Thread: [Tuxpaint-devel] Tux4Kids project(s) and Google Summer of Code
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From: Bill K. <nb...@so...> - 2008-03-11 06:01:31
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Seen on the libSDL mailing list. I happen to know two of the people at Google (Chris DiBona and Leslie Hawthorn), and had mentioned Tux Paint participating in GSOC to Leslie. She suggested applying. Would the Tux Paint, TuxMath and/or Tux Typing projects like to participate? I'd be happy to act as the 'administrator/main contact' for Tux4Kids. We'd want to think about what kind of assistance we'd like from students, and who would like to be mentors. In Tux Paint, I'd like to see: * Open, New and Slideshow dialog code rolled back into once piece of code, instead of three nearly identical pieces * Documentation rewritten and put into a more sensible format * UI themeability (including different sizes of buttons, which will be quite a bit of an overhaul!) * Selection tool * Cut-and-paste between Tux Paint and other applications * Platform-specific Open/Save dialog (requested a lot) * Alternate text tool that allows text to be re-positioned/edited later (ouch!) We have until TOMORROW to apply (March 12th!) See the various links below. Sorry for not bringing this up earlier. Lasrt time I looked at GSOC, it was _before_ they were accepting applications from organizations. Thanks, -bill! ----- Forwarded message from René Dudfield <re...@gm...> ----- <snip> The deadline for mentor applications is very soon March 12: Mentoring organization application deadline (12 noon PDT/19:00 UTC). Here's more information: Here's the google Summer Of Code(SOC) page: http://code.google.com/soc/2008/ How does a mentoring organization apply: http://code.google.com/soc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_org_apply mentoring organisations: http://code.google.com/soc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_mentoring_orgs deadlines: http://code.google.com/soc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_timeline Notes on student allocations: http://groups.google.com/group/google-summer-of-code-announce/web/notes-on-student-allocations Notes on organisation selection criteria: http://groups.google.com/group/google-summer-of-code-announce/web/notes-on-organization-selection-criteria _______________________________________________ SDL mailing list SD...@li... http://lists.libsdl.org/listinfo.cgi/sdl-libsdl.org ----- End forwarded message ----- -- -bill! bi...@ne... http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/ |
From: Bill K. <nb...@so...> - 2008-03-11 14:34:17
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On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 07:48:34AM -0600, Tim Holy wrote: > I think one thing we'd need from you, Holger, is to copy & paste the > suggestions that David & I put forward into an "Ideas page" on the alioth > website (#7 in the list of questions). > > Beyond that, it looks relatively straightforward. > > Does "Google Account" information mean a gmail account? I will send that to > you privately, Bill. I got it, Tim will be the backup admin, and I'll go submit Tux4Kids as a GSoC applicant right now! Thanks, everyone! PS - Who out here want to be mentors? -bill! |
From: Caroline F. <car...@go...> - 2008-03-11 14:38:09
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> PS - Who out here want to be mentors? I can help with artwork/free content issues, if that's useful. Caroline |
From: Bill K. <nb...@so...> - 2008-03-11 14:46:34
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David from the TuxMath project responded over on the tuxmath-devel list (used for TuxMath and Tux Typing both, I believe) Fwd'ing to tuxpaint-devel... -bill! ----- Forwarded message from David Bruce <db...@ta...> ----- Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:19:35 -0400 From: David Bruce <db...@ta...> Subject: Re: [Tuxmath-devel] Tux4Kids project(s) and Google Summer of Code To: tux...@li... Hello, On Tuesday 11 March 2008 06:17:44 am Tim Holy wrote: > On Tuesday 11 March 2008, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > Seen on the libSDL mailing list. I happen to know two of the people > > at Google (Chris DiBona and Leslie Hawthorn), and had mentioned Tux Paint > > participating in GSOC to Leslie. She suggested applying. > > > > Would the Tux Paint, TuxMath and/or Tux Typing projects like to > > participate? I'd be happy to act as the 'administrator/main contact' for > > Tux4Kids. Last year, Mobin Mohan and some colleagues added Indic language support to Tux Typing. At least initiallly, it was going to be a GSoC project, although I don't know if it was officially submitted as such. > I could act as a mentor for some or all of these. Some of these involve > things that I'm not an expert at (i.e., I've never really built a C/C++ > GUI), but I'm sure we could figure it out. Obviously, if David (Bruce) has > the time & interest, he'd be a great mentor, too. I'm happy to help, although I must point out that I'm not formally trained as a programmer - my CS courses were in the early 1980s on punchcards in AlgolW before I went to medical school (when dinosaurs walked the earth...). I also will be moving to a new job and city over the summer. Thoughts on things to fix or implement: TuxMath - 1. Agree with Tim's suggestions. 2. It would be great to make the game more themable - support both the penguin/igloo theme and the old cities theme. My daughter has suggested we could have an "Islands" theme with small islands/palm trees, an "Egyptian" theme with pyramids and sphinxes, etc. 3. Add a new game or activity(ies) concerning factors and fractions. I've been kicking around the idea of an Asteroids-inspired factoring game, which could be called "Factoroids", where the big rocks (products) get split into little rocks and they get eliminated when they are completely factored into primes. 4. svg and higher resolution graphics - although lots of schools have old hardware, 640x480 is getting to be really ancient for fullscreen. TuxType 1. The source tree needs to be rearranged into a more sane state. 2. Use standard GNU gettext instead of the homebrew version. 3. Autodetection of what chars are "typeable" through SDL and the OS rather than the theme-specific keyboard list files - it looks like SDL 1.3 will allow this, from some of the threads on the SDL list. 4. More "content" - practice sentences, finger exercises, etc. 5. Better graphics as mentioned above for tuxmath. 6. In-game support for editing word lists and practice sentences. Some of these are obviously better suited to a summer project than others. I think a good project would be something quite modular, such as the factor game idea. > > > > We have until TOMORROW to apply (March 12th!) See the various links > > below. Meaning TODAY! - yikes. I'm just heading off to work, but I may have some free time. I'm glad I'm in the Eastern time zone, so that gives me until 3:00 PM... -- David Bruce ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ Tuxmath-devel mailing list Tux...@li... https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/tuxmath-devel ----- End forwarded message ----- -- -bill! bi...@ne... http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/ |
From: Bill K. <nb...@so...> - 2008-03-11 14:48:25
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On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 07:19:35AM -0400, David Bruce wrote: > > Meaning TODAY! - yikes. I'm just heading off to work, but I may have some > free time. I'm glad I'm in the Eastern time zone, so that gives me until > 3:00 PM... I've gathered everyone's suggestions and various contact info, and will submit Tux4Kids in a moment. Wish us luck! -- -bill! bi...@ne... http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/ |
From: Tim H. <ho...@wu...> - 2008-03-11 10:17:55
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On Tuesday 11 March 2008, Bill Kendrick wrote: > Seen on the libSDL mailing list. I happen to know two of the people > at Google (Chris DiBona and Leslie Hawthorn), and had mentioned Tux Paint > participating in GSOC to Leslie. She suggested applying. > > Would the Tux Paint, TuxMath and/or Tux Typing projects like to > participate? I'd be happy to act as the 'administrator/main contact' for > Tux4Kids. I think it's a great idea. For TuxMath, my personal favorite wish-list items are: 1. Build a GUI front end for tuxmathadmin, the relatively new program that helps configure and organize large installations (like schools) and provide reports on student progress. 2. Development of a long-term incentive system outlined in my email to the tuxmath list from Feb. 20, 2008---briefly, as students complete more lessons, they earn "fish" that can be "spent" on items that either help game play (e.g., a "blizzard" that can be used to zap all comets on the screen) or for assembling a comfy home setting for their favorite creature, tux. The main idea is to give a long-term visual sense of progress that goes beyond "I won that level again!" 3. Implement SVG support. 4. A multiplayer mode (points go to whoever shoots the comet first). 5. Get that Mac port updated! (Hopefully that task will be done before GSoC starts, so this is probably not a serious proposal.) I could act as a mentor for some or all of these. Some of these involve things that I'm not an expert at (i.e., I've never really built a C/C++ GUI), but I'm sure we could figure it out. Obviously, if David (Bruce) has the time & interest, he'd be a great mentor, too. For #2 (and partly #3), contributions from artists will be even more important than coding. Could one hire a student-artist as part of GSoC? Whether it could be a GSoC project or not, maybe we should advertise in some way for artists. For some time, I've been mulling over the possibility of writing some PR pieces for tuxpaint, tuxmath, & tuxtype. I was thinking of first trying Linux Weekly News; they have a weekly feature in the "Development" section, and I think tux4kids would make a very good feature. We could use the opportunity to not only advertise these programs, but also convey a sense for the vision of the future and solicit extra contributors (like artists) that might be able to do or complement GSoC projects. Best, --Tim > > We'd want to think about what kind of assistance we'd like from students, > and who would like to be mentors. > > In Tux Paint, I'd like to see: > > * Open, New and Slideshow dialog code rolled back into once piece of > code, instead of three nearly identical pieces > > * Documentation rewritten and put into a more sensible format > > * UI themeability (including different sizes of buttons, which will be > quite a bit of an overhaul!) > > * Selection tool > > * Cut-and-paste between Tux Paint and other applications > > * Platform-specific Open/Save dialog (requested a lot) > > * Alternate text tool that allows text to be re-positioned/edited > later (ouch!) > > > We have until TOMORROW to apply (March 12th!) See the various links below. > > Sorry for not bringing this up earlier. Lasrt time I looked at GSOC, > it was _before_ they were accepting applications from organizations. > > Thanks, > > -bill! > > > ----- Forwarded message from René Dudfield <re...@gm...> ----- > <snip> > > The deadline for mentor applications is very soon > March 12: Mentoring organization application deadline (12 noon PDT/19:00 > UTC). > > > > > > Here's more information: > > Here's the google Summer Of Code(SOC) page: > http://code.google.com/soc/2008/ > > How does a mentoring organization apply: > http://code.google.com/soc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_org_apply > > mentoring organisations: > http://code.google.com/soc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_mentoring_orgs > > deadlines: > http://code.google.com/soc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_timeline > > Notes on student allocations: > http://groups.google.com/group/google-summer-of-code-announce/web/notes-on- >student-allocations > > Notes on organisation selection criteria: > http://groups.google.com/group/google-summer-of-code-announce/web/notes-on- >organization-selection-criteria > _______________________________________________ > SDL mailing list > SD...@li... > http://lists.libsdl.org/listinfo.cgi/sdl-libsdl.org > > ----- End forwarded message ----- |
From: Holger L. <ho...@la...> - 2008-03-11 12:00:03
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Hi Bill, On Tuesday 11 March 2008 07:01, Bill Kendrick wrote: > Would the Tux Paint, TuxMath and/or Tux Typing projects like to > participate? I'd be happy to act as the 'administrator/main contact' for > Tux4Kids. [...] > How does a mentoring organization apply: > http://code.google.com/soc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_org_apply /me too thinks it would be excellent if tux4kids would be a GSoC project! Do you think you could answer those 17 questions till tomorrow? I'm happy to help with this via mail or irc but I also know I'll be very busy the next 24/48h... regards, Holger, who has nothing to add to the good plans of David+Tim |
From: Tim H. <ho...@wu...> - 2008-03-11 13:52:21
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I think one thing we'd need from you, Holger, is to copy & paste the suggestions that David & I put forward into an "Ideas page" on the alioth website (#7 in the list of questions). Beyond that, it looks relatively straightforward. Does "Google Account" information mean a gmail account? I will send that to you privately, Bill. --Tim On Tuesday 11 March 2008, Holger Levsen wrote: > Hi Bill, > > On Tuesday 11 March 2008 07:01, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > Would the Tux Paint, TuxMath and/or Tux Typing projects like to > > participate? I'd be happy to act as the 'administrator/main contact' for > > Tux4Kids. > > [...] > > > How does a mentoring organization apply: > > http://code.google.com/soc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_org_apply > > /me too thinks it would be excellent if tux4kids would be a GSoC project! > Do you think you could answer those 17 questions till tomorrow? I'm happy > to help with this via mail or irc but I also know I'll be very busy the > next 24/48h... > > > regards, > Holger, who has nothing to add to the good plans of David+Tim |
From: Holger L. <ho...@la...> - 2008-03-26 10:16:28
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Hi, sorry for the late replies, I was really busy the last two weeks, (not only but quite a lot) due to hardware problems and I also know that I wont be way to busy to really participate in GSoC... :/ That said, I will try to read the tux4kids mailinglists daily and reply ASAP too. :-) On Tuesday 11 March 2008 14:48, you wrote: > I think one thing we'd need from you, Holger, is to copy & paste the > suggestions that David & I put forward into an "Ideas page" on the alioth > website (#7 in the list of questions). Hm. I dont think you should rely on me for such a simple task. Instead I'd rather suggest you either keep this list in svn at svn.debian.org/svn/tux4kids/tux4kids-web (that is, in the webpages visible at tux4kids.com) or use a wikipage, for example at wiki.debian.org/Games/Tux4Kids or somewhere else.. If updating the webpage via the svn still causes problem, I'm happy to resolve those, I just need to know they exist ;-) regards, Holger |
From: Bill K. <nb...@so...> - 2008-03-11 16:14:12
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On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 07:48:34AM -0600, Tim Holy wrote: > I think one thing we'd need from you, Holger, is to copy & paste the > suggestions that David & I put forward into an "Ideas page" on the alioth > website (#7 in the list of questions). I'm doing this over on the TP site: http://www.tuxpaint.org/gsoc2008-ideas.html Hope that's ok! :) -bill! |
From: Tim H. <ho...@wu...> - 2008-03-11 16:49:34
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Hi Bill, On Tuesday 11 March 2008, Bill Kendrick wrote: > I'm doing this over on the TP site: > > http://www.tuxpaint.org/gsoc2008-ideas.html > > Hope that's ok! :) Looks great! Thanks! --Tim > > -bill! > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft > Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008. > http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ > _______________________________________________ > Tuxmath-devel mailing list > Tux...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/tuxmath-devel |
From: Caroline F. <car...@go...> - 2008-03-11 17:05:06
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On 11/03/2008, Bill Kendrick <nb...@so...> wrote: > On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 07:48:34AM -0600, Tim Holy wrote: > > > I think one thing we'd need from you, Holger, is to copy & paste the > > suggestions that David & I put forward into an "Ideas page" on the alioth > > website (#7 in the list of questions). > > > I'm doing this over on the TP site: > > http://www.tuxpaint.org/gsoc2008-ideas.html > > Hope that's ok! :) The programme FAQ says: " While we greatly appreciate the value of documentation, this program is an exercise in developing code; we can't accept proposals for documentation-only work at this time." I think we'd need to rethink the easy ones as they seem to be documentation or artwork. (I expect artwork also counts as !code). We could add making magic plugins to the tuxpaint list. Perhaps something for people studying human-computer interaction - how to design applications to appeal to small children? It could be an interesting project for a masters student. Porting to another OS? Dunno how we'd support though. Working more on localisation/internationalisation? Content as well as translation. Making cut down versions for smart phones/mobile devices? eg sugar port. Caroline |
From: Bill K. <nb...@so...> - 2008-03-11 17:52:28
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On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 05:05:06PM +0000, Caroline Ford wrote: > The programme FAQ says: > > " While we greatly appreciate the value of documentation, this program > is an exercise in developing code; we can't accept proposals for > documentation-only work at this time." > > I think we'd need to rethink the easy ones as they seem to be > documentation or artwork. (I expect artwork also counts as !code). > > We could add making magic plugins to the tuxpaint list. Oops. Ok, I've done those. Here's the updated list: http://www.tuxpaint.org/gsoc2008-ideas.html Thanks, everyone! -bill! |
From: Bill K. <nb...@so...> - 2008-03-12 02:07:32
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Ok, for the record, here's what I'm submitting to GSoC 2008... I hope it's alright! * What is your Organization's Name? Tux4Kids * What is your Organization's Homepage? http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/ * Describe your organization. A group of volunteers that develop and maintain multi-platform open source educational software for children: the award-winning, multi-lingual Tux Paint drawing program; the Tux Typing typing tutor game; and Tux, of Math Command, an arcade-style math skill tester. * Why is your organization applying to participate in GSoC 2008? What do you hope to gain by participating? The various Tux4Kids projects are mature, well-known (at least in the K-12 education community) projects. However, they are far from completely finished. Tux Paint needs improved OS integration, select/cut/paste tools, etc. TuxMath would benefit greatly from a centralized configuration and student progress reporting tool. TuxType needs proper localization, which also opens up issues of non-US keyboard support. * Did your organization participate in previous GSoC years? If so, please summarize your involvement and the successes and failures of your student projects. (optional) No. * If your organization has not previously participated in GSoC, have you applied in the past? If so, for what year(s)? (optional) No. * What license does your project use? GNU GPL for code. Some media is under various non-restrictive Creative Commons licenses or the Public Domain. * URL for your ideas page http://www.tuxpaint.org/gsoc2008-ideas.html * What is the main development mailing list for your organization? Tux Paint: tuxpaint.org/lists; TuxMath: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/tuxmath-devel; TuxType: http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/tux4kids-tuxtype-dev * Where is the main IRC channel for your organization? #tux4kids on irc.freenode.net * Does your organization have an application template you would like to see students use? If so, please provide it now. (optional) No. * Who will be your backup organization administrator? Please enter their Google Account address. We will email them to confirm, your organization will not become active until they respond. (optional) tim...@gm... * What criteria did you use to select these individuals as mentors? Please be as specific as possible. The mentors are major contributors (in some cases, core developers) in the various Tux4Kids projects. And, honestly, after suggesting that Tux4Kids should apply to participate in GSoC 2008, they were the people who spoke up. * Who will your mentors be? Please enter their Google Account address separated by commas. If your organization is accepted we will email each mentor to invite them to take part. (optional) bi...@ne...,tim...@gm... * What is your plan for dealing with disappearing students? Many of the ideas listed for the projects are major improvements that the various projects have been thinking about prior to GSoC 2008, so "we'll live." If possible, we'll try to incorporate as much of the student's/students' work as possible, to make it easier for others to pick up where they take off. We'll make sure that the core developers understand what the student(s) plans were, so that the code won't go wasted. * What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors? Each project is mature, so it should be possible to find a replacement member among, the people involved, to act as a mentor. * What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with your project's community before, during and after the program? We will invite them to try the software, look at the source, and sign up for and participate in the project mailing lists. * What will you do to ensure that your accepted students stick with the project after GSoC concludes? We will do what we always do -- make the project welcoming and fun, with lots of ideas for improving it that they can work on. DRAT! I did not have "@gmail.com" addresses for Davis Bruce, Caroline Ford (I guess "@googlemail.com" isn't sufficient?) or Holger Levsen. Hopefully, I can just add you (and any others?) as Mentors later. SIGH. -bill! |
From: Caroline F. <car...@go...> - 2008-03-12 11:47:42
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On 12/03/2008, Bill Kendrick <nb...@so...> wrote: > > Ok, for the record, here's what I'm submitting to GSoC 2008... > I hope it's alright! Looks great! > > DRAT! I did not have "@gmail.com" addresses for Davis Bruce, > Caroline Ford (I guess "@googlemail.com" isn't sufficient?) > or Holger Levsen. > > Hopefully, I can just add you (and any others?) as Mentors later. SIGH. My google id is car...@go.... Another company owns the trademark gmail in the uk.. Caroline |
From: David B. <db...@ta...> - 2008-03-12 10:34:28
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On Tuesday 11 March 2008 10:07:34 pm Bill Kendrick wrote: > DRAT! I did not have "@gmail.com" addresses for Davis Bruce, > Caroline Ford (I guess "@googlemail.com" isn't sufficient?) > or Holger Levsen. My gmail account is dav...@gm... - I'll probably start using it as my primary email when I move in a month or two. > Thanks for signing us up! -- David Bruce |
From: Bill K. <nb...@so...> - 2008-03-20 16:17:18
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On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 07:07:34PM -0700, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > * Who will your mentors be? Please enter their Google Account address > separated by commas. If your organization is accepted we will email > each mentor to invite them to take part. (optional) When I submitted, it only accepted the email addresses I had Tim Holy and myself, so if you'd like to be a Mentor, please log-in to your Google account, then go here to sign up as a mentor: http://code.google.com/soc/2008/mentor_step1.html Thanks! -bill! |