Your application should contain the following information. Keep it focused on MINIX 3 and make sure it indicates you have given it some thought. Try to convince us that you will be able to carry your ideas to a successful completion. Remember: you are applying for a job, competing against candidates that want the same position. Your application is your salespitch that makes the case for why we should pick you. Treat your GSOC application as you would a job application.
A generic proposal sent to many organizations will be stored in /dev/null. If at all possible, please send an email with an attachment containing a scanned image of your official transcript of grades to info@minix3.org. As mentioned on the ideas page, your chances of being accepted are hugely improved by demonstrating that you have installed MINIX 3 and made some contribution, such as accomplishing some subtask of your proposed project.
Also, please read the GSoC Student Guide page before applying. It will help you create a high quality proposal and thereby increase your chance of being selected.
Name Address Phone number(s) E-mail address Web page (if you have one) IRC nickname (if you have one)
Name of each educational institution you have attended in reverse chronological order going back to high school, listing the years in attendance, the majors (if any) and the degrees earned (with dates). Also list the degree you expect from your current school and when. List any prizes, awards, or merit scholarships you won based on your abilities. Class rank and similar information is also useful if available.
Relevant jobs you have held in reverse chronological order, giving employer name, job title, period you worked there, and your job duties. If it was a programming job, make this a brief description like: “I had a summer job working for company X writing a program to do inventory management in a pet store.” Also, include experiences contributing to open source software (OSS) projects here.
Here is your chance to describe why you are a great C programmer. How long have been programming in C? The experience can relate to one of the above jobs, to a course you took, to your hobby, or anything else.
Tell which operating systems you are familiar with, how familiar, kernel programming you have done, and so on. If you have any previous experience with MINIX, tell us about it here.
List your first choice, second choice, etc. After each one, give a weight of how much you want to work on this one. For example
This means you prefer porting the NetBSD userland or improving debugger support with a small preference for the former project and would also be willing to work on FUSE support. The sum of the weights must be 100. Saying you will do anything doesn't show much enthusiasm and will not impress us. Putting all your eggs in one basket (listing only one project with weight 100) increases your chance of getting it but means if you are not our first choice, you get nothing.
For your first choice, make a week-by-week timeline with milestones, that is, what will be delivered on what date. Think about design, various phases of coding, your testing, release to the community for testing, optimization, and documentation. If you need any special hardware or software, include its acquisition in the timeline. Also, discuss any topics you will need to learn in order to complete the project.
Your proposal should convince us that you will successfully complete your project. You should put some serious thought into this question.
Why do you want to work on MINIX 3 as opposed to the many other interesting open-source projects? Can you work full time this summer or do you have any time conflicts (courses, exams, work) this summer?
To apply, go to Google's application page.