Re: [boost] [GSOC] Are we going to participate?

Subject: Re: [boost] [GSOC] Are we going to participate?
From: Andrew Sutton (asutton.list_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-02-14 10:02:06

>> What project ideas are we proposing? (As for me, I'd love to see
>> unique_ptr+unique_array implemented using Boost.Move; C++11 features
>> support for MPL, Fusion, Graph, Bind, Optional; BTree library; library
>> for getting system info)
>
>
> Andrew was the GSoC administrator for Boost in the previous years but
> unfortunately has no time this year. So I jump in. I just created the Wiki
> page <https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/wiki/SoC2013> and will send around
> another email in the coming days. For now I encourage everyone to brainstorm
> just like Antony did about what you would like to see in Boost. Google
> didn't invite us last year to participate in the program, and the reason was
> that we didn't have enough ideas/projects. So feel free to send ideas to
> this mailing list or add them to the Wiki page. For now no idea is too
> stupid - and even if it is, it might help someone else to get a good idea.
> :)

I'll add my two cents and observations from the past years.

Boost was not accepted last year because the project list was,
frankly, pathetic. Few people sent projects ideas, and I would guess
that fewer had any real intent of mentoring them.

On the topic of project ideas, you will be confronted with two
conflicting goals:
  1. Getting code into the Boost release in the short term
  2. Having a proposal that can be completed in 3 months
Reject input from any person who claims that project ideas or
proposals must satisfy these requirements.

Getting code into Boost takes longer than 3 months on average, so it
should never considered as a requirement. Encourage students to be
ambitious with proposals by proposing ambitious projects. Projects of
the form "fix bugs in XXX" or "implement feature YYY" may appeal to
some students, but they're about as interesting as watching paint dry.

It has been my opinion for several years that Boost is best served by
GSoC by recruiting students to work on novel and interesting projects.
This cannot happen if projects are constrained to those that can be
finished in 3 months.

Andrew