GSOC 2016 Application

GSOC 2016 Application

[sapientech]

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Hi all,

My name is Dylan, and I am a Swarthmore College student interested in 
working with Guix this summer! Attached is my proposal to help develop 
an installation wizard for GuixSD. Please let me know if there are any 
questions or comments.

I am also interested in applying to work on 8sync/adding an extensible 
event loop to GNU Shepard. I will add that proposal soon!

Best,
Dylan


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DYLAN JEFFERS
sapientech@openmailbox.org | git: notabug.org/SapienTech | IRC: SapienTech

GUIX: INSTALLER WIZARD FOR GuixSD

SUMMARY
- Build an intuitive, yet highly customizable installer wizard for the Guix System Distribution
- Design with reproducible builds in mind
- Consider both a text-based and graphical application using guile-ncurses/libRUIN
- Design for portability for use in other software distributions that lack a proper installer wizard

BENEFITS
Difficulty with distro installation is the major obstacle preventing the Linux desktop from mainstream use. GuixSD, although young and still techie-focused, will need an intuitive installer wizard to attract a more general user-base.

A well developed installer wizard will make an immediate impact on Guix development. More users means more Guix code is tested, which helps current Guix developers triage bugs more effectively, and encourages new developers with the skill sets in diverse areas to contribute.

Although a good techie should not judge a distro by its installer wizard, first impressions do matter. A smooth install is satisfying, which helps establish a good relationship with new users right away.

DELIVERABLES
- An extensible TUI (and possible GUI) installation wizard
- An emphasis on rigorous test suites, with stability prioritized over features
- Continually updated installation guide on Guix wiki

PLAN
- Research installer wizards in other distributions, and work with the Guix community to determine a minimal yet effective installation flow
- Research and incorporate installation scripts other Guile users have created
- Begin writing the back-end logic, moving on to the TUI, and if support is there, a GUI
- Build the installer wizard in steps, and expose them early to help users automate parts of the installation
- Document this progress on Guix wiki to keep users updated and informed
- Respond to bug-reports ASAP to engage new users and maximize successful installations


COMMUNICATION
- 24/7 IRC connection with daily checking
- Weekly meetings with mentors (if mentors agree)
- Release announcements on dev email list
- Contributions to bug tracker
- General communication and announcements on GNU Social

QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience working in Guile and C (previously discussed in IRC)
- Worked with MediaGoblin last year on its Android client MediaGoblin, and learned how to develop in a free software setting
- Experience installing multiple Linux desktops and servers, BSD distros, Plan9, OSX, Windows, and boot firmware
- Experience with mobile app development, which shares many similarities with an installation wizard
- Contributed to other free software projects
- Already use GuixSD for much of my development work in addition to Trisquel running libreboot
- Will sustain interest in Guix beyond the summer internship

GSOC 2016 Application

[sapientech]

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Resending this since it seems to have failed. Please ignore if original 
email comes through.

On 2016-03-24 15:06, sapientech@openmailbox.org wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> My name is Dylan, and I am a Swarthmore College student interested in
> working with Guix this summer! Attached is my proposal to help develop
> an installation wizard for GuixSD. Please let me know if there are any
> questions or comments.
> 
> I am also interested in applying to work on 8sync/adding an extensible
> event loop to GNU Shepard. I will add that proposal soon!
> 
> Best,
> Dylan

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DYLAN JEFFERS
sapientech@openmailbox.org | git: notabug.org/SapienTech | IRC: SapienTech

GUIX: INSTALLER WIZARD FOR GuixSD

SUMMARY
- Build an intuitive, yet highly customizable installer wizard for the Guix System Distribution
- Design with reproducible builds in mind
- Consider both a text-based and graphical application using guile-ncurses/libRUIN
- Design for portability for use in other software distributions that lack a proper installer wizard
x
BENEFITS
Difficulty with distro installation is the major obstacle preventing the Linux desktop from mainstream use. GuixSD, although young and still techie-focused, will need an intuitive installer wizard to attract a more general user-base.

A well developed installer wizard will make an immediate impact on Guix development. More users means more Guix code is tested, which helps current Guix developers triage bugs more effectively, and encourages new developers with the skill sets in diverse areas to contribute.

Although a good techie should not judge a distro by its installer wizard, first impressions do matter. A smooth install is satisfying, which helps establish a good relationship with new users right away.

DELIVERABLES
- An extensible TUI (and possible GUI) installation wizard
- An emphasis on rigorous test suites, with stability prioritized over features
- Continually updated installation guide on Guix wiki

PLAN
- Research installer wizards in other distributions, and work with the Guix community to determine a minimal yet effective installation flow
- Research and incorporate installation scripts other Guile users have created
- Begin writing the back-end logic, moving on to the TUI, and if support is there, a GUI
- Build the installer wizard in steps, and expose them early to help users automate parts of the installation
- Document this progress on Guix wiki to keep users updated and informed
- Respond to bug-reports ASAP to engage new users and maximize successful installations


COMMUNICATION
- 24/7 IRC connection with daily checking
- Weekly meetings with mentors (if mentors agree)
- Release announcements on dev email list
- Contributions to bug tracker
- General communication and announcements on GNU Social

QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience working in Guile and C (previously discussed in IRC)
- Worked with MediaGoblin last year on its Android client MediaGoblin, and learned how to develop in a free software setting
- Experience installing multiple Linux desktops and servers, BSD distros, Plan9, OSX, Windows, and boot firmware
- Experience with mobile app development, which shares many similarities with an installation wizard
- Contributed to other free software projects
- Already use GuixSD for much of my development work in addition to Trisquel running libreboot
- Will sustain interest in Guix beyond the summer internship

Re: GSOC 2016 Application

[Christopher Allan Webber]

sapientech@openmailbox.org writes:

> Hi all,
>
> My name is Dylan, and I am a Swarthmore College student interested in 
> working with Guix this summer! Attached is my proposal to help develop 
> an installation wizard for GuixSD. Please let me know if there are any 
> questions or comments.
>
> I am also interested in applying to work on 8sync/adding an extensible 
> event loop to GNU Shepard. I will add that proposal soon!
>
> Best,
> Dylan

It went through.  Thanks for the proposal!

I don't think there's time for feedback that can be meaningfully
incorporated, but it looks good and I don't have much to say anyway.

(As some extra context, sapienTech was a GSoC student for MediaGoblin
last year, and built an Android application using Kivy which integrates
with MediaGoblin, and did a great job there.)

 - Chris

Re: GSOC 2016 Application

[Chris Marusich]

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sapientech@openmailbox.org writes:

> My name is Dylan, and I am a Swarthmore College student interested in
> working with Guix this summer! Attached is my proposal to help develop
> an installation wizard for GuixSD. Please let me know if there are any
> questions or comments.

This is a great idea!  You might be interested to know that from Thomas
Ingram has made a similar proposal.  My feedback to you would be similar
to the feedback I gave to him, which is here:

https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/2016-03/msg00903.html

> - Consider both a text-based and graphical application using
> guile-ncurses/libRUIN

While it's good to plan for both text and graphical UI, maybe it will be
more efficient to pick one to focus on, and treat the other as a stretch
goal?

> - Design for portability for use in other software distributions that
> lack a proper installer wizard

Again, this is a nice idea, but it might be more efficient to focus on
getting it to work with Guix first.

> - An emphasis on rigorous test suites, with stability prioritized over features

GuixSD is still beta software.  Is it a good idea to make one of your
goals be "the installer is stable" when the system it's installing is
not stable?

> - Research installer wizards in other distributions, and work with the
> Guix community to determine a minimal yet effective installation flow

I would be happy to share with you the hacky little shell scripts I use
to do this today.  They're simple automations of the manual procedure,
really, but perhaps they could be useful.  I am not familiar with the
implementation details of installer wizards used by other distros, but
I've seen and used my fair share of them.

In any case, I would love to have a functioning installer for GuixSD!
You're absolutely right that it would make the system more approachable
to newcomers, too.  Thank you for taking the time to work on this!

-- 
Chris

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Re: GSOC 2016 Application

[myglc2]

sapientech@openmailbox.org writes:

> Hi all,
>
> My name is Dylan, and I am a Swarthmore College student interested in
> working with Guix this summer! Attached is my proposal to help develop
> an installation wizard for GuixSD. Please let me know if there are any
> questions or comments.
>
> I am also interested in applying to work on 8sync/adding an extensible
> event loop to GNU Shepard. I will add that proposal soon!
>
> Best,
> Dylan

Hey Dylan, this is a very cool proposal.

You said, "Although a good techie should not judge a distro by its
installer wizard, first impressions do matter. A smooth install is
satisfying, which helps establish a good relationship with new users
right away."

I could not agree more!

Reading your proposal and another on installation prompted me to write
some general thoughts about Guix installation which you might find
interesting:

http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gnu.guix.devel/18206

Good luck - George

Re: GSOC 2016 Application

[sapientech]

Hi Chris thanks for the response!

On 2016-03-25 09:03, Chris Marusich wrote:
> I would be happy to share with you the hacky little shell scripts I use
> to do this today.  They're simple automations of the manual procedure,
> really, but perhaps they could be useful.  I am not familiar with the
> implementation details of installer wizards used by other distros, but
> I've seen and used my fair share of them.

I would definitely like to see the shell scripts you have -- just let me 
know how you would like to share those files.

>> - Consider both a text-based and graphical application using
>> guile-ncurses/libRUIN
> 
> While it's good to plan for both text and graphical UI, maybe it will 
> be
> more efficient to pick one to focus on, and treat the other as a 
> stretch
> goal?

I agree and should turn the GUI interface into a stretch goal.

>> - Design for portability for use in other software distributions that
>> lack a proper installer wizard
> 
> Again, this is a nice idea, but it might be more efficient to focus on
> getting it to work with Guix first.
> 
>> - An emphasis on rigorous test suites, with stability prioritized over 
>> features
> 
> GuixSD is still beta software.  Is it a good idea to make one of your
> goals be "the installer is stable" when the system it's installing is
> not stable?

I also agree with your sentiments here that I should prioritize Guix 
before considering other operating systems.

One reason I think stability is particularly important here though, is 
that installs have to check for a lot of edge cases, and it's generally 
difficult for users to solve the problem since the api is so limited. I 
agree I shouldn't go overboard, as Guile itself is in beta, though :)

Best,
Dylan

Re: GSOC 2016 Application

[sapientech]

Hi George,
On 2016-03-25 13:11, myglc2 wrote:
> Reading your proposal and another on installation prompted me to write
> some general thoughts about Guix installation which you might find
> interesting:
> 
> http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gnu.guix.devel/18206

You bring up some really good points about encouraging a Guix/GNU/Linux 
installer instead of a GuixSD one. If the installer's aim is to help 
less-experienced users, then we should probably discourage them from 
using GuixSD, at least for now. If others agree, I am happy to move in 
this direction.

I think the installer flow you mentioned in your article would be really 
cool. Maybe we could have a few default setups for novice users who 
might be intimidated by all the choices though!

Thanks George,
Dylan

On 2016-03-25 13:11, myglc2 wrote:
> sapientech@openmailbox.org writes:
> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> My name is Dylan, and I am a Swarthmore College student interested in
>> working with Guix this summer! Attached is my proposal to help develop
>> an installation wizard for GuixSD. Please let me know if there are any
>> questions or comments.
>> 
>> I am also interested in applying to work on 8sync/adding an extensible
>> event loop to GNU Shepard. I will add that proposal soon!
>> 
>> Best,
>> Dylan
> 
> Hey Dylan, this is a very cool proposal.
> 
> You said, "Although a good techie should not judge a distro by its
> installer wizard, first impressions do matter. A smooth install is
> satisfying, which helps establish a good relationship with new users
> right away."
> 
> I could not agree more!
> 
> Reading your proposal and another on installation prompted me to write
> some general thoughts about Guix installation which you might find
> interesting:
> 
> http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gnu.guix.devel/18206
> 
> Good luck - George

Re: GSOC 2016 Application

[Ludovic Courtès]

sapientech@openmailbox.org skribis:

> On 2016-03-25 09:03, Chris Marusich wrote:

[...]

>> While it's good to plan for both text and graphical UI, maybe it
>> will be
>> more efficient to pick one to focus on, and treat the other as a
>> stretch
>> goal?
>
> I agree and should turn the GUI interface into a stretch goal.

I agree, let’s focus on guile-ncurses (or maybe libRUIN).

>>> - Design for portability for use in other software distributions that
>>> lack a proper installer wizard
>>
>> Again, this is a nice idea, but it might be more efficient to focus on
>> getting it to work with Guix first.
>>
>>> - An emphasis on rigorous test suites, with stability prioritized>>> over features
>>
>> GuixSD is still beta software.  Is it a good idea to make one of your
>> goals be "the installer is stable" when the system it's installing is
>> not stable?
>
> I also agree with your sentiments here that I should prioritize Guix
> before considering other operating systems.

Yes it’s really a GuixSD thing first and foremost.  :-)

Thanks,
Ludo’.