About Google Summer of Code 2012

[Rainer Müller]

Hello MacPorts developers,

today, Google has announced Summer of Code 2012! I think most of you
will already have heard of it. Google pays students to work on various
Open Source projects over the summer. It is also a good start for
students with Open Source development. MacPorts is taking part in this
program every year since 2007.

http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2012/02/google-summer-of-code-2012-is-on.html

I have been the organization administrator for The MacPorts Project in
the last years, but unfortunately I will not have enough time to do this
again this year as I am supposed to write my thesis.

I will definitely be around to help with selection of students or answer
any questions regarding the program. However, I can't promise a fixed
amount of time per week and thus, I hope someone else will step up to
fill this position. After all, there is still some time left for the
organization application deadline.

I just want to list the duties and responsibilities of the organization
administrator to describe this position in more detail:

 * Submit the organization application to Google
    The version from last year can be found at:
    -> http://trac.macports.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeOrgApplication

 * Acquire mentors (could be for specific topics, e.g. GUI)
    Look through the list of mentors of the past years and ask them if
    they would be wiling to participate again. Also consider asking
    the students from last years as they are familiar with the program.
    -> http://trac.macports.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeArchive
    Responsibilites of a mentor:
    -> http://trac.macports.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeMentorGuidelines

 * Distribute students interested in MacPorts to the right mentors
    Students are supposed to report in on the mailing list or on IRC
    and discuss their project before submitting the final application
    to us. The organization administrator should keep an overview over
    these students and be the point of contact for them. Point them to
    the mentors for specific topics.

 * Review students' applications
    After the deadline, we have to request a slot count from Google.
    This determines how many students can work for us. This number
    depends on the number of mentors and the number of good
    applications.
    How such an application should look like:
    -> http://trac.macports.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeApplicationTemplate
    What we expect from students:
    -> http://trac.macports.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeGuidelines

 * Be the point of contact during the summer
    If anything important happens during this summer, Google will hold
    the organization administrator responsible for all communications.

 * Mid-term and Final evaluations
    Make sure all mentors and all students fill out the evaluations.
    Discuss with all mentors if any student should not pass the
    mid-term or final evaluation, for example they did not work enough
    on the assigned project.

Well, this might look like a long list now, but the main work is to be
done in March/April for the review of students' applications.

See also the official timeline:
http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/events/google/gsoc2012

Rainer