Google Summer of Code
This page collects information about participation of wlan slovenija open wireless network in Google Summer of Code as a mentoring organization. wlan slovenija is participating at Google Summer of Code through our umbrella organization Freifunk.
Google Summer of Code is a Google-sponsored program where Google stipends students working for a summer job on an open source projects from all around the world. Student is paid $5000 (and a t-shirt!) for approximately two months of work/contribution to the project. Student should submit a proposal of his idea of contribution, for which some suggested ideas can be used as a basis. More about the program is available on its homepage.
About wlan slovenija
wlan slovenija is an informal country-wide initiative from Slovenia which works mainly on building open and free community wireless networks in a bottom-up approach, encouraging people to build their common network with use of their own common computer network infrastructure, mostly using consumer products.
The main goal of the initiative is to encourage people to participate in building a common, open and free country-wide computer network for all. To be able to reach this goal we are actively educating and helping people participating, but to be really successful we have started developing versatile open source applications which help with different aspects of deploying, running and maintaining such a network. Flagship application of wlan slovenija development is called nodewatcher and it is an open source system for easier planning, deployment and maintenance of the network. It is a centralized web user interface which enables easier coordination and planning of a network with monitoring at the same time. Furthermore it is also a web based image generator that generates a customized image for a given network node, so no node configuration after flashing is necessary.
So what we are interested in as an open source project is to develop even more applications which would help growing similar networks around the world and ease people participation in different aspects of such network: operating it is just one, content production and social and political aspects are then for example others. Interests of current participants of wlan slovenija open wireless network range from hardware modifications to mesh networking, routing protocols, client applications, content creation and so on and on, mostly everything connected with networking and people's participation. We contribute to many existing open source projects, and where we see a lack of good quality open source solution we develop it and offer it to the communities around the world. We hope to develop a bundle of applications which working together will enable everybody to grow similar open network also in their part of the globe. And to do that in the interoperable way.
Contact
We are using mailing lists for discussions and development. You should probably subscribe and use development mailing list to get into the contact with us, or for any questions, thoughts and so on you might have about GSoC. You can also try out chat where we hang around.
The best way to discuss your proposals is to submit them into the Google Summer of Code system and we can then use comments there to discuss your proposals.
You can continue working on your proposals after submission (but just until the deadline). In this way you will also not miss the deadline because your application will already be in the system.
Student applications
wlan slovenija is participating at Google Summer of Code through our umbrella organization Freifunk so select Freifunk when submitting the application.
After student application period be ready to be available for further questions regarding your applications and some tests of your coding and other skills. It is advisable that you submit in your application links to your possible existing contribution(s) to open source project(s) so that we can review them in advance.
Ideas
Of course those ideas are open to work on also outside of the program. And of course we are interested in anything connected with open (wireless) networking and mesh networking, connecting people with technology, tools for better collaboration and so on.