MATE Desktop joined with Fedora for GSoC 2013

It is a great pleasure to announce that the MATE project is featuring in GSoC 2013 program with Fedora project.

MATE desktop environment, a project forking GNOME 2 code base (read more about MATE) is joined with the Fedora project and working together for GSoC 2013 in coming summer. Two project ideas has been added to the idea page and interested students can look forward to join with those project by contacting the mentor.

Stefano Karapetsas, Lead Developer, is the main point of contact between the Fedora project and the MATE project. We do believe this would be an interesting step to collaborate with other communities.

An “Event Management System” for Fedora

Fedora Ambassadors are quite busy with organizing events to promote and spread the word about the Fedora OS and the project. The scale of the vent may vary small to a FUDCon, but the basic principles like preparation, budget management and stuff remain same for both ends. For a long time I tend to use few project management tools to organize those in a better way. But non satisfy my need 100% , therefore think of drafting a project idea to create and develop an Event Management System for focusing the Fedora project.

Event management can be devided into small peices which includes Budget Management, SWAG production, Attendees Management, Work Break-down Structure (WBS),Sponsorship Management and phases like Planning, Executing and After Event.

In Planning Phase, WBS should be properly implemented with deadlines, this is where Project Management principles should be implemented to make sure the event is under control. Simply the work that is break down should have deadline which the work should be completed, the planned cost for the work, earlier start and latest start, earlier completion and latest completion, successor work and predecessor work, priority and criticality, etc.. Simply we can consider this as a Work Object.

In Executing Phase, it should be possible to update the Work Object with the progress so that it can be possible to calculate the current progress and money spend at a given time.

After event Phase, it should be possible to create all the budget report and analyse the event.

The next important thing is the Attendees Management which includes Content Management as well. There should be a easy to set up component which enables Attendees Registration over a web site and the public should be able to submit content like speeches. The content should be supported according to the event type, Bar Camp style or Conference Style.

Sponsorship Management is quite important but we can think of that later.

I would like to see Object Orient design for the proposed system using the design pattern MVC with PHP.

GSoC 2013 – The Fedora Project has made it again!

With great pleasure on behalf the Fedora Summer Coding group I would like to announce that the Fedora project has been selected for the Google Summer Coding program 2013 and this would be the 8^th time with GSoC.

Student’s application period has been started therefore please make sure you have submit the application in advance to avoid last time issues.

For more info and updates join with the mailing list and find more info at GSoC portal in Fedora http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/GSOC_2013

Wish you a happy summer coding !!!

__construct() in PHP, OOP with PHP

In PHP it is possible to use the construct method which is really useful, in java we can have several constructor methods and the rule is the method name should be as same as the class name. In PHP the rule is quite different. It uses a special method __construct which is called once an object is created or simply when new operator is used. Therefore this method is also known as “magic method” and it is one of the few magic methods in PHP.

Without further text, following would be an example of using constructor method with in PHP OOP.

class Cube1 {

	private $length;
	private $depth;
	private $height; 
	
	public function __construct() {
		$this->length = 10;
		$this->depth = 10;
		$this->height = 10;
	}
	
	public function getVolume() {
		return ($this->length * $this->depth * $this->height);
	}
}

$box=new Cube1();
echo $box->getVolume();

This looks really simple. How would it be if we need to have more than one constructor methods which can accept arguments.

class Cube1 {

	private $length;
	private $depth;
	private $height; 
	
	public function __construct($a=10,$b=10,$c=10) {
		$this->length = $a;
		$this->depth = $b;
		$this->height = $c;
	}
	
	public function getVolume() {
		return ($this->length * $this->depth * $this->height);
	}
}

$box=new Cube1(10,2.5);
echo $box->getVolume();

$box2=new Cube1(2);
echo $box2->getVolume();

Since in PHP the __construct method cannot be override directly as in Java but there are few techniques to use so that it is possible in the indirect way. Will discuss them in the next post.

It is up to you to use your imagination and creativity to make use the of this feature.

Tips for first time organizations in GSoC

Many new projects are interested in taking part in GSoC program and I think of organizing some of my ideas hoping this would be helpful. Therefore following tips would be a good point to start thinking for new organizations who are applying for GSoC program for the first time.

Tips

• First your organization need some people to manage this, dont take it easy these three months would be with heavy work and would be difficult than you think now. So you will need around 3 persons to manage it in Org Admin level and it is better to have two mentors per project at least.
• It is important to maintain 100% pass rate. That means all the projects are completed successfully with in the stipulated time frame.
• Focus on few no of projects (2 would be good – however new organizations are getting 2-4 no of slots in the program too) and make sure those projects are getting ended as expected.
• Be cautious when selecting students, try to select the right students with right attitudes towards Free and Open Source Software and with right knowledge.
• Discuss with mentors and create an evaluation process to select students for projects, in this point Org Admins and Mentors should have to have a good coordination. It is good to evaluate the students based on their past performances with FOSS projects, knowledge, communication skills, interest on the project idea and the organization and other attitudes which are important to work in a community and list grows….
• Since this is the first year with GSoC, it is recommended to have some people who has the experience with GSoC in the team (may be there can be contributors with in the organization who has followed the program as students or mentors for other organizations in past)
• Org Admin has a very dynamic role through out the period, it is good if Org Admins can stay touched with the ongoing projects and be proactive. Monitor the progress of the ongoing projects and make sure the students and mentors are having smooth communication.
• Meet the deadline and be extra cautious about them. Mid-evaluations and final evaluation are miles stones to remember.
• Be certain about the fact that “Why your organisation needs GSoC?”, some organizations need to get implemented some features, fix bugs, extend the product and some need to find potential contributors and some organizations requires both. Make sure to define what your organization is required out of above. However it is good to have a plan to get their support after the GSoC program as well.
• Maintain an informative Wiki, most of the new organization just maintain an idea page, and that is all. But it is good to have more information from your side. Google provides vast set of information, but still it is good to have more info from your organization. Therefore try to maintain a very informative set of wiki pages explaining what kind of students your organization is looking for, about the mentors, future plans to keep students with the organization, if there is any extra reward for students from the organization, organization specific FAQs, template of the student application, a small getting start guide with links for more info and list grows…..
• Blog everything, I found out blog posts are really important in many ways. Therefore try to blog and ask mentors to do so too. I would prefer students do the same after they started the project. This can be implemented as a condition so that each week students will blog what they have done. This is good artifact to follow the project with no effort.
• Encourage the students to join with the groups inside the organization and build up connection with the community. This is important to get their contribution after the program concludes.
• Let the development group in your organization know about the new students in advanced and ask them to help those students. Increase the awareness with in the organization so that new students wont face difficult situations.
• Last but not least, plan for the worst and be ready.

There are more to write, I ll consider adding them to the next post. If you need any clarifications please comment.

Org perspective on Google Summer of Coding – Part 1

GSoC 2013 has been announced recently and both organizations and students have started working towards achieving the ultimate glory as Google OSO termed.

For a Free Software organization, GSoC is actualizing a good opportunity since it is creating a platform which enables the interaction with the university students. Nevertheless, most organizations envision one major objective that is, getting young contributors to the organization while fulfilling their need by successfully completing the project.

Keeping this hope in mind, the organizations invest considerably enormous effort on these students. Sometimes the mentor may take less time if it is done by himsel, but training a newbie is worthy. Mentors who were into this program earlier, may have noticed that much portion of the students get vanished once the program is over, being exact once they received their final payment. Some remains as contributors and they start vanishing after few months and few stays with the organization and become key players.

The challenge in front of the organizations is to increase the portion of few students that are contributing long term. In Students Application Review Process (SARP), most of the mentors are much interested in the students’ competencies rather than the students’ reliability. The highest demand makes the selection much more difficult. At the same time if they are more projects than the available slots then there is a new problem to rank the projects to match with the available slots. The important projects should be get done and those would be first in the list.

SARP is a three-dimensional process where the importance of the project, students long term contribution and student’s competencies are considered and evaluated. Neither factor cannot be disregarded since each of them are really important for organizations due to small number of slots that organizations are receiving due to high demand for the program. Obviously this is not a simple task for an organization that has a high demand or organization that manages more slots. The selection should be optimal, select the student who can finish the project and who stays with the organization and be a part of that.

Many organizations ask students to fix bugs, write small code segments and so on to elaborate their knowledge. What can be used to measure their reliability? The degree of the accuracy of the method? Questions need answers.

Therefore the challenge ahead is to find ensuring evaluation methods which both implementation of the project and the long term contribution of the students can be earned and ensured in order to get the maximum benefit of the GSoC program and the effort investing by the contributors.

Hackathon at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya

There was a Hackathon at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya on 16th and 17th February 2013. Unfortunately I could not participate the event. However it is good to read the event blog post and see some snaps.

Association of Computer Engineering Students (ACES), you are doing great !!

Please keep it up and running !!!

Read more at http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/ambassadors/2013-February/020892.html

Sinhala version of GSoC 2013 flyer can be downloaded

It is around 24 hours announcing GSoC 2013 program by Google program admins. By the way it is good to see the Sinhala version of the program information flyer is available to download on the wiki and it is one out of 14 there at the moment.

Use following link to access it and it is in PDF format.

http://code.google.com/p/google-summer-of-code/downloads/detail?name=GSoC2013FlyerA4.si.pdf

Feel free to translate it for your language as well, here is the link for instructions.

http://code.google.com/p/google-summer-of-code/wiki/GsocFlyers

Polkatu Henda – Laugh a bit

Got following from a friend and wanted to share, Total Credit goes to Sajitha Dassanayake…..

One day Senaka invited his mother over to dinner. During the meal his mother couldn’t help noticing how attractive and shapely the new housemaid was. She started to wonder if there was more between Senaka and the housemaid that met her eye.

About a week later, the housemaid came to Senaka and said “ever since your mother came to dinner, I’ve been unable to find the Polkatu handa. You don’t suppose she took it, do you?” Senaka said “well, I doubt it, but I’ll write her a letter just to be sure.” So he sat down and wrote.

Dear Amma,
I’m not saying that you took a Polkatu handa from my house, and I’m not saying you didn’t take a handa, but the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.
Love,
Senaka Putha.

Several days later, Senaka received a letter from his mother, which said,

Dear Putha,
I’m not saying that you do sleep with your housemaid, and I’m not saying that you do not sleep with your housemaid, but the fact remains that if she were sleeping in her own bed, by now she would have found the Polkatu handa, which is there under her pillow.

Love,
Amma.

GCI 2012 Grand Prize winners Results Tomorrow

Google Code In concluded few weeks back. As per the time line Google will be announced the grand price winning students tomorrow. For the first time in history The Fedora project participated with the Google Code In program and it was a quite good opportunity for us to work with pre-university students and earn some young members.

Once the winners are announced I ll be planning to write the conclusion post reading GCI 2012 experience, till then I would like to wish all the students very best. Waiting for winners till tomorrow.