Foresight Packaging Contest
Overview
Shuttle © (Shuttle) has graciously offered to sponsor a Packaging contest for Foresight!
With the recent launch of Foresight 2.0, a number of tasks are available to continue to improve Foresight and increase the number of software applications available to users in Foresight's repository. The majority of these tasks include packaging new software applications, but there are a small number of tasks including documentation updates, website updates and misc. tasks than can also earn points.
Thanks to Shuttle a number of prizes are available to contest participants for completing these tasks. The contest runs April 1st through April 30th, 2008.
All tasks will be documented in Foresight's issue tracker, JIRA, available at https://issues.foresightlinux.org/secure/Dashboard.jspa.
Contest particpants will need to create a JIRA account, which also enables your Wiki account. For more information on using JIRA see https://wiki.foresightlinux.org/display/DEV/HowTo+report+an+Issue+and+JIRA+Overview.
Each specific task will be assigned a point value of 1, 2 or 3 based on difficulty. Level of difficulty will be determined by the contest administrators. For example, the following tasks might be available in Foresight's JIRA, and assigned the following points (representative examples):
- Package Postr for Foresight 2.0 (FL-1027): Points: 1
- Package Bluefish for Foresight 2.0 (FL-960): Points 1
- Add Audacious and plugins to Foresight 2 (FL-145) Points: 2
- Package VLC for Foresight 2.0 (FL-968) Points: 2
- Add Liferea chapter to the Using Applications chapter of the User Guide (FL-408) Points: 1
Tasks will also be aggregated and summarized on a contest wiki page. If a task or package request is not available on the wiki, but is in JIRA, it is still open for the contest. If the task is assigned to JIRA, but doesn't have a comment assigning the point value to it, the default point value is one.
Contest particpants will be required to comment on the issue that they are working on this issue. Contest participants are limited to no more than 5 tasks at a time, and tasks should be completed within three days or will be re-opened for assignment. There is no limit to the number of tasks that can be completed. Contest participants will need to sign up on the Contest wiki page, and they will be added to a JIRA group so they can assign the task to themselves.
Packages should be submitted to the contest participant's personal repository on rBuilder Online. Once packaged, the contest participant should comment on the issue that the package is available for testing, and include their rBuilder information and what architecture the package has been created for. (x86 and / or x86_64, preferably both).
Anyone can open issues in Foresight's JIRA to request packages to be ported to Foresight 2, though no points will be assigned for package requests.
Contest Prizes:
1st Place Prize Only 1 Winner for the most number of points Accumulated (Minimum 100)
- 1 KPC K4500 System
2nd Place Prize (Up to 2 Winners) Requires Minimum 75 Points
- SD52T Barebone
3rd Place Prize (Up to 5 Winners) Requires Minimum 50 Points
- 1 Ideazone Merc Stealth Keyboard
4th Place Prize (Up to 5 Winners) Requires Minimum 50 Points
- 1 Ideazone Reaper Edge Mouse
Points can only be accumulated and used once for credit. Limit 1 prize per contestant. At the end of the contest, those with the most points meeting the minimums above can pick their prize. In the event of a first place tie, a random drawing will be held by the contest committee to pick the winner.
The contest committee consists of Ken VanDine, Antonio Meireles, and Paul Cutler. (All of whom are not eligible for the contest).
A Contest Q&A session will be help Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. EST in the Foresight IRC channel on Freenode at #foresight.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long does the contest run?
- A: The contest begins Tuesday, April 1st, and ends Wednesday April 30th.
- Who is eligible?
- A: Anyone who wants to contribute! You just need to have an active JIRA account.
- I don't know how to package, this doesn't seem fair!
- A: While porting packages is the primary goal of the contest, there is a lot more to do than just port packages! Help write documentation, code a new application, help with the website, or even make a Wordpress theme. Browse JIRA and grab a task!
- Do I have to wait until the end of the month to claim my prize?
- A: Yes. Those with the most accumulated points get to pick their prizes first.
- I'm trying to port a package, but it's dependencies are not in the repo. What do I do?
- A: Port the dependencies! Open a new package request in JIRA as a sub-task of the current JIRA issue. You will earn a point for each dependency in a package that you package and / or port.
- Where can I learn more about packaging?
- A: There are a number of resources available:
- My package won't cook or rMake, where can I get more help?
- A: Visit the Foresight IRC channel on Freenode at #foresight or post on the Foresight Forums.
- No one answered my question in IRC, now what?
- A: Not everyone is always around in IRC, you can post on the Forums linked above or send an email to the Development mailing list.
- I have questions about the contest that aren't answered in this FAQ?
- A: Send an email with your question to contest@foresightlinux.org
- Why is the sky blue?
- A. We have absolutely no idea.
The Fine Print:
- All entries submitted are the property of the Foresight Linux Project. The Foresight Linux Project is only responsible for collecting and tallying the number of entries.
- Shuttle © and the Foresight Linux Project are not responsible for any late, lost or misdirected entries. Contest rules may be modified at any time without notice. All decisions made by Shuttle © and the Foresight Linux Project are final.
- All package recipes must be submitted under a MIT license available at http://www.rpath.com/permanent/mit-license.html
