Lots of good ideas are listed in [[:fedora:SummerCoding/2008/Ideas|Summer Coding Ideas (Fedora Wiki)]]. These projects were originally proposed for Google Summer of Code projects; if you want to use one of them, please discuss it with [[User:Chris Tyler|Chris Tyler]] before selecting it, because the scope and mentorship model for GSOC is different from that of the LUX projects.
== Free-open font packaging ==
The gratis release of a collection of web fonts in 1996 had a devastating effect on many font projects, drainning the font market in western countries and limiting the use of other typefaces to typography niches. However, this program has been discontinued and the gratis versions of those fonts are no longer updated. Since Unicode.org's codification pace of human scripts has not abated, and the font formats have evolved (with the OpenType specifications), this font set is increasingly obsolete. Also, many scripts were never covered, leaving entire world regions without mass access to a way to write their language in the digital age.
An operating system or browser that relies on the 1996 font set for its text rendering is not really free. And text is still our main information media.
Faced with this problem many individuals and organisations have started creating and publishing new fonts, but they lack the clout of multinationals to get successfully distributed, and are often poorly structured. The aim of this project would be to identify as many of those free fonts as possible and package them in Fedora. The result would serve as a core component of Fedora's art spin, and as basis for a richer international experience in Fedora (and derivatives such as OLPC)
This project is mainly targeted at free software (in this case fonts) distribution dynamics. You'll learn some rpm packaging skills, and be exposed to many different font projects worldwide, some big, some small, some efficient, some poorly run.
A project second stage would be to capitalize on the experience acquired and publish a set of distribution best practices for font authors, including recommended release composition, generic makefile, etc.
The Fedora [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Categories:Fonts_SIG Fonts special interest group] will provide mentoring, technical support, and [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Category:Fonts_packaging documentation]. An initial [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Category:Font_wishlist list of fonts to package] has already been published.
Contact: Nicolas Mailhot <nim AT fedoraproject.org>
