GSoC Application
Work in progress, to be validated once the application questions for 2016 are known. Content based on the phpMyAdmin GSoC application page.
This is a draft of the application that the sigrok project will send to Google to apply as a mentoring organization. Students probably want to look at our GSoC overview.
Organization description
The sigrok project aims at creating a portable, cross-platform, Free/Libre/Open-Source signal analysis software suite that supports various device types (e.g. logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and many more).
Organization home page url
Main organization license
GNU GPL v3 or later
Veteran/New
New
If you chose "veteran" in the dropdown above, please summarize your involvement and the successes and challenges of your participation. Please also list your pass/fail rate for each year.
If you chose "new" in the dropdown above, have you applied in the past? If so, for what year(s)?
We haven't applied before.
Why is your organization applying to participate in Google Summer of Code 2016?
With the advent of cheap logic analyzer hardware, the sigrok project has gained a big following in the hobbyist and even professional crowd. While this makes us happy, it also means that user expectations rise rapidly - especially regarding device compatibility, features and performance. This is very demanding on our rather small team. We'd like to use the GSoC as an opportunity to not only improve the code base but also try and establish long-term relationships with developers-to-be. That way, everyone benefits.
What is the URL for your Ideas list?
What is the main development mailing list for your organization?
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-devel
What is the main IRC channel for your organization?
#sigrok on FreeNode
How many potential mentors have agreed to mentor this year?
1-5
What is your plan for dealing with disappearing students?
We want to see any applying student hang out with us on #sigrok and engange in discussion before choosing. That way, we hope to select someone who shows the dedication that we wish to see. If, for whatever reason, a student should disappear then we believe he/she has good reasons to do so. We will however still try to reach out and see if we can help.
How will you keep mentors engaged with their students?
Our mentors are highly motivated and want to make sigrok the most useful and versatile open-source signal analysis toolbox available. They're fully aware that this goal can only be reached by motivating others to contribute. We're actually more concerned about finding students who share the same kind of passion for our project and its goals :)
What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors?
The mentor is a long time developer of the project and thus has a high motivation not to disappear. In case this cannot be avoided, several other project developers are prepared to take over.
How will you help your students stay on schedule to complete their projects?
It is assumed that students stay on IRC during their entire time they're participating in the GSoC. That way, we can check back with the students on a regular basis. We also expect their code changes to be pushed to a public repository (e.g. on github) so we can give feedback and/or check that the work is progressing in the right direction.
How will you get your students involved in your community during GSoC?
The same way we will make sure they stay on schedule: keeping them on IRC to promote discussion and sharing of knowledge.
What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with your project's community before and during the program?
We require students to be active before the program starts. Ideally, they submit a patch solving a bug or implementing a small new feature, as part of their application. That way, they'll become familiar with parts of the code and interact with the community. The current developers review the submitted patches and comment on them, providing constructive feedback.
It is expected that students stay on IRC during their entire time they're participating in the GSoC. That way, we can check back with the students on a regular basis. We also expect their code changes to be pushed to a public repository (e.g. on github) at least once a week so we can give timely feedback and/or check that the work is progressing in the right direction.
What will you do to encourage that your accepted students stick with the project after Google Summer of Code concludes?
First off we will try to accept only students that have an intrinsic motivation to stay with us. This is particularly true for EE/CompEng/EmbSystems students. They will find that sigrok has a lot to offer, especially due to the availability of low-cost logic analyzer hardware. We will provide them with a sigrok shirt and one such logic analyzer (e.g. this) when the GSoC begins. We hope that this makes them use sigrok for their study and hobby projects, encouraging them to stick around and contribute.
Are you a new organization who has a Googler or other organization to vouch for you? If so, please list their name(s) here.
None
Are you an established or larger organization who would like to vouch for a new organization applying this year? If so, please list their name(s) here.
None
What year was your project started?
2009