The Google Summer of Code is rapidly approaching, and I'm looking to join up with an open-source software organization to do a summer project. I'll need to get up to speed in about a month, so I should probably pick a project in my current area of expertise: Javascript, PHP, ActionScript 3, Python, and C++. However, I can't resist looking at some projects that would require a new language. Here are a couple of the projects on which I'd like to work.
- Linear window manager
- As I wrote in my blog entry on the aging desktop metaphor, I'm sick and tired of touching my mouse to manage my windows. That's why I'd love to work on a new window manager for KDE, Gnome, or another desktop environment to create a new Con10uum-inspired interface. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if any of the orgs would be willing to spend one of their valuable students slots on this project.
- Writing Haskell
- I'm quite interested in learning about functional programming through Haskell, but I'm not sure if I can find a Haskell project that's basic enough for me to accomplish over the summer, but useful enough for Haskell to sponsor me. Perhaps I should give up on this one.
- Working on the ES OS
- I think the ES OS concept is highly interesting, and I now know C++, the language in which ES is written. However, this org's projects might still be too advanced for me. I really don't know where to start learning with a project this large.
- Writing Python
- If I can find a small, interesting project that I could do with Python, I'll try to join. However, the last "Python" project I tried to work on was actually written primarily in C. I'll have to be more careful.
If your OSS organization needs a volunteer over the summer, I encourage you to apply for the GSoC. If you're looking for a hard-working Python or Javascript developer, I'm your man.
