Summer of Code 2007 protocol

The Wikimedia Foundation hopes to be a mentoring organization for Summer of Code 2007.

Only two projects for Summer of Code 2006 were accepted. However many more were not. Those are being developed as Proposals for new projects.

There is also an effort to develop a proposal protocol that would deal with Soc projects as a special class of project that are spun off from other proposals once a year, in spring.

criteria for a SoC project

Many ideas presently being discussed will still be in development and need assistance by that time - a proposal protocol to frame projects for someone, anyone, to do has been proposed. There are three criteria for a project being valid for Summer of Code 2007:

It must be small and separate enough to do in a summer project, big enough to be worth doing
It must be clearly and simply explained in a way that fits the new project policy and the structure of successful proposals of the past
It must not overlap with an ongoing project by core developers in a non-complimentary way;

Particularly unsuitable are projects like "AJAX" and "WYSIWYG": "AJAX" refers to a large number of small, isolated potential projects which are too small for SoC. WYSIWYG is too big for SoC, requiring first a commitment to reviewing and formalizing wiki syntax and wikitext parser probably in preparation for a true wikitext standard. This would enable other software to better import/integrate.

bringing many projects up to Code

Generally a long list of potential projects such as those at Talk:Proposals for new projects must be fully developed before it can be determined which ones connect to which other ones. If you think a project will still be valid next summer, i.e. no one will get to it in the meantime, it's especially valid to develop for Soc 2007. SoC student applications will probably not open until May 1, 2007 so it's almost certain that many or most of these projects will actually be undertaken before then.

In 2006, students could pick up to 10 from the final list, which rewards mentoring organizations for having a reasonably high number of well-defined projects. Bringing many projects all up to the standard of Summer of Code proposals, and keeping the master list on the page Summer of Code 2007/ideas would encourage that.

benefits of a deadline

Having a fixed annual deadline to get a good list finished makes it a lot easier to make decisions like when to stop trying to do the project, or convince others to do it, and instead start to better develop a proposal so that Summer of Code 2007 can do it. Even if google stops sponsoring it, someone else will, so this is an annual deadline.

Do not place any actual proposals on this page, to avoid confusing students wishing to sign up. Add them at Talk:proposals for new projects until a proposal protocol that deals effectively with Summer of Code 2007/ideas and other proposals can be developed.