I just received the unfortunate email from Google telling me I wasn't accepted into Summer of Code this year. I feel a little bit bad that 25% more students were accepted this year over last, yet I still didn't get in. The python head tracking project just didn't fit into their number of slots, and it's possible that the head honchos didn't see the benefit the work could have to the community. I know that there may not have been a mentor for me at Inkscape, and I did mention that I was going to be trying to contribute over the next while whether I got in on GSoC or not.
A fellow student applied for Inkscape to work on SVG Fonts. It turned out that his work was going to overlap with my plans of continuing font specification support. I changed my application last minute to include some other text improvements since I was pretty flexible, and his application was a lot harder to change. I don't actually know if this student got accepted, but my guess is that he did, given how desired his proposed work is. I'm hoping to be able to contribute to the conversation about the font specification side of things.
More than anything, I take this as a sign (some things are just meant to be, or not!). I will have much more time to work on my thesis now, and as a result I might be able to finish my Masters work early, allowing me to start on a PhD project while riding out the Masters funding. Furthermore, I should be able to keep a regular work-day schedule, opening up evenings and weekends for fun. It's been a while since I've really been able to do that, and to be honest, I'm really looking forward to it!
Finally, congratulations to everyone who made it into GSoC this year, and best of luck!
That dude did get the project for SVG fonts - how'd that happen? You'd be far better at the spot from what I can tell...
ReplyDeleteThe PSF just had such a huge cut of slots...there were a /lot/ more applications to the org this year compared to last, and still the number of slots was cut bigtime. I think it was due to the ever increasing number of overall organizations - if Google accepts them, chances are they get at least one slot...0 sum game, etc...
...this mean you'll have time to come visit us and go to wonderland? ;)
Hell yeah we'll come for Wonderland! When does it open? We should go mid-May if it's open.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Inkscape had two fewer slots this year, too. I did say I was hoping to work on Inkscape anyway (and I still am), so it's not unreasonable to accept some newbies to the community in hopes of having more done overall.
I'm not super upset about it, though the money would have been nice. I'm looking forward to having more free time and getting a lot done thesis-wise for sure!