.


Beyond that, remember that GSoC is supposed to be fun! It's summer!


-Jamie

[1] List here: http://www.gnu.org/software/soc-projects/ideas-2012.html

--
Jamison Hope
The PTR Group
www.theptrgroup.com