[ Note: Reply-To: set to the new linaro-gsoc mailing list ]

Hi folks,

Following up on my previous mails about this...

I have just submitted the application for Linaro to be a mentoring organisation in the Google Summer of Code 2013 [1]. The two admins registered on the application are me and Ilias Biris; please ask us if you have any questions. I've written a wiki page to cover our participation so far [2].

First: at this point, there is no guarantee that we will actually be accepted as a mentoring organisation for the summer. That decision will be made by the people at Google. However, we should prepare in the expectation that we will be. If we *are* accepted, we will find out how many student project slots we will be allocated later in the process - see the timeline below.

Now, we need two more things: potential projects and potential mentors.

Project ideas =============

I've started a project ideas page [3] with an initial suggestion of AArch64 porting project(s), based on the assembly scanning work I've just completed.

A few Linaro folks responded to my previous messages about potential projects, which is great. Please write those up! If you have any details of any other projects you think would:

a) be helpful to Linaro b) be interesting as a student project

then please add to the page. If you're able and willing to act as a mentor, then that's great. But even if you're not ready to be a mentor, please list the project anyway: we may be able to find somebody else to run it.

If you're listing a project, try not to be *too* explicit about what you're looking for. Part of the application process involves students contacting potential mentors to find out more, and to try and impress them with existing skills, knowledge and background research. If you spoon-feed too much to a student, you're likely to just get your own words fed straight back to you.

The list of suggested projects matters in terms of whether Google will accept us or not - the more likely-looking projects we suggest, the better we will appear. However, our lists of suggested projects need not be exhaustive and won't be the final choice anyway. I know from running previous GSoC projects that it's common for students to look at the suggestions then come up with their own ideas. We should expect that and be prepared to work with students to develop their ideas.

Mentors =======

We also need mentors for projects, ideally at least two per project. It's possible to run a project with a single mentor, but it's strongly recommended to have backups in place to cover for vacations etc. Backup mentors don't need to have the same level of knowledge about their project, but should be available to help the student if needed.

If you would like to mentor and have a great project idea, awesome! Equally, if you'd be happy to mentor a project but don't have any suitable ideas of your own then that's fine too. In each case, please add yourself to the list in the overview page. To be able to participate in the program, you will *also* need to register in Google's web app "Melange" (and this is where to get a "link id") - follow links from the GSoC 2013 page [4] to do that.

As well as actually mentoring successful applicants, we will also be asking mentors to help rank the incoming applications and help us select students. Then, for any accepted projects, those mentors will also be asked to compile progress reports and evaluations at various points through the summer. You should expect to spend a few hours per week working with your student.

Why should you get involved? This is your chance to work with new people who want to take their first steps into the community. You get to share your knowledge and experience and help them learn more. Let's get the next generation of developers hooked on Linux, ARM and Open Source!

Communication =============

I've set up a new irc channel #linaro-gsoc, and we have a new mailing list linaro-gsoc@lists.linaro.org. Please join and use those for GSoC-related discussions.

Timeline and next steps =======================

(Simplified - see the wiki page [2] for more info)

Mar 29: Mentoring organisation application deadline. (TOMORROW)

Apr 8: Google program administrators review organisation applications, then list of accepted mentoring organisations published on the Google Summer of Code 2013 site. If we're accepted, prepare for more work below!

Apr 9-21: Would-be student participants discuss application ideas with mentoring organisations.

Apr 22: Student application period opens.

May 3: Student application deadline. Mentoring organisations review and rank student proposals; where necessary, mentoring organisations may request further proposal detail from the student applicant.

May 8: Slot allocations published to mentoring organisations. Slot allocation trades happen amongst organisations. Mentoring organisations review and rank student proposals; where necessary, mentoring organisations may request further proposal detail from the student applicant.

May 24-27: Final project choices made, students and mentors paired up. Accepted student proposals announced on the Google Summer of Code 2013 site.

Jun 17: Coding starts

Jul 29 - Mid-term evaluations Aug 2:

Sep 16: Suggested 'pencils down' date. Take a week to scrub code, write tests, improve documentation, etc.

Sep 23: Hard deadline for end of coding.

Sep 27: Final evaluations due; students can begin submitting required code samples to Google

Oct 1: Final results of Google Summer of Code 2013 announced

Oct 19-20: Mentor Summit at Google: Representatives from each successfully participating organisation are invited to Google to greet, collaborate and code. Our mission for the weekend: make the program even better, have fun and make new friends.

Anything else? ==============

Feel free to ask me on irc or by mail...

[1] https://developers.google.com/open-source/soc/ [2] https://wiki.linaro.org/SummerOfCode [3] https://wiki.linaro.org/SummerOfCode/ProjectIdeas [4] http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2013

Cheers,