As I mentioned in my last posting, I have the option of participating in the development of either of two Summer of Code proposals. Before I reveal the projects, it might help to put them into context with some information about the mentoring organizations: KDE and the Python Software Foundation. KDE is a desktop environment for Linux with a very complete software suite. I've tried out nearly two dozen window managers and desktop environments, and KDE definitely has something special going on. (Okay, for my brief GNOME-bashing on Alex's blog, I must say that I've learned to appreciate GNOME as well. I'm actually using it right now to write this up.) Python is my favorite programming language — what more can I say? I'm extremely productive with it.

On to the projects — first, the KDE proposal. On the KDE bounties page there's an entry for a "visionary application addition," awarded to innovative proposals — this was the bounty I was selected for. The idea is for a program called Knoware where users voluntarily contribute information about their system's configuration (hardware, installed packages, etc.) and then subscribe to bugs or problems they're experiencing (doesn't have to be a bug — any fixable annoyance). This information is kept on a server, which uses a system called Bayes Nets (short for Bayesian Networks — here are short and long descriptions — basically, inductive logic) to identify patterns between bug subscriptions and system configurations. If enough people participate, Knoware could quickly track down bugs that would otherwise take forever to identify. In my experience, a vast amount of problems in Linux arise from the unlimited number of possible hardware configurations people have. Often people turn to forums for tech support, where users generally don't provide enough information about their problem and others spend forever probing them about their system. There are a lot more details I could go into about this project, but I'll save it for a later posting. For example, the client isn't just a passive application that gathers system information, it also networks you with other users who are subscribed to similar problems, or have similar hardware configurations, so that you can collaboratively work through possible solutions (and log your progress for others to see).

If that description confused you, consider this example: everyone who subscribes to the 'Program Y crashes when I do this' bug has an 'X' brand graphics card. Knoware will recognize this pattern and then examine more details like the card model, specifications, drivers, etc. For instance, it could eventually determine that only 512MB 2nd generation cards with driver version 2.5 cause this crash, and this gives developers a starting point for fixing the problem.

My other submission was picked up from the Python Web Programming Ideas page. I proposed the addition of a comments & annotation system to the Python standard reference, much like what is seen in PHP's documentation. Oddly, I've had multiple conversations with people who agree that the PHP documentation is often made worse by the comments system. My proposal included the use of Ajax to provide abilities like live editing and filtering, a rating or categorization system to prevent abuse, and other additions. Okay, the comments thing is kind of boring, but the annotation part I am excited about — they are two different things. If you take a look at PHP's documentation, you see that all the user contributed notes are at the bottom of the page, like any other comments sytem. Annotation, on the other hand, is meant to sit alongside a specific block of text on the page. For example, many textbooks feature in-margin annotation to identify terms or concepts. Since it can be very easy to disrupt the flow of a page with extraneous text, especially on a web page, I'm looking forward to trying out different solutions such as CSS tooltips, in-margin annotation, and in-place footnote links. Assuming, of course, that I accept this bounty.

Right now I'm leaning heavily towards the Knoware proposal. My reasoning is that it's my own idea and I have a strong interest in seeing it done right and by my own hand. I'll go into more detail about Knoware and other Summer of Code happenings in future postings.