[gentoo-soc] Before Applying, Questions About Time

[Jacob Godserv]

I sent this e-mail to zmedico a few days ago, but he is busy and is
unable to mentor for gentoo-soc, so I am reposting my e-mail, slightly
edited so it applies to the group rather than to one person, here so
someone else can pick it up and answer some of its questions.

So, first an introduction, for those who like background information.
My IRC nickname is javaJake. I am active in the Neuvoo project and am
already working on custom portage features for portage, which I hope
to merge back into mainline portage. I am very interested in working
on Portage as part of the GSoC program, and I think I could be very
effective since I am already actively involved in Gentoo. (Well, I am
idle, coding-wise, during college semesters due to school workload.)

The purpose of this e-mail is to express deep interest in contributing
towards Gentoo in ways that I am most effective during GSoC, and ask
what the expectations are for an applicant. Since I already have a
job, the questions are written with that in mind:
*) In your experience, how much time does a student spend on a
project? I understand you aren't the student who does the work, or
that students vary greatly, so I will be satisfied with whatever you
can give me for an answer.
*) Who are these projects designed for? Are they designed for Gentoo?
Or are they designed for a specific skill level? In other words, are
they just a list of things that need to get done, and a student can
pick the one that seems to fit them best Or are they all meant to be
handled by a particular crowd, who can pick whatever?
*) I always get very nervous whenever there are deadlines, because I
know, in the field of programming at least, deadlines are
extraordinarily hard to meet. What factors do you think determine
success in a project? What made or broke previous students' plans?

Just so you don't get the wrong idea, I am _not_ trying to find out
how little work I have to do to get by. I am trying to determine
whether or not I will be able to handle the workload, whatever the
quantity. I assume there must be plenty of students involved in GSoC
who have jobs as well, and I'm very curious about how that generally
works.

Fwiw, I am considering the following project:
http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_2010_ideas#Improved_binary_package_support

Thanks for taking the time to read my e-mail!

-- 
    Jacob

    "For then there will be great distress, unequaled
    from the beginning of the world until now — and never
    to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut
    short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the
    elect those days will be shortened."

    Are you ready?