Freifunk Participation in the Google Summer of Code 2009

I applied for the Google Summer of Code for Freifunk again this year and we got in 🙂 Please check the info page on the summer of code page for Freifunk here: http://socghop.appspot.com/org/show/google/gsoc2009/ffopenwrt . Applications need to be submitted via the Google Summer of Code website.

Discuss your ideas for development on the IRC channels of Freifunk and OpenWrt here:
irc.fu-berlin.de #freifunk
irc.freenode.net #openwrt 

We have set up a wiki page for ideas. Please add your idea here:
http://wiki.freifunk.net/Ideas

Some frequently asked questions from the Summer of Code FAQ

How does a student apply?
Students can submit their applications via the Google Summer of Code 2009 site from March 23 – April 3, 2009. … make sure to check out each organization’s "Ideas" list to get to know a particular open source organization better.  

What should a student application look like?
Your application should include the following: your project proposal, why you’d like to execute on this particular project, and the reason you’re the best individual to do so. Your proposal should also include details of your academic, industry, and/or open source development experience, and other details as you see fit. An explanation of your development methodology is a good idea, as well. If the organization you want to work with has a specific application template they would like you to use, it will be made available to you to fill in when submitting your proposal via the GSoC web app.   

Can a student submit more than one application?
Yes, each student may submit up to twenty applications. However, only one application will be accepted. We’ve heard from our mentoring organizations that quality is better than quantity.   

Can students already working on an open source project continue to work on it as part of Google Summer of Code?
Yes, as long as they meet all other requirements for program eligibility. Students should be sure to note their previous relationship with the project in their applications. New work will need to be done for the project as part of participation in GSoC.   

Should students begin working on their applications before Google begins accepting program applications?       
That’s up to you. Keep in mind, though, that our mentoring organizations will be publishing a list of proposed project ideas, so you may find that you’ll want to revamp your application later, or create an entirely new one to address one of those ideas.   

Can a student work on more than one project?
No, each participant is only eligible for one stipend.   

Can a group apply for and work on a single proposal?
No, only an individual may work on a given project. Of course, students should feel free to collaborate with others to accomplish their project goals. 

Links

* http://socghop.appspot.com/org/show/google/gsoc2009/ffopenwrt

* Ideas http://wiki.freifunk.net/Ideas

Freifunk Application for Google Summer of Code – We did not make it .. this time

What happened to the application of the freifunk community (Blog entry) for the Google Summer of code? Well, as you can guess by now, unfortunately we did not get it.. even though we were close. I had asked Leslie Hawthorn and she wrote us back the following lines:

"I know OpenWRT and like them. We simply couldn’t accept everyone. You folks made our short list if that helps. I can give you more feedback if you send me the URL for your ideas list. Is there a way Google can help you beyond Summer of Code? Leslie Hawthorn"

We had some nice ideas. Our intention was to serve as an umbrella for all the freifunk projects here, but maybe we can join the program next year. We still have the ideas pages, which is probably also intresting for developers who want to join freifunk projects in the future.

Some of the project ideas were/are:

  • Multimedia Streaming in Mesh Networks / Porting Obamp to C++
  • Passive + Active Measurement in Mesh Networks / Porting OpenIMP probes to OpenWRT
  • Traffic Flow Visualization / IPFIX DataSource for freimap
  • Mesh Node Status Monitoring / SNMP DataSource for freimap
  • Service Discovery in Mesh Networks / Avahi DataSource for freimap
  • Service Control Module for freimap
  • Topology visualization / B.A.T.M.A.N and olsrd routing decision recovery for freimap
  • Database output for freimap
  • Antenna placement information elements in freifunk map data
  • Search in Wireless Mesh Networks – Yacy
  • Search in Wireless Mesh Networks – Nutch/Lucene
  • Peer-to-peer file sharing applications in Wireless Mesh Networks
  • Developing a Freifunk Theme for CMS
  • VoIP phoning in Freifunk Mesh Networks
  • Porting Freifunk to EeePC
  • Freifunk Webinterface for OpenWrt Kamikaze

( http://wiki.freifunk.net/Ideas)

Freifunk Application for Google Summer of Code

Some fantastic work was done during the last days working with some great folks to get an application for freifunk networks for the Google Summer of Code out. Our goal is to get new students excited about the idea of free networks and to join us in the development process and contribute code. We have formed an international group to get this application done. Besides talking to our developers in Germany I have been busily speaking to ninux.org from Italy, guifi.net from Spain and France Wireless in order to recruit our most talented and active developers as mentors for the programme. Not everyone was able to give me a "yes" yet, but we have formed a great team to start off and we are happy to welcome even more prospective mentors from other free wireless networks from around the world.

Our starting team of mentors is:

  • Sven-Ola Tücke (http://ff-firmware.sf.net, Freifunk Firmware)
  • Alexander Morlang (Alx, p2p in freifunk networks, Fraunhofer, Germany)
  • Thomas Hirsch (freimap, Fraunhofer, Germany)
  • Felix Fietkau (OpenWRT, Europe)
  • Frithjof Hammer (Freifunk BNO, Germany)
  • Harald Schioeberg (t-labs, Germany)
  • Ramon Navarro Bosch (Guifi.net, Spain, former GSoC Plone student)
  • Xavi Martinez (Guifi.net, Spain)
  • Aaron Kaplan (OLSR.org, Austria)
  • Francesco Saverio Proto (ninux.org, Italy)
  • Mikolas Bingemer (Freifunk-Hannover.de, Germany, head of Software development of medium sized enterprise)
  • Jo-Philipp Wich (leipzig.freifunk.net, Freifunk Leipzig Firmware, Germany)
  • Andrea Detti is full researcher and adjoined Professor at the School of Telecommunications Engineering of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" (Italy)

The backup organization administrator is Mario Behling (me), (Freifunkblog, perspektive89.com, Germany)

My idea is that we would have mentors for students who would maybe even be able to meet them locally. As we find already more than 170 free wireless communities worldwide on the global freifunk newswire, there is a chance we could do this in a lot of cases.

Freifunk serves as an umbrella for all the local projects here. We use the Freifunk-Wiki for our coordination. We started to collect ideas for possible student projects here already as well. Currently there are:

  • Multimedia Streaming in Mesh Networks / Porting Obamp to C++
  • Passive + Active Measurement in Mesh Networks / Porting OpenIMP probes to OpenWRT
  • Traffic Flow Visualization / IPFIX DataSource for freimap
  • Mesh Node Status Monitoring / SNMP DataSource for freimap
  • Service Discovery in Mesh Networks / Avahi DataSource for freimap
  • Service Control Module for freimap
  • Topology visualization / B.A.T.M.A.N and olsrd routing decision recovery for freimap
  • Database output for freimap
  • Antenna placement information elements in freifunk map data
  • Search in Wireless Mesh Networks – Yacy
  • Search in Wireless Mesh Networks – Nutch/Lucene
  • Peer-to-peer file sharing applications in Wireless Mesh Networks
  • Developing a Freifunk Theme for CMS
  • VoIP phoning in Freifunk Mesh Networks
  • Porting Freifunk to EeePC
  • Freifunk Webinterface for OpenWrt Kamikaze
  • more ideas are welcome…

After the application of Freifunk is accepted, prospective students have two weeks to apply at the summer of code programme. We hope our application will be accepted and we will soon see new
students contributing to the code base of our projects. We are looking forward to have students participating on an ongoing basis in the free wireless freifunk
networks all over the world.

Freifunk-Projekte für Google Summer of Code gesucht

Bis zum 12. März können sich Open Source-Projekte beim Google Summer of Code bewerben.

Für jeden studentischen Entwickler stiftet Google ein "Stipendium" in
Höhe von 5000 US-Dollar. 4500 Dollar der Summe gehen direkt an den
Studenten, die restlichen 500 Dollar erhält das betreuende
Open-Source-Projekt. Eine FAQ enthält einen genauen
Zeitplan und beantwortet
Fragen zu Details des Förderprogramms. (04.03.2008 11:37, http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/104444)

Wer Lust hat sich für ein freifunkrelevantes Projekt bei Google zu bewerben, kann sich gerne bei mir melden. Ich helfe euch gerne bei der Bewerbung. Beispiele für erfolgreiche Bewerbungen und ein "HOWTO: Write a Summer of Code application" gibt es u.a. bei der Drupal-Community zu sehen. Potentielle Freifunk-Projekte, die mir einfallen sind Maps, Mashups und Protokolle.