Re: [GSOC 2020] Introduction and asking for feedback

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hi Alberto,

Blackbeard <address@hidden> skribis:

> I want to apply to Google Summer of Code. The ideas I am most interested are
> a) for GNU Guix: 'Content-addressed protocol for substitutes' and b) for
> GNU Shepherd:  "Syntax and semantics of systemd units in the Shepherd",
> because I have a feeling any of this two would improve the experience
> of most
> Guix users.
>
> However, I would like to ask for feedback in which might be a better option,
> I would like to chose a project that I can get help and the community is
> interested in.
>
> Any help with the project and proposal would be much appreciated.

I’ll answer because I’m listed as mentor at
<https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Guix/GSoC-2020>, though honestly, I
think this would have to be someone else or you’ll get very frustrated.
:-)

For both projects, I encourage you to follow the links to get a better
understanding of what the project means.  For project (a), please also
familiarize yourself with substitutes, how they work, and perhaps have a
look at the (guix scripts substitute) and (guix scripts publish) modules
(they may be intimidating at first, so don’t expect to grasp every
detail from day 1, that’s fine!).

For project (b), I’d encourage you to take a look at the Shepherd: it’s
a small project and relatively easy to follow, I think.  If you’re not
familiar with systemd units, you can read
<https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.service.html>
and find what mechanisms are missing from the Shepherd’s API at
<https://www.gnu.org/software/shepherd/manual/html_node/Service-De_002d-and-Constructors.html>.
Pick a specific feature (e.g., “socket activation”), and think about
what it would take to implement it in the Shepherd.

>From there, you can go ahead and ask specific questions about things you
don’t understand here or on IRC.

Happy hacking!  :-)

Ludo’.