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Re: GSoC application deadline passed


From: Arne Babenhauserheide
Subject: Re: GSoC application deadline passed
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:02:56 +0100
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Hi Olaf, 

I'm sorry I didn't contribute. 

First of all I didn't think I could really help, since my knowledge of HURD 
internals is limited to some surface stuff (that's what you learn in 
informatics courses). 


But there is something I direly miss in the HURD, and that doesn't have 
anything to do with its actual code, but with how it can be accessed and 
seen. 

When we had the HURD in my informatics class, one task was to find out 
information about the HURD, and as I searched for information on the current 
state of the HURD, it looked quite dead. 

This wasn't because it was dead, but simply because it doesn't get as much 
attention as it would deserve - and that has a reason. 

So I added a project idea to fix this: 


* A release creation framework

One of the points which keep people from using the HURD is that it never looks 
like it is in a working state. To get attention from people (and the press, 
etc.) the HURD needs releases, and doing a release should be as simple as 
submitting a changelog and release notes and tagging the code, ideally done 
with only one simple command. 

A framework for creating HURD releases could give the HURD far more visibility 
and thus make it more interesting to developers. 

It should include automatic publishing of the press release to selected 
weblogs and newssites, as well as preparing and uploading the release to 
visible servers and creating images of the HURD to be used in free 
virtualization software and livecds ( an example livecd: 
http://people.debian.org/~neal/hurd-live-cd/ ), so people can test the 
features at once. 

Also it should update a status page with the current release (with date), 
state and features of the HURD. 

It could automatically update packages for different distributions, too. 

The press releases should also by default include pointers to all necessary 
information to dive into using the HURD, as well as to begin coding at once. 

And naturally the framework should be easily adaptable to changes inside the 
HURD project and, if possible, to other projects as well. 

-> http://www.bddebian.com/~wiki/community/gsoc/project_ideas/ 


I like the ideas about the HURD, and I want to be able to switch to a HURD 
system soon (at most a few years), so the progress and state of the HURD must 
be visible. 

One example: I see many changes in the commit list. 
Why don't I see livecds integrating the new changes appearing at once? 
Why are there no automatically updated images, I can just testdrive? 

One example illustrating the problem is this post in the gentoo forums: 
-> http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-4960103.html#4960103

I feel that making a release is a vital process for any free project, since it 
focusses the attention on the users (that means: the target audience). 


Besides: Is there some other way to update the wiki besides the webinterface? 
That web interface is horribly slow for me. 

Best wishes, 
Arne
PS: I fully understand your rant. 
PPS: I rust read your application, and I like it. For me it looks well written 
and gets to the point. 
PPPS: About the application form: Please remember that there's a 7500 char 
limit on the application, so students should maybe provide links to specifics 
at other places. 


El Thursday, 13 de March de 2008 09:03:30 olafBuddenhagen@gmx.net escribió:
> Hi,
>
> A little status update: The participation deadline for organisations
> passed yesterday.
>
> It's all over now -- those who didn't contribute to the organisation
> application and student application form drafts (which includes YOU),
> have managed to get away.
>
> Oh, and yes: Amazingly, I actually managed to hand in my^H^Hour
> application before the deadline. What is to be done now is waiting to
> see whether I^Hwe get accepted. Praying is an option. Bribing google
> employees is another one.
>
> I must say that I was totally overwhelmed by the amount of help I got
> from our "community" with creating the drafts. I'm rather used to
> getting quite little response on such things; but this exceeded all my
> expectations. The total amount of improvements, suggestions, comments
> contributed by others amounts to an increadibly round number -- the most
> round number of all: Zero.
>
> Nobody contributed as much as a single remark. Not one.
>
> But wait, I'm too hasty with my praise! After all, there is also the
> project ideas list (
> http://www.bddebian.com/~wiki/community/gsoc/project_ideas/ ), which is
> still open. Plenty of chance still for everyone to not help.
>
> Though it's a sad sad business, as the previous zero score is not
> achievable anymore -- someone already contributed a bit to the project
> list. Guess who? Last year's SoC student. (Thanks Fredrik!)
>
> Do you think I'm bitter? No, not much. Not after having had a tolerably
> good sleep. A tolerably good sleep can make up for a considerable amount
> of disappointment, believe me.
>
> Now enough of that. Let's move on to something more satisfying. Like,
> say, staring out of the window.
>
> -antrik-



-- 
Unpolitisch sein
Heißt politisch sein
Ohne es zu merken. 
- Arne Babenhauserheide ( http://draketo.de )
-- Weblog: http://blog.draketo.de

-- Mein öffentlicher Schlüssel (PGP/GnuPG): 
http://draketo.de/inhalt/ich/pubkey.txt

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