[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] SOCIS 2012

[Stefano Sabatini]

On date Sunday 2012-07-08 20:07:19 +0200, Clément Bœsch encoded:
> On Sun, Jul 08, 2012 at 07:29:42PM +0200, Stefano Sabatini wrote:
[...]
> > FFmpeg is a complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert
> > and stream audio and video. It includes libavcodec - a leading
> > audio/video codec library.
>
> Maybe you could mention filtering as well

Mentioned "filter".

[...]
> > In addition to this, the use of multimedia to demonstrate the work of
> > ESA and other space organizations to the public is also of increasing
> > importance. Free tools like FFmpeg allow space organisations to create
> > multimedia at a low cost and distribute content on a wide range of
> > platforms.
> > 
> 
> You may want to add that improving FFmpeg means improving the large panel
> of applications using it.

Added:
Improving FFmpeg means also improving the large panel of applications
using it, and the overall FLOSS multimedia ecosystem.

[...]
> > Finally, we rely on the developers community to help the student to
> > reach the task accomplishment, in addition to the help provided by the
> > appointed mentor.
> > 
> 

> Since students will be urged to join irc, they will likely get help from a
> few other developers, even if the mentor is not available.

Added.

> 
> > We will also assign a designated backup administrator, which will act as
> > administrator in case the primary administrator will disapper or will
> 
> disappear
> 
> > be impossibilitated to follow the project, for whatever reasons.
> 
> "impossibilitated" looks like a new invented word to me.

Shit, I even checked on the Internet but in the hurry got convinced
that it was a "real" word.

> > * Disappearing student (mandatory): What is your plan for dealing with
> >   a disappearing student?
> > 

> > We will try to keep scheduled contact with students during
> > qualification tasks to make sure they are reliable before they are
> > accepted. Also we'll make sure that we have different ways to reach
> > out each student.  We'll also arrange to have periodical reports from
> > students in order to track their progress.
> > 
> That last sentence looks a bit "weak" to me; it's like "we are going to
> try". I think asking the student to show publicly his progression
> regularly is a good way to make him feel responsible, and prevent a few
> random quits.

Changed to:
We'll also urge the student to provide periodical reports in order to
track their progress.

This means that I'll *recommend* the mentor to request for a report
(once every week seems fine), but I can't force that if he/she decides
a different policy with his/her student.

[...]

Thanks for the review.
-- 
FFmpeg = Fiendish & Foolish Merciless Practical Easy Gnome
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* Project description (mandatory) - Describe in a few word your
  open-source project, why you would like to participate to SOCIS and
  what you hope to gain by participating.

FFmpeg is a complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert
and stream audio and video. It includes libavcodec - a leading
audio/video codec library.

FFmpeg is one of the most ubiquitous multimedia frameworks in the FLOSS
world, is used as the multimedia engine for a significant part of
multimedia applications, and provides the back-end of possibly most
Internet-based multimedia transcoding services.

FFmpeg strives at being the *universal* multimedia tool, implementing
all possible multimedia formats (even the most obscure fringe formats),
and at being *complete*, providing full fledged support for all
multimedia operations, relying on external projects when it makes
sense.

* Space relevance (mandatory): Describe your project's connection with
  space activities.

Communication is a key aspect in space programs, being able to
communicate effectively and reliably, even in extreme conditions, is a
fundamental prerequisite for mission critical tasks.

FFmpeg is highly focused on providing the most possible reliable
and robust multimedia support, and a special emphasis is given on
optimizations issues, making it especially suited for computing
environments with strict memory and power requirements.

By participating to SOCIS, FFmpeg may extend its capabilities and
focus even more on robustness/reliability features making it the ideal
candidate for multimedia/communication tasks related to
mission-critical space missions.

In addition to this, the use of multimedia to demonstrate the work of
ESA and other space organizations to the public is also of increasing
importance. Free tools like FFmpeg allow space organizations to create
multimedia at a low cost and distribute content on a wide range of
platforms.

Improving FFmpeg means also improving the large panel of applications
using it, and the overall FLOSS multimedia ecosystem.

* SOCIS ideas page (mandatory): Address of the webpage describing your
  project's development ideas for the SOCIS program

http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=FFmpeg_Summer_Of_Code_In_Space_2012

* Criteria for selecting mentors (mandatory): Describe here how your
  organization is planning to select and recruit the mentors for the
  various projects proposed.

Mentors will be selected on the base of availability and
qualification. Mentors propose themselves based on their expertise in
the domain area for the mentored tasks, and on their skill to deal
with students/people.

Mentors are usually veteran developers who delivered significant
contributions to the project and who deeply know the community and the
project itself. On the other hand there is no need for the
self-elected mentor to be a member of the FFmpeg community, provided
that he/she can prove sufficient technical knowledge for the task that
wishes to mentor.

* Disappearing mentor (mandatory): What is your plan for dealing with
  a disappearing mentor?

We'll try to assign a backup mentor to each task. The SOCIS admin
will take the responsibility to act as backup mentor in case the
appointed mentor will disappear during the project.

Finally, we rely on the developers community to help the student to
reach the task accomplishment, in addition to the help provided by the
appointed mentor.
Since students will be urged to join irc, they will likely get help
from a few other developers, even if the mentor is not available.

We will also assign a designated backup administrator, which will act as
administrator in case the primary administrator will disappear or will
be unable to follow the project, for whatever reasons.

* Disappearing student (mandatory): What is your plan for dealing with
  a disappearing student?

We will try to keep scheduled contact with students during
qualification tasks to make sure they are reliable before they are
accepted. Also we'll make sure that we have different ways to reach
out each student.  We'll also urge the student to provide periodical
reports in order to track their progress.

In case of a disappearing student, we'll try to get in communication
with him/her using all the possible channels at our disposal, and in
case the student can't be reached within a reasonable amount of time,
we'll declare his/her task failed.

* Interaction with students during and after the program (mandatory)

We'll recommend students to idle on IRC and we'll request them to read
and possibly participate to discussions on the main development
mailing-list. On the other hand we'll let the students choose the
communication means which better suit them (email, chat, direct voice
call or whatever, public or private communication as agreed with the
mentor).

We will also try to create a friendly environment where the students
can freely participate and where they can find support from the
community. In order to avoid misunderstandings and miscommunication
with the overall community we'll rely on personal communication between
student and mentor in order to make the student aware of the "culture"
and of the community implicit rules.

We hope the students will stay around after the task termination on
the ground that they will feel comfortable into the project and will
have genuine interest in continuing their effort with it.