Varun, The reason for the response you about spreading the word, rather than a direct answer to your solicitation to work on a project is based on the history OpenStreetMap has in the past with GSoC.
Every year that OSM has had GSoC, we've had many applicants. They came with extremely good academic qualifications. They all made detailed proposals of projects they wanted to work on, everything from routing, to rendering, to computer vision, mobile application development, etc. What very few of them had, to the best of my recollection, was a long standing history of being part of the existing OpenStreetMap community. Some didn't have an account, others signed up the day they applied. When those applicants were accepted, the results have always been disappointing. Some only did half the project, some a quarter, some wrote documentation for systems that they never developed, and others never did anything at all. It appears that the only thing these students were looking for was some money, and they were using the Google Summer of Code program, and the OpenStreetMap project to get it. When we have had success with the project, it's been when we have supported developers who already have a long standing with the community. For example, we supported Paul Norman, who had already developed software for OSM, and has been an editor for a number of years, as well as an active community participant, and he worked on a core OSM program, cgimap. The work that came out was outstanding, and the GSoC program was beneficial to both parties (he and OSM). On a personal level, as a potential mentor as a community member, I support GSoC applicants who are already active members of our community, active mappers and active developers. That is, if an applicant can show that he or she has been editing OSM for months/years and already developing software that is used by the OpenStreetMap community, then we should support them, but when it is someone who is entering the project for the first time in order to join GSoC, my suggestion to them is to become an active member of your community. Map your local neighborhood, get involved in an existing OSM related project and show the community that you're serious about being part of the community. Then, when you apply to GSoC in the future, the evaluators can see that you're committed to the project. I don't know your particular circumstances, Varun. What is your OSM username? How long have you been editing OSM? What existing OSM software have you either developed or submitted patches to? - Serge
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