Category: KDE

KDE is once again taking part in Google Code-in this year, a contest to bring 13 to 17 year-olds closer to Free Software. I asked some of our students to write about their experience with KDE. Here’s the fifth one by José.

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Many of you may have heard about the Google Code-In. In this opportunity, I am writing you about this, not as an spectator of the contest, but as a participant. As today, I have been participating with KDE, an organization which has a super huge community. Basically, what you have to do here, is claim some tasks (in different areas such as coding, outreach/research, analysis/statistics, etc.) and work on it with your mentors, in a specific period of time designated by them. Once it’s finished, the mentor will approve the work and mark the task as completed. But it’s not only about that, you can win the great prize, which includes a trip to the Googleplex!

Well, participating with KDE has been a great experience until now. In my two tasks (third counting this one) tasks I’ve had with KDE, the community and my mentors have been greatly helpful, which added to my efforts in doing the best possible work, ended up in what I think are great results and work. By doing this I don’t think you may only be able to win the prize, the simple and maybe abstract fact of helping a community, which is the main purpose behind all of this (from my point of view) is what makes your work valuable. Knowing there’s a community and people behind it, thanking you for what you’re doing, only that feels great. I know I may not be able to win the prize, but for me, helping the KDE community is more than enough to be satisfied for the work I’m doing, and I will continue doing.

The two tasks I chose with KDE were done with the Amarok team, which develop a music player in KDE. The first one involved reviewing 30 old bugs to see if I could reproduce them again. So, after some hours of work that involved screenshots, and typing in every single detail I saw, I got it done.

In the case of the second task, I had to do a report on a database that has been storing feedback for a long time. I had to review it, and classify it, making some nice charts about the general and specific statistics of each part of the database, and compare it to the last report, that had been done about a year before. This was a little more complicated, as while in the task, I got stuck in an airport for hours, and couldn’t do much. Anyways, I ended up finishing the task, and my mentors were satisfied and happy because of it. I also learned that people get to understand bar charts better than pie charts!

Anyways, I am 100% sure that the KDE community is more than grateful with all the efforts each person taking a task from them is doing. I would also like to remark the fact that many of you may have been collaborating with some other different organizations, which is completely fine in this case. The organization I prefer after considering many different aspects is KDE, so don’t feel discouraged if I’m talking about a different organization, it’s part of the contest. But overall, I can say that my experience until now has been great, and I don’t regret my choice.

KDE is once again taking part in Google Code-in this year, a contest to bring 13 to 17 year-olds closer to Free Software. I asked some of our students to write about their experience with KDE. Here’s the fourth one by Thomas.

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Google Code-In 2012 marks the first time in which I have participated in the Code-In or any similar program. Having some experience with smaller organizations and personal development, I did not know what to expect, but I signed up ready to learn and be challenged. Less than two weeks into the program I have completed two tasks (and now a third!) with KDE. More specifically, I have worked with the team behind ownCloud, a personal cloud
service, to help test and design new features for an upcoming release.

My first task was to help test and debug a RSS reader for ownCloud that was actually developed as part of this year?s Google Summer of Code program. The News app runs within the ownCloud instance and allows for each user to have their own RSS reader with multiple feeds. The app was operational, but lacked key features and was too buggy to be released as part of the ownCloud package. My mentor Alessandro Cosentino (zimba12) helped guide me with testing tips and practices. I also suggested features and changes to the existing help to make it more appealing for users. I personally do not use an RSS feed reader, but I found the news app to be easy to use and enjoyable.

My second task with ownCloud involved designing mock ups for a redesign of the software?s application administration panel. The current panel doesn?t use space effectively and has an excessive amount of whitespace. My second mentor Bernhard Posselt (Raydiation) introduced me to Balsamiq, a mockup creation tool. I designed the new control panel with a much more user-friendly features such as drag and drop and contextual menus. The design looks somewhat reminiscent of Google Chrome?s new tab page, with tweaks to make the interface more powerful for administrators. I also had the opportunity to design potential new features such as system-wide settings per app and an integrated app market. Feedback from the designs has been positive so far.

My experience with KDE through GCI has been phenomenal so far. The community of developers who I have had the opportunity to work with have been very helpful and supportive with my efforts to complete the tasks assigned to me. Alessandro, for example, guided me in setting up ownCloud on my own system for testing. Without my mentors? help and guidance I would not be able to be as successful with the tasks. The information and skills that I have developed through these and future tasks are invaluable to me as a student in both my academic work but also when I develop my own software. I look forward to working with the ownCloud and other KDE organizations in the near future as part of GCI and other programs.

KDE is once again taking part in Google Code-in this year, a contest to bring 13 to 17 year-olds closer to Free Software. I asked some of our students to write about their experience with KDE. Here’s the third one by ctaka.

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“What have I gotten myself into with the Google Code-In?! I’m smart. I get good grades. I’m good at learning stuff. Yet I kept running into little problems on every task. What makes it so frustrating is that it’s basic stuff. I feel like I’m learning to walk again. And look, now I’m talking to myself …”

Ohhhh, the stories my mentors could tell you! Fortunately, the three of them are sworn to secrecy. 😉 [Note: This includes you too, Lydia … although I have yet to do something eye-roll-worthy. But the task isn’t over yet. Just give me time!!! hahaha] What I am at liberty to say, is that working on the tasks and getting things done is very satisfying, but the best thing about the Google Code-In has been getting to know the mentors. KDE has some really amazing people.

My first mentor, who shall remain nameless (hint: his name rhymes with Mascha Sanns!), welcomed questions and suggestions. He laughed at my misconceptions and good-naturedly pointed out reality. He was very patient and appreciative, and it felt great to have my work acknowledged. (THANK YOU, Mascha!) Even after the task was over, he encouraged me to learn DocBook, as it is widely used in industry. So I’m working on that. Lafar, whose name I have so cleverly encrypted (I’m a walking Enigma machine), works for CERN. He may as well have said, “I work on Mount Olympus.” It’s the same thing. Still, he found the time to explain APIs, answer my questions about CERN, and offered very constructive feedback. And then there’s Anne-Marie, who is very efficient at diagnosing problems. It took her all of three questions to figure out what I was doing wrong. Of course, that was after patiently waiting while I muddled through learning to use IRC. Note to others: If you want to chat with someone, don’t bother looking for a nice, big “Click here to reply” box or button. It’s about 5mm tall and is disguised as part of the bottom border. 😛

I’m impressed with how well my mentors communicate in English, and am inspired to continue studying Spanish until I become as fluent. I am aware that they are helping us with Code-In tasks in addition to their regular jobs, and this encourages me to become more selfless. I love the idea of free and open source projects; I had no idea this type of collaboration was going on. Welcoming students to work on their projects makes me feel like the world is not so big and far away, and that we can work as one to advance society. As a result of the Google Code-In, I am developing more than code; I am developing into a better person.*

@ Anne-Marie: Don’t forget our virtual pinkie swear.
@ Lafar: One basket of cookies delivered to your altar every third waxing gibbous moon when the sum of the digits of that day is evenly divisible by 3. Got it.
@ Mascha: Just remember that I have your email address … and I’m not afraid to use it!
@ Lydia: Please disable the mentors’ “reject” button. If they don’t currently have that option (for when students request tasks), you might be getting some requests! LOL =D

*Disclaimer: I have not done any actual coding yet, as I am waiting for winter break and a task I think I can do without causing too much pain to my mentor—HAHAHA. But linguistically, it seemed like the perfect phrase.