Google SoC Introduction

[Timothy Waterhouse]

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to introduce myself because I plan on applying for a SoC
position with writing a better Windows front end.  My name's Tim Waterhouse
and I've been using pidgin/gaim since back when it was highly recommended
people use the nightly builds (I think back around version .4).  At one
point I wrote a few plugins to do miscellaneous tasks for me but I never
maintained them when the protocol functions changed.  Below I've put a run
down of my background, but I'm first going to put a rough idea of the
Windows front-end.

Windows Front-End Goals:
1) Use native Windows UI elements
2) Make interfacing with the libpurple library as easy as possible
3) Make it so building both libpurple and the front-end at the same time is
easy

I'm leaning toward using unmanaged C++ to write the front end using MFC
classes because that will get rid of a lot of the dll issues.  For ease
of maintenance, however, managed code would be easier as long as wrappers
are written for the unmanaged libpurple.  I've done this before so I know it
is possible, it really depends on the comfort level you, as pidgin
developers, have for managed vs. unmanaged Windows code.  I do plan to
maintain this project long after the summer ends so I suppose it really
wouldn't be much of an issue.


My background is fairly simple.  I've got a dual degree from undergrad in
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.  I interned for General
Electric for two summers designing and writing programs and I worked for
Microsoft as an intern this past summer.  I'm highly fluent in C, C++ and
C#.  In undergrad I took a course where I made several Windows UI programs
using just assembly so I have a very good grasp of the scope of this
problem, particularly using GDI to do the drawing.  My goal would be to
match the look of the Linux native client but using Windows UI elements.

I look forward to hearing back from those involved in this project, please
let me know if I'm looking at this project from the wrong angle.  Also, feel
free to contact me on aim at caffineehacker.

Hope to be working with you guys this summer,
Tim Waterhouse

P.S. My final proposal will be more flushed out, I just want to throw some
ideas around before I write it up.
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