[FFmpeg-devel] GSoC 2025: Please review your Project Ideas lists

[Soft Works]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ffmpeg-devel <ffmpeg-devel-bounces at ffmpeg.org> On Behalf Of Zhao
> Zhili
> Sent: Montag, 17. Februar 2025 03:36
> To: FFmpeg development discussions and patches <ffmpeg-
> devel at ffmpeg.org>
> Subject: Re: [FFmpeg-devel] GSoC 2025: Please review your Project Ideas lists
> 
> 
> 
> > On Feb 17, 2025, at 03:42, Soft Works <softworkz-at-
> hotmail.com at ffmpeg.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: ffmpeg-devel <ffmpeg-devel-bounces at ffmpeg.org> On Behalf Of
> >> Michael Niedermayer
> >> Sent: Freitag, 14. Februar 2025 20:29
> >> To: FFmpeg development discussions and patches <ffmpeg-
> >> devel at ffmpeg.org>
> >> Subject: [FFmpeg-devel] Fw: GSoC 2025: Please review your Project Ideas
> lists
> >>
> >> Hi everyone
> >>
> >> Please help improve the gsoc 2025 page
> >>
> >> 2 ideas are missing backup mentors, if you are able please
> >> add yourself to them as backup mentor
> >>
> >> Also please add more ideas!
> >
> > Hi Michael,
> >
> > would this be a valid gsoc project?
> >
> >
> > - Develop a scraping tool which iterates ffmpeg forks on GitHub, investigates
> >  branches and identifies patches which don't exist in upstream ffmpeg
> > - Deduplicate results
> > - Setup a customized AI with knowledge about the ffmpeg source code
> > - Run this AI to classify the results:
> >  - feature or fix
> >  - generally valid or just special cake
> >  - value for the project
> > - Finally filter and produce a list of high-value patches which are worth
> looking at
> >
> > I believe there are many good and valuable patches out there, which never
> made
> > It into ffmpeg because developers didn't want to go through the submission
> > Procedures.
> 
> I think mentor should know what to do and how to do it exactly (maybe with
> some
> details missing) for a GSoC project. An experimental idea without confidence in
> feasibility leave the student in a dangerous situation.

Hi Zhao,

There are about 12k forks of ffmpeg at the moment on GitHub and I've come across a number of good things over the years without looking for any. I am confident that when doing it myself, I'd get useful results, even though I cannot exactly predict quantity and quality. 
Yet - it might require to adapt the strategy details at some points and evaluate the best ways for proceeding.
In this regard, it is not of the kind where I know in every detail how the end result will be and how it will be achieved - like projects that you've already finished in your head, just not done yet.
So yeah, if it's gotta be something like the latter, then it's probably not suitable.

Thanks
sw