Google Code In 2014 : Call for participation

 Google Code In 2014 

The Google Code-in is a contest to introduce pre-university students (ages 13-17) to the many kinds of contributions that make open source software development possible. The contest runs from December 1, 2014 to January 19, 2015. For many students the Google Code-in contest is their first introduction to open source development. 

KDE is selected among the 12 organizations, who are selected as a mentoring organization for Google Code In 2014. 


Who can mentor? 

Well, we need mentors to help the students with tasks. Mentors should be developers of KDE and should be aware of the tasks they would be creating. 



Why KDE?

KDE focuses on the development and distribution of free and open source software for desktop and portable computing, has been a proud GCI mentoring organization for the last four years. 


Who can participate ? 

Pre-university students 13-17 years old from all over the world can choose from a large pool of code, documentation, research, quality assurance and user interface tasks. The pool is created by the mentors of the participating open source organizations who continue to add to it throughout the contest. A task is a set of work in one of the above five categories that can be completed in a short time, taking approximately a few hours to a day to complete. In addition to self-contained tasks, task series are also created where similar work is split into several tasks or related work is split into sequential tasks. This way all sorts of work can be converted into manageable pieces for open source newbies.

Directions for mentors :

• discuss tasks with the related team to let others know what you are upto

• subscribe to kde-soc-mentor@kde.org

• create a mentor account at Google-melange

Directions for students( from 1 december onwards )  : 

• Create a student account at Google-melange

• Go through the tasks provided by KDE

• Explore, discuss your doubts with the assigned mentor and #kde-soc as required

• Complete the task and repeat ;) 

Good luck !
- Google Code In - KDE - organisation administrator  

Call for application in Pairs : A final reminder

If you are planning to start contributing to open source or a GSoC 2015 aspirant , you are at the right place ! Season of KDE is now accepting applications !

Student application deadline: 5 November 2014, 12pm UTC.
To head, start from season.kde.org . 

Season of KDE is an outreach program hosted by the KDE community.
To learn how to apply, see the announcement article.

Pairs is a relatively new educational application of KDE Edu family. Pairs stimulates your memory and logic skills. It aims to help the learning for pre-school kids. The student should download, install this application and use it and also improve documentation describing the main elements of the interface, such as how to open a theme, create a new one and add all the needed information to have it ready for usage, apart from developing new creative themes that could be available as add-ons.

Expected results: New creative and witty themes for Pairs, improved documentation and proper white space indentation of the code

Knowledge Prerequisite: Qt, QML, XML would work

What you can do :

1. Register as a student on season.kde.org

2. Read more about Pairs, kde educational game.

3. Build Pairs, explore the code and see how it is implemented.

4. Propose the project with the following format:

Name:Country:

TimeZone: (in UTC)

About Me:

Project Title:

Detailed Project Description:

Technical Requirements:

Final expected outcome:

Timeline:

My availability and other commitments during period:

Why me ?

5. If you get stuck at any of the above steps, feel free to either comment here .

Good Luck :)

Season of KDE 2014

Season of KDE 2014

Season of KDE is now officially open for applications.

To apply head to season.kde.org register as a student and click "Submit a proposal"

What is Season of KDE?

Season of KDE is a community outreach program, much like Google Summer of Code that has been hosted by the KDE community for six years straight.

It is meant for people who could not get into Google Summer of Code for various reasons, or people who simply prefer a differently structured, somewhat less constrained program. Season of KDE is managed by the same team of admins and mentors that takes care of Google Summer of Code and Google Code-in matters for KDE, with the same level of quality and care.

Who can take part?

Everyone can apply for Season of KDE. We give preference to those who have applied for Google Summer of Code and to students, but we will gladly consider applications from anybody interested to contribute to KDE.

What do I get out of this ?

A great season working on a really cool KDE projects and gaining valuable experience. If you complete your project successfully you also get a T-shirt, a certificate, and maybe a few other goodies.Also, one of a great project to boost your resume too! (greedy enough? ;) )

What is the timeline ?

Season of KDE is a flexible project to fit around school terms, work, and other commitments, and start and end dates can be discussed with your mentor. Projects should be completed before the end the year, a typical Season of KDE project should take around 2 months. This year, we are planing to host it in fall,i.e.,  Oct 17, 2014 to Jan 31, 2015.

Student application deadline: Oct 31 2014, 12:00 am UTC

Mentor application deadline: Nov 05 2014, 12:00 am UTC

How do I apply?

First get in touch with a mentor about your ideas, and what projects they want to run.

Then head to season.kde.org and follow the instructions provided there.

Do I need to have a mentor before applying?

It is preferred. Ideally, you should contact a KDE subproject well before applying, ask for feedback on your idea if you have one, and request a mentor directly. A list of KDE subproject contacts is available on the Google Summer of Code 2014 ideas page. You can also apply without a mentor and we will try to find one for you.

Do I need to have a project idea before applying? 

It is preferred. If you do not have one, we will try to find one for you!But generally for a successful project completion proposal helps a lot! This way you can actually get to know a lot more about how your idea is going to be implemented.

Keep in mind that KDE is huge, so you should have an idea of which KDE subproject you wish to work on.
You should visit Sok 2014 ideas page too.

Do I need to write a proposal like in Google Summer of Code?

No, but we would like to see a brief project plan describing what you will be working on.

Is it only for coders like Google Summer of Code?

We are willing to consider non-coding projects as well including artwork and promotion, but you should definitely get in touch to figure out the details beforehand. The KDE Community Wiki describes ways to get involved with KDE that do not require coding.

I applied for a project in Google Summer of Code but another student got selected for it. Can I still work on it?

Maybe, but likely not. You should ask the mentor that was assigned to your idea. We can try to find something related for you if you want, or something completely different. Let us know what you wish and we will do our best to accommodate your request.

Is this an extension of Google Summer of Code or connected to Google

No. While Season of KDE is in many ways modeled after Google Summer of Code and administered by the same members of the KDE community, it is completely independent from Google Summer of Code and has no connection to Google whatsoever.

What if I do not get a reply from a mentor within some days or have some other queries about SoK ?

Feel free to join our IRC channel #kde-soc on freenode or email the admin team at kde-soc-mentor-owner@kde.org

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Good luck, see you soon !
(Heena Mahour)

To infinity and beyond: Adios Gsoc 2013 ! :-) : A brief journey

To infinity and beyond: Adios Gsoc 2013 ! :-) : A brief journey: I worked on porting plasmoids to plasma1 and then to plasma 2 this summer under the guidance of  +Marco Martin  (KDE). During the initial ...

Pairs editor

Pairs Editor

Pairs editor is a part of pairs game .

It can be used to make and edit themes for Pairs. I provided the layout for this Qt application and is maintaining the layout .

It is fun providing new themes and contributing to this wonderful game... Afterall I can play it and code it :-)

Glad to see my name in the list of authors !!

I will continue contributing to this wonderful game .

So, here is a snap to show the proud feeling ^_^ 

Cheers !