GSoC 2009

[Ian Monroe]

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 8:42 AM, Casey Link <unnamedrambler at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Meta::Playlist synchronization to media devices and services and the
>> similar Collection syncing.
>> Part of this is also implementation of a feature of iTunes: autofill a
>> mediadevice. Apple uses it for the iPod Shuffle but we would also
>> target cellphones and generic usb mp3-players. This touches at least 3
>> major Amarok 2 framework, so an experienced programmer with prior
>> Amarok knowledge is preferred.
>> I'm willing (and able) to mentor this year.
>
> Alejandro and I discussed this in detail last summer. I think this is
> a crucial, crucial feature.
>
>> p.s. who will setup a nice wiki page to collect these proposals?
> There already is one http://amarok.kde.org/wiki/Proposals
>
>
> Another addition:
> Remote Sharing via DAAP. Both iTunes and WMP have this feature now.
> People should be able to seamlessly listen and browse tracks in
> Amaroks on the LAN. Amarok should also support the DACP remote control
> spec (http://dacp.jsharkey.org/) so people can controller amarok
> remotely from devices (i.e., cellphones).

I think upnp is a better standard then DAAP since its actually
documented. Or like on that DACP page I saw the ominous words "With
the protocol now reverse engineered". Obviously I'm still bitter after
iTunes 7 broke my GSoC project, but I think avoiding such undocumented
Apple technology is probably a good policy. UPnP vs Apple protocols is
not a zero-sum game, we can have both. But I think the priority should
be on upnp.

At FOSDEM I met one of the creators of the gupnp library (Zeeshan
Ali). He seemed very willing to help us out if we had questions. Its
also nice to be able to use a library to handle all the painful
details.

Anyways last year the UPnP project only didn't work because my student
never really showed up. :S However I think its a great SoC sized
project.

I'll go update the wiki page now.

And just to make it explicitly clear: any Amarok developer who is a
student and has a free summer should think about applying. Don't feel
you can't apply because your already a developer or something. Its a
great way to give you the resources you need to work on Amarok all
summer.

Ian