Hello GSoC
I’m super excited because I’ve been selected to work with Libreswan for GSoC 2020.
Wait, what’s GSoC?
Google Summer of Code, also referred to as GSoC, is a three-month-long Google administered program that connects students with Open Source organizations to solve real-time problems. Open Source org receives quality contributions while students get hands-on experience.
Ok, Why should I contribute to Open Source?
If you think that Windows is sluggish and vulnerable then I bet you haven’t tried Linux(which is of course Open Source) yet. Open Source projects are simply the best. You can learn how to understand other’s code(usually difficult) and communicate, collaborate with people all around the world. You can check out this article for deeper insights.
Libreswan
My application(formally know as proposal) for GSoC 2020 got accepted with Libreswan.
Libreswan is a free software implementation of the most widely supported and standardized VPN protocol using “IPsec” and the Internet Key Exchange (“IKE”).
-From libreswan.org.
Simply put, Libreswan lets you connect securely on an untrusted network, much like a VPN.
I will be working on Automating and performing Interoperability tests for BSD based systems.
How I got selected!
I learned about GSoC from online sources and it caught my attention quickly. I was curious and unsure where to begin. Meanwhile Tor project’s DocsHackathon was announced, there begins my first Open Source contribution.
In December 2019, I was very much awaiting to apply for GSoC 2020. I had shortlisted some organizations based on my skills and was desperately trying to contribute towards them. And I Failed. I was unable to open a PR(Pull Request) to any of the organization’s codebase.
I decided to give up but pulled myself for one last try. I was very much connected to Libreswan’s mission of Opportunistic Encryption. So I joined their IRC Chat room and started asking questions, got some basic knowledge on how the codebase is organized and how things work. But then, to write my proposal I needed in-depth expertise.
It was March 21, 2020 and I was working on my proposal but, I had many questions to tackle with. After several conversations with my mentors via email, I devised my initial proposal and asked them for their feedback. I finally tabled my proposal after implementing those changes.
The D Day
On May 4th (the day selected students were announced), I was very anxious to know the results when suddenly, this email pops up.
I was surprised and couldn’t believe my eyes. It was the happiest day of my life.
I was selected for GSoC 2020!
The Real Challenge begins ..!!
I’ve always been prepared to take on challenges, and GSoC is one of them. I’ve been planning extensively on organizing things to complete a huge project like this. I am super excited to work on this project.
Special mention
I would like to thank Anubav Singh for constant support and motivation, Rishabh for helping me with my GSoC proposal and my mentors Paul Wouters, Andrew Cagney for giving me an opportunity to work with them.
If you have any queries/suggestions feel free to comment below or email me at hello@rtcms.dev