Dev:GoogleSoC/ApplicationForm

Questions from http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org/application/google/gsoc2012 (needs registration)

• Organization name:
  • Synfig

• Organization description:
  • We are a community of developers and animators centered around Synfig Studio, a 2D vector animation program aiming to improve artistic workflow by focusing on tweening and interpolation. We work together to refine and add new features to the Synfig software, and create tutorials and run challenges to help and inspire our artists.

• Organization home page url:
  • http://synfig.org/

• Main organization License:
  • GNU GPL v2 or later.

• What is the URL for your Ideas page?
  • http://wiki.synfig.org/wiki/Dev:GoogleSoC/Ideas

• What is the main IRC channel for your organization?
  • #synfig on irc.freenode.net Logs: http://dooglus.rincevent.net/synfig/logs

• What is the main development mailing list for your organization?
  • http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/synfig-devl

• Why is your organization applying to participate in Google Summer of Code 2012? What do you hope to gain by participating?
  • We hope to attract new and enthusiastic developers to the project.

• Did your organization participate in past Google Summer of Codes? If so, please summarize your involvement and the successes and challenges of your participation.
  • Our organization has not participated in any past GSoCs.

• If your organization has not previously participated in Google Summer of Code, have you applied in the past? If so, for what year(s)?
  • We applied to GSoC in 2008 and 2010.

• Does your organization have an application template you would like to see students use? If so, please provide it now.
  • http://wiki.synfig.org/wiki/Dev:GoogleSoC/StudentApplicationTemplate

• What criteria did you use to select your mentors for this year's program? Please be as specific as possible.
  • For our mentors, we have selected the most motivated and consistent contributors to the project who extensive knowledge of specific areas of the Synfig Studio source code. Mentor: Carlos López González, Lead Developer

• What is your plan for dealing with disappearing students?
  • We ask students to provide their email and phone number to the project administrator. If a student disappears without notice, the mentor will contact him/her via email to clarify the situation. If there is no reply within 3 days, the administrator will phone him/her personally. If the student cannot be reached, the administrator will contact Google and report the situation.

• What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors?
  • Our backup mentor will be available throughout the summer to provide additional support for students, and will be able to fill in for the primary mentor if he is unavailable. In the case of an emeregency, or if the mentor is disappears and the project administrator fails contact him by phone, the backup mentor will fully take over his responsibilities.

• What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with your project's community before, during and after the program?
  • We want students who are active with the project before the application process begins. We ask potential students to introduce themselves on the project mailing list and forums and get to talk with some of our developers and animators. We will treat them as any new member of our community and help them learn the project and answer any questions they may have.

As part of our application process, we require that students are able to compile and run Synfig and ask them to submit several patches or pull requests, and any artwork made in Synfig that they want to share. Those that have shown active envolvement and eagerness to participated will be favored for acceptance into the program, and we believe that the enthusiastic students will stay after the summer is over. Once a student's code is reviewed and critiqued, we will strive to integrate it into a new release of Synfig. If students see the tangible impact of their work over the summer, they will be more motivated to remain a part of our community after GSoC is over.

• Are you a new organization who has a Googler or other organization to vouch for you? If so, please list their name(s) here.
  • No, we're not.

• Are you an established or larger organization who would like to vouch for a new organization applying this year? If so, please list their name(s) here.
  • N.A.