EVoC - Project ideas & hardware requirements

[Peter Hutterer]

sorry about the delay

On Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 07:57:41AM +0100, Stefan Dvoretskii wrote:
> Hello dear Wayland developers,
> 
> I am a student thinking about participating in EVoC. I've browsed the Ideas
> concerning Wayland on the official site (
> https://www.x.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeIdeas/) and found the Pressure-only
> Bluetooth styli support and Multi-Buffer for XWayland ideas especially
> interesting. However, there are some questions:
> 
> * Hardware requirements - I doubt I would have the proper portable
> hardware. Is it possible to run it virtually or could there be some cheaper
> solutions for that (i.e., buying/renting the proper hardware for the
> duration of the project)? What could you recommend?

much of the input hardware can be emulated. That's fine for debugging but
definitely not sufficient for writing new features because you just never
know all the details that hardware can suprise you with. You definitely
would have to own the hardware for the project - how you get it is largely
left to you. 

> * The codebase of xOrg is pretty huge, so it's pretty hard to find relevant
> code. Where should I look at first considering this projects/ideas?

at least for the pressure-only BT styli, the project that you'd have to work
with is libinput.
 
> * Are there some resources apart from this and ToDo list where one could
> find more things worthy doing an EVoC project about them?

One of the first things I'll have to point you to is:
"Applicants must already be involved with the project and known to the
community. (This requirement is so that the majority of project time is
spent on the actual project, not on figuring out build systems,
contributions rules, etc.)" https://www.x.org/wiki/XorgEVoC/

I strongly suggest that you start hacking on things you want to first, send
patches, help out, etc, before you consider a full EVoC. While X.Org can
fund EVoC-like programs, it doesn't have the infinite war chest that google
has so the drawbacks of a failing student is a lot higher. And a side-effect
of EVoC is that you don't have the community of other students around you,
you'd be mostly on your own working only with others on the same project. So
for your own benefit, getting along with those ppl is the first things to sort
out :)

Cheers,
   Peter