Summer Coding 2010 proposal - KDE Netbook Spin

About your project

 * 1) What is the name of your project?

KDE Netbook Spin


 * 1) Does your project come from an idea on the Summer Coding 2010 ideas page?  If so, provide a link for reference, as well as a link to any discussions with mentors about your proposal.

Yes, Summer_Coding_2010_ideas_-_KDE_Netbook_Spin


 * 1) Describe your project in 10-20 sentences. What are you making? Who are you making it for, and why do they need it? What technologies (programming languages, etc.) will you be using?

We will be splitting up the required packages to make a smaller footprint, and only a bare minimum package set to let it run on the netbook with lesser space and RAM resources. We will be using the livecd creators, kickstarts, and rpm packaging skills. Its mainly for Netbooks (even laptops with ULV [Ultra Low Voltage] processors, and Nettops), which run on the newest Atom Processors, and dont have as many resources available as a powerful desktop.


 * 1) What is the timeline for development of your project? The Fedora Summer Coding work period is 11 weeks long, May 24 - August 9; tell us what you will be working on each week. (As the summer goes on, you and your mentor will adjust your schedule, but it's good to have a plan at the beginning so you have an idea of where you're headed.) Note that you should probably plan to have something "working and 90% done" by the midterm evaluation (July 5-12); the last steps always take longer than you think, and we will consider canceling projects that are not mostly working by then.

Week 1: Getting to know the mentor and his ideas Week 2-5: Splitting up of packages and testing deps Week 6: Creating kickstart files, Design or Wallpaper Changes Week 7-8: Testing the ISO on different hardware Week 9-10: Fixing bugs, Writing Docs Week 11: Getting it ready for reviews


 * 1) Convince us, in 5-15 sentences, that you will be able to successfully complete your project in the timeline you have described. This is usually where people describe their past experiences, credentials, prior projects, schoolwork, and that sort of thing, but be creative. Link to prior work or other resources as relevant.

I have participated in a lot of projects, I am one of the spin maintainers for the Security Spin, I have packaging experience. I also wrote the menu items for the Security Spin, and am the person responsible for moving Security Spin to use LXDE instead of OpenBox.

You and the community

 * 1) If your project is successfully completed, what will its impact be on the Fedora community? Give 3 answers, each 1-3 paragraphs in length. The first one should be yours. The other two should be answers from members of the Fedora community, at least one of whom should be a Fedora Summer Coding mentor. Provide email contact information for non-Summer Coding mentors.

Most people who use Fedora (or other distros) on their netbook try and avoid the two main Desktop Environments GNOME and KDE, they settle for other Desktop Environments or Window Managers with a smaller footprint, hence with a KDE Netbook spin we can remove the fancy parts and make the netbook more usuable. With a specific spin just for netbooks we are bound to receive more users who have a netbook (or even old machines) to use the spin. We have more Fedora Users, and probably even a few contributors out of the user groups. We can be able to target a larger audience and have better hardware support. Mentor Answer: The KDE Netbook Workspace makes it possible for us to target smaller form factor devices, and to increase Fedora's share in both KDE users and Netbook users in general.


 * 1) What will you do if you get stuck on your project and your mentor isn't around?


 * Google around if people have had the same kind of issues.
 * Talk to other Fedora Contributors
 * Email the mailing List
 * If none works, email the Mentor.


 * 1) In addition to the required blogging minimum of twice per week, how do you propose to keep the community informed of your progress and any problems or questions you might have over the course of the project?

Questions can be answered over IRC in support channels, and to keep the community informed the best way to do would be to blog and have the blog aggregated in Fedora Planet and other Web Feed Aggregators.

Miscellaneous

 * 1) We want to make sure that you are prepared before the project starts
 * 2) * Can you set up an appropriate development environment?

Yes, I already have it setup on all the machines I use.


 * 1) * Have you met your proposed mentor and members of the associated community?

Have spoken to both the mentors and would love to meet them in person.


 * 1) What is your t-shirt size?

XL


 * 1) Describe a great learning experience you had as a child.

I have always had interest in learning new things as a child. I take it more as a challenge to learn and master things I like to do.


 * 1) Is there anything else we should have asked you or anything else that we should know that might make us like you or your project more?

NA