[gnome-love] GSoC for Aussies

[Joshua Henderson <joshhendo gmail com>]

Hi Everyone,

Earlier this year I was seriously considering participating in GSoC this year, as it is my first year of University. I had a look into it, and found that, well, it is deigned to be done over a summer break (hence the name), which unfortunately doesn't work for people in the Southern Hemisphere (eg. me), so for a little while I just put it behind me and figured I probably wouldn't be able to do it.

Today I was thinking that maybe I still could, as there would be quite a number of students though the summer of code's that would have different summer breaks to me. So I hopped onto the discussion group [1] and did a quick search for "Australia". Indeed, there did seem to be some people in the same situation as me [2]. Those threads mentioned that you most likely can, as long as you organise something with your mentoring organisation and they are aware of your limitations.

Hence my email to this list. If I did apply for Summer of Code, Gnome would definitely be my first choice* as a organisation, and would definitely really like to be able to help out Gnome given the opportunity. So my question is, given my limitations, would there be mentors in Gnome that would help me work around this?

My limitations are:
   * Uni exam period starting on the 7th of June, and ending on the 25th of June.
     [THOUGH, I do not have an exam timetable, and I will only have 3 exams, so there is a chance I could finish all my exams in the second week]

   * Inter-semester break between 28th of June and 26th of August (4 week break that I could use to work on the project)

Actually, now I look at the timeline, I would have a bit of time to work on it before exams start (remembering that I still need to study for exams), and then about 3 weeks to work on it in the break I have (as the break I have extends to past the deadline for Summer Of Code).

So overall, is there a chance I would be able to participate in Summer of Code, given the circumstances, or would it be better to skip over Summer of Code this year?

Thoughts and comments are appreciated


Regards,
Josh


(* I do realise that there is a selection process and that I may or may not get in, but Gnome is the project I would most like to work on if I was selected )

1:  http://groups.google.com/group/google-summer-of-code-discuss

2: http://groups.google.com/group/google-summer-of-code-discuss/browse_thread/thread/dc23902b9ba722b5/11f04764f6ad674e?lnk=gst&q=australia#11f04764f6ad674e

-- 
Joshua Henderson
   +61 449 128 074
   joshhendo gmail com