[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":191},["ShallowReactive",2],{"navigation":3,"blog-page":35,"blogs":45},[4,14],{"title":5,"path":6,"stem":7,"children":8,"page":13},"Blog","\u002Fblog","blog",[9],{"title":10,"path":11,"stem":12},"GSoC 2026: a Hopeful Rejection","\u002Fblog\u002Fgsoc-2026-a-hopeful-rejection","blog\u002Fgsoc-2026-a-hopeful-rejection",false,{"title":15,"path":16,"stem":17,"children":18,"page":13},"Work","\u002Fwork","work",[19,23,27,31],{"title":20,"path":21,"stem":22},"CFU Bench","\u002Fwork\u002Fcfu-bench","work\u002Fcfu-bench",{"title":24,"path":25,"stem":26},"Focal Grid","\u002Fwork\u002Ffocal-grid","work\u002Ffocal-grid",{"title":28,"path":29,"stem":30},"Pico Router","\u002Fwork\u002Fpico-router","work\u002Fpico-router",{"title":32,"path":33,"stem":34},"Valhalla","\u002Fwork\u002Fvalhalla","work\u002Fvalhalla",{"id":36,"title":37,"body":38,"description":39,"extension":40,"links":38,"meta":41,"navigation":42,"path":6,"seo":43,"stem":7,"__hash__":44},"pages\u002Fblog.yml","Latest Articles",null,"Some of my recent thoughts on design, development, and the tech industry.","yml",{},true,{"title":37,"description":39},"vycKbZXH6lUprkttlxVokzcLu31TOtP82HO4ECYI1yY",[46],{"id":47,"title":10,"author":38,"badge":48,"body":49,"date":183,"description":184,"extension":185,"image":186,"meta":187,"minRead":188,"navigation":42,"path":11,"seo":189,"stem":12,"__hash__":190},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgsoc-2026-a-hopeful-rejection.md","GIS",{"type":50,"value":51,"toc":172},"minimark",[52,57,61,65,75,80,98,107,111,133,137,148,154,158],[53,54,56],"h3",{"id":55},"tldr","TL;DR",[58,59,60],"p",{},"I was rejected for GSoC 2026 after months of preparations. The dissapointment was tough but the entire experience integrated my into open-source culture. My prep work involved building a deep understanding of routing engine mechanics and systems engineering principles and thus gave me the necessary base to start my own FOSS project, Pico Router.",[53,62,64],{"id":63},"helpful-definition","Helpful Definition",[58,66,67,68],{},"\"Google Summer of Code is a global, online program focused on bringing new contributors into open source software development. GSoC Contributors work with an open source organization on a 12+ week programming project under the guidance of mentors.\" — ",[69,70,74],"a",{"href":71,"rel":72},"https:\u002F\u002Fsummerofcode.withgoogle.com\u002F",[73],"nofollow","summerofcode.withgoogle.com",[76,77,79],"h2",{"id":78},"how-it-started","How It Started",[58,81,82,83,88,89,91,92,97],{},"In late 2025 I happened to discover Google Summer of Code while watching a ",[69,84,87],{"href":85,"rel":86},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002F@Green-Code",[73],"Green Code"," video. It happened to catch my eye due to it's \"meritocratic\" appeal (very attractive for any self-taught engineer), and let's be honest, the fact that it's backed by Google also had something to do with it. Being in the midst of my work on ",[69,90,24],{"href":25},", and just being introduced to the world of GIS technology, I looked through the org list to find any project that could fit me. I ended up landing on ",[69,93,96],{"href":94,"rel":95},"https:\u002F\u002Fwiki.openstreetmap.org\u002F",[73],"OpenStreetMap"," due to the sheer variety of prominent GIS projects they maintain.",[58,99,100,101,106],{},"I checked the proposed projects page on the official wiki to find out there was only one project up for grabs at the moment. The ",[69,102,105],{"href":103,"rel":104},"https:\u002F\u002Fwiki.openstreetmap.org\u002Fwiki\u002FGoogle_Summer_of_Code\u002F2026\u002FProject_ideas#Routing",[73],"project description"," boiled down to making a previous participant's full-stack routing application 'production-ready' by integrating it closer with one or more OSM routing engines. Remebering that \"the early bird gets the worm\" I checked out the repo and contacted the mentor to share my interest in the project.",[76,108,110],{"id":109},"the-prep-phase","The Prep Phase",[112,113,114,118,121,124,127,130],"ul",{},[115,116,117],"li",{},"Introduction to OSS culture",[115,119,120],{},"Exploring closures.osm.ch",[115,122,123],{},"Exploring valhalla",[115,125,126],{},"First community contact",[115,128,129],{},"Maintainer feedback",[115,131,132],{},"Summary of prep contributions",[76,134,136],{"id":135},"summary-of-the-proposal","Summary of The Proposal",[112,138,139,142,145],{},[115,140,141],{},"Apparent problem to solve and main considerations",[115,143,144],{},"Sidecar service written in Python to keep valhalla server applications in sync with closures in closures.osm.ch",[115,146,147],{},"Components and steps of the service",[149,150,153],"u-button",{"href":151,"target":152},"\u002Fcontent\u002FGSoC-proposal.pdf","_blank","\nDownload\n",[76,155,157],{"id":156},"moving-on","Moving On",[112,159,160,163,166,169],{},[115,161,162],{},"Rejections and feeling of dissapointment",[115,164,165],{},"Frustrating coincidences",[115,167,168],{},"Reflecting on learnings",[115,170,171],{},"Proceding to new ambitions",{"title":173,"searchDepth":174,"depth":174,"links":175},"",2,[176,178,179,180,181,182],{"id":55,"depth":177,"text":56},3,{"id":63,"depth":177,"text":64},{"id":78,"depth":174,"text":79},{"id":109,"depth":174,"text":110},{"id":135,"depth":174,"text":136},{"id":156,"depth":174,"text":157},"2025-04-23","A detailed breakdown of my personal experience applying to 2026 edition of Google Summer of Code.","md","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.collabora.com\u002Fassets\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FGSoC-2020b.png",{},8,{"title":10,"description":184},"Vg_XLJPBQ13GHQGrWJ79etQkORc4rI3gx0yKlGhsC6Q",1782249099570]