Puppylinux in the GSoC

[mavrothal]

I think that (as in many other things) young people are both a driving force and an investment for the future in Linux and FOSS in general.

The approach that many other FOSS organisations are taking is mentoring of young persons, supported with real money by the Google Summer of Code also know as GSoC (gee-sock).
I do not know if there is time for 2015 (the deadline for organizational applications is March 2) but may worth considering or at least start preparing for 2016.

What we really need is to identify issues that need to be address and persons that have the proven knowledge to mentor the students towards the proposed solutions.

I would be grateful if you refrain form saying here what you do not like about puppy or what other people should change in puppy. I would rather hear what you have the proven ability to work on but because of limited time you would rather mentor someone else to do it. In this case please identify a subject and a work plan in writing.

Keep in mind that is not necessary to be a core coding/OS subject. It actually can be anything from documentation and homepage design to puppy core elements and puppy-building infrastructure.
We just need a description, goals, benefits, work plan and expertise gained by the students. Obviously just few sentences for each, not an assay.
Would be also nice if heavy poster that to not code but apparently can write, volunteer some editing hours so a decent proposal can be (eventually) submitted.

If you find the forum "too noisy" for this kind of proposal/discussion, you can use the woof-CE list or even PMs.

Edit Title and text edited to stir away from the "age of puppy users" focus that started developing in this thread.

[battleshooter]

I̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶w̶r̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶(̶s̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶v̶e̶a̶l̶e̶d̶)̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶f̶e̶e̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶d̶e̶l̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶p̶u̶p̶p̶y̶l̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶s̶.̶

I̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶i̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶?̶ ̶E̶v̶e̶r̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶2̶5̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶e̶n̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶5̶0̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶p̶e̶c̶t̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶e̶'̶d̶ ̶n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶t̶.̶ ̶
M̶a̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶s̶p̶e̶c̶t̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶,̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶5̶0̶ ̶m̶i̶d̶d̶l̶e̶ ̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶3̶0̶?̶ ̶;̶)̶

S̶o̶r̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶d̶e̶r̶a̶i̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶s̶u̶g̶g̶e̶s̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶,̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶I̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶w̶a̶y̶s̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶d̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶
a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶w̶e̶l̶l̶.̶ ̶I̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶5̶0̶+̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶u̶n̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶P̶u̶p̶p̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶c̶r̶o̶s̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶L̶i̶n̶u̶x̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶t̶r̶i̶b̶u̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶?̶

[mavrothal]

Sorry for derailing and not actually offering any suggestions, it's just that the age thing is something I've always wondered about as well. I thought the 50+ community was just a Puppy thing, are you saying it's common across all Linux distributions?

Not that I know of.

[Fossil]

Wasn't there a thread about a year back, when one or two members - at least - claimed to be between fourteen and sixteen years of age?

[bark_bark_bark]

I am 17 years old. Honestly, I am probably the only guy my age who absolutely hates "smart"phones and touchscreens.

I don't think we can convince these zombies/sheeple/drones/etc to put down their phones and stop using apple, google, and microsoft products.

I highly doubt we can convince younger people to use puppylinux either.

[anikin]

When roses are red,
they are ready for plucking
When girls are sixteen,
they are ready for ... high school.

Sadly, though, the real issue is, Puppy doesn't have enough users. Young, or old - doesn't matter. Maybe, we all should have a long and hard look at the current state of affairs and have a healthy discussion?

[bark_bark_bark]

Puppy doesn't have enough users. Young, or old - doesn't matter. Maybe, we all should have a long and hard look at the current state of affairs and have a healthy discussion?

I don't think you can judge how many people use puppylinux just by how many active users there are on the forums.

[Fossil]

Quote: "We have 30138 registered users" There must be a percentage of younger members amongst all those. But I do agree, in this instant era many will not/cannot be bothered to stray away from mainstream territory.

[mavrothal]

I highly doubt we can convince younger people to use puppylinux either.

But this tread has nothing to do with convincing young people to use puppylinux or any linux.
Is about improving puppylinux while we give the opportunity to young people to both develop skills and earn some money!
So... could we go back on the subject please? ie:
Do you have the knowledge and the expertise to mentor a young student in puppylinux development?
If yes, what is your proposal (subject/approach)?

BTW 'bbb' if you are indeed 17 I'm sure you qualify as a student.
But there is not age limit in mentors too

[NeroVance]

Me, I'm 21, though I began using Puppy back when I was maybe 13-14 year old. I made this account long after I started using Puppy, or doing work related to it. Though that is a tale for another day.

[starhawk]

28, will be 29 this June.

Been using Puppy full time for over a half year now, 'recreationally' (as I like to call it) for the duration of my stay on this forum minus a day or two.

[neerajkolte]

32, will be 33 this July.

I am using Puppy for a year now.
I work in mechanical field and have a 2year old daughter, both of them take most of my time.

I do not have any knowledge about computers either, I bought my first computer last year solely for getting to know how to use so I can teach my daughter when she grows up.
So I can not be a serious developer. (yet)

But this forum does all the mentoring for me.

I do agree with what mavrothal is saying.
The young have new needs, ideas, time.

Thanks.

- Neeraj.

[James C]

Old thread... How old are you?

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=41525

According to that thread it appears that Puppy has a "mature" user base, at least going by those that chose to post.

[mavrothal]

Could some one explain to me what am I doing wrong?
How is it possible all the posts to be totally unrelated to what I would like to discuss in this thread?

In the context of this thread, I really do not care about the age of the Puppy users.
I'm just placing a call for Puppylinux trying to get into GSoC.
Nothing else!

I'll change the title and first post accordingly, and hopefully we'll get on truck or just silently state our luck of interest for such an effort.

[battleshooter]

Could some one explain to me what am I doing wrong?
How is it possible all the posts to be totally unrelated to what I would like to discuss in this thread?

Hah, sorry mavrothal, at least neerajkolte was on track. Everyone that wants to talk about ages will hopefully beetle off to the age thread James pointed out. I'll edit my first post too so hopefully people don't start off on the wrong foot as I may have inadvertently encouraged.

[rufwoof]

I'm just placing a call for Puppylinux trying to get into GSoC.

Looks like about as much hope as me getting into a GString

[neerajkolte]

I found these Questions in FAQ of GSoc for mentoring organisation.[quote]1 ) Describe your organization.

2 ) Why is your organization applying to participate in Google Summer of Code 2015? What do you hope to gain by participating?

3 )Has your organization participated in past Google Summer of Codes? (yes/no)

4 ) If you answered “yes

[Ted Dog]

--- remove for being way off topic post moved to age thread.. sorry ---
td
[/b]

[mavrothal]

I found these Questions in FAQ of GSoc for mentoring organisation.
<snip>
Let's gather the answers for these first.

Looks line a long list but most of it is trivial (if you ever did a grant application). The important questions are:

2 ) Why is your organization applying to participate in Google Summer of Code 2015? What do you hope to gain by participating?
#and
7 ) What is the URL for your Ideas list? This is the most important part of your proposal. Please make sure we can access it and it is complete when you submit this proposal. “Placeholder