The Debian Project has been accepted in Google Summer of Code
One of the potential project areas for students is "Enabling free multimedia real-time communications (RTC) with Debian"
For one or more projects to go ahead under this theme, we need: a) talented students (several have already applied) b) a team of mentors (I can't do this alone) c) solid project plans
Even if you don't want to formally commit as a mentor, you can volunteer time to help look over student proposals on an ad-hoc basis between now and the final selections in 2-3 weeks.
The number of projects Google agrees to fund will depend a lot on the quality of the proposals from the students. Beyond that, the actual success of the project will depend on whether the student started with the right objectives in their plan.
Anybody looking at the proposals is welcome to email the students and CC myself and the co-mentors and/or this free-rtc list.
http://wiki.debian.org/SummerOfCode2013/StudentApplications
Some things to think about while looking at these proposals:
a) is there anything the student proposes that is duplicated/not necessary/already implemented?
b) what is the most valuable part of the student's proposal?
c) in which order should the student complete things?
d) what tests should they make to verify their work?
e) are there any other "missing links" in the free RTC eco-system but not acknowledged in the student's proposal?
f) how can an RTC infrastructure running on Debian.org and related sites demonstrate best practice for Free RTC, and which part of the student's proposal specifically help Debian.org infrastructure? What can Debian itself do to lead the way in this area?
g) Would other organisations like FSFE, LUGs, etc want to run the same infrastructure that the student develops?
Some related items: - the student projects in PKI (also on the link above) are directly relevant to building federated SIP and XMPP and these students would also welcome feedback and ideas - there is also the possibility that a female candidate can be funded by Debian's "Outreach Program for Women", so in a best case scenario, there may be more than one student working in this area over the summer