[isf-wifidog] summer of code request

Mar 13 Mar 09:03:48 EDT 2007

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Unfortunately this version of the application couldn't been sent to  
Google as the deadline was already reached before I received this  
version :( ...

Anyway ... I still hope we'll make it with my rushed version ...  
(even though I'm not too optimistic) ...

Cheers, Max!

On 12.03.2007, at 22:04, Michael Lenczner wrote:

> This is *not* the final version of the application that went in.  Max
> has that.   This has a lot of others stuff that Jake and I were
> working on.  But I thought it would be a good idea to send this here
> just in case someone wanted to copy-paste stuff from it in the future.
>
> It's not perfect - kinda rushed.  But it's not bad.  And we weren't
> joking about Bubba.
>
> ----------------------
> Google Summer of Code Application
>
> 1.  Describe your organization.
>
> The Wifidog project is a complete and embeddable captive portal
> solution for communities and for businesses.  It allows for low-cost
> deployment and light maintenance of a network of WiFi hotspots.  It
> has been built as to allow for location-based content aggregation and
> managment (managing RSS feeds, Flicker intergration, etc.). The
> Wifidog project was started by the Montreal community wireless
> organization Ile Sans Fil (Wireless Island) with the goal of creating
> a free wireless infrastructure that supported vibrant and engaged
> public spaces.
>
> Ile Sans Fil is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development
> of a free communication infrastructure to strengthen local communities
> in the greater Montreal region. Ile Sans Fil is both a technical
> development project and a grassroots community group, involving
> professionals and students from diverse fields. The vision of the
> group is to use new technology, in particular wireless technology, to
> empower individuals and to foster a sense of community.  We currently
> operated 110 hotspots in the Montreal area and service over 700 users
> each day. Over 33,000 users have opened accounts on our system, an
> amount that grows by 1500 users per month.
>
> The Wifidog project has been adopted by over 30 communities across 4
> continents.  It is used by groups ranging in needs from NYCWireless
> CWN to cover urban parks to government projects in rural areas of the
> Philippines to commercial ISP's in West Africa (Cotonou, Bénin).
>
> Articles about Wifidog have appeared in Linux Journal:
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8352 and O3: Open Source
> Enterprise Data Networking -
> http://www.o3magazine.com/pastissues/issue1/
>
> 2. Why is your organization applying to participate in GSoC 2007? What
> do you hope to gain by participating?
> The reason that we are applying to participate in GSoC 2007 is that we
> are determined through Wifidog, to realize the potential for using
> wireless technology to make public spaces richer and more convivial.
> Specifically, speaking as Ile Sans Fil, an unfunded, grassroots
> organization,  we have come a long way in achieving those goals.  But
> there are still many features that we need to implement for our
> infrastructure to have the impact that we want it to have on our city.
> GSoC is an opportunity for us to have a productive summer advancing
> towards our goals.  And because Wifidog has grown in popularity
> internationally over the last 3 years, those added features will be
> used by communities and business around the world.
>
> GSoC is especially attractive to us because so much thought and
> discussion has already gone in to our architecture and roadmap.  All
> this hard work means that we can more easily benefit from the input of
> a new developer.
>
> 3. Did your organization participate in GSoC 2005 or 2006? If so,
> please summarize your involvement and the successes and failures of
> your student projects.
> No.
>
> 4. If your organization has not previously participated in GSoC, have
> you applied in the past? If so, for what year(s)?
> We have never applied.
>
> 5. Who will your organization administrator be? Please include Google
> Account information.
> Max Horváth
>
> 6. What license does your project use?
> The Wifidog gateway and authentication server are both licensed under
> the GPL v2.
>
> 7. What is the URL for your ideas page?
> There is not a single idea page.  Instead we use roadmaps and tickets.
> At the moment we would encourage projects ideas based on the following
> resources:
> Implement auth server XML RPC API: http://dev.wifidog.org/ticket/272
> Implement OpenID: http://dev.wifidog.org/wiki/doc/developer/OpenID
> Implement new user permission architecture:
> http://dev.wifidog.org/wiki/doc/developer/UserRolesArchitecture
> Implement User Profiles: http://dev.wifidog.org/wiki/doc/developer/ 
> UserProfiles
> In the unlikely circumstance that all these things will be completed
> before the end of the internship, there are many "social software"
> aspects of Wifidog (such as social chatting, being able to search for
> friends within the network based on their current locations, etc.)
> that remain to be explored.
>
> 8. What is the main development mailing list for your organization?
> wifidog at listes.ilesansfil.org
>
> 9. What is the main IRC channel for your organization?
> #wifidog at irc.freenode.org
>
> 10. Does your organization have an application template you would like
> to see students use? If so, please provide it now.
> We would encourage each participating student to send us their CV as
> well as a cover letter which addresses their project idea.
>
> 11. Who will be your backup organization administrator? Please include
> Google Account information.
> Michael Lenczner - mlenczner at gmail.com
>
> 12. Who will your mentors be? Please include Google Account  
> Information.
> Max Horváth, max.horvath at freenet.de
> Michael Lenczner, mlenczner at gmail.com - Ile Sans Fil
> François Proulx, fproulx at edito.qc.ca
>
> 13. What criteria did you use to select these individuals as mentors?
> Please be as specific as possible.
> Max Horváth and Francois Proulx are two of the head developers of the
> Wifidog authentication server. François Proulx is also the current
> head of R+D for Ile Sans Fil
> Michael Lenczner is the co-founder of Ile Sans Fil and is involved in
> interface designer of WifiDog auth server.
>
> 14. What is your plan for dealing with disappearing students?
> Wifidog is a healthy, international open source project.  We have no
> culture of drama or flamewars and we will ensure that it remains a
> fun, helpful and straightforward environment for less experienced
> developers.  In addition, all three mentors are all available in their
> local cities (Montreal, Berlin and Boston ) to meet weekly with
> students from the local geographic area.
>
> 15. What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors?
> Max Horváth, Michael Lenczner and François Proulx have each been
> working with the Wifidog project for over 2 years.
>
> 16. What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with
> your project's community before, during and after the program?
> The Wifidog project encourages collaboration via Trac, IRC, and a
> developer's mailing list. As an international open source project,
> maintaining a clear communicative channel is essential. We will
> encourage our student participants to actively participate via all of
> these channels; to take advantage of the resources provided by his or
> her mentor, as well as the Wifidog community at large.
>
> We do not adhere to a strict software development methodology,
> however, we do place great value on community and one-to-one peer
> review. We expect the student participant and mentor to meet weekly
> (either online or in person) in order to assess project status, as
> well as set goals and benchmarks for further development. In this way,
> development goals will remain on track, and the student will be
> integrated into our community.
>
> When the project is complete, the student will have the opportunity to
> continue to contribute to the project using the skills, resources, and
> particular knowledge regarding the Wifidog project that the GSoC
> experience has provided.
>
> 17. What will you do to ensure that your accepted students stick with
> the project after GSoC concludes?
> We believe that the best way to encourage student participants to
> continue contributing to Wifidog is to ensure that they have had a fun
> and productive experience working with us over the summer. In order to
> do this, we will, simply put, help them to succeed at the the goals
> which they set, by encouraging a steady dialog between mentors and
> student developers.  If that doesn't work, however, we have the phone
> number of a guy named Bubba.
> _______________________________________________
> WiFiDog mailing list
> WiFiDog at listes.ilesansfil.org
> http://listes.ilesansfil.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/wifidog

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