[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":183},["ShallowReactive",2],{"navigation":3,"\u002Fblog\u002Fgsoc-2026-a-hopeful-rejection":35,"\u002Fblog\u002Fgsoc-2026-a-hopeful-rejection-surround":182},[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":10,"author":37,"badge":38,"body":39,"date":173,"description":174,"extension":175,"image":176,"meta":177,"minRead":178,"navigation":179,"path":11,"seo":180,"stem":12,"__hash__":181},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgsoc-2026-a-hopeful-rejection.md",null,"GIS",{"type":40,"value":41,"toc":162},"minimark",[42,47,51,55,65,70,88,97,101,123,127,138,144,148],[43,44,46],"h3",{"id":45},"tldr","TL;DR",[48,49,50],"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.",[43,52,54],{"id":53},"helpful-definition","Helpful Definition",[48,56,57,58],{},"\"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.\" — ",[59,60,64],"a",{"href":61,"rel":62},"https:\u002F\u002Fsummerofcode.withgoogle.com\u002F",[63],"nofollow","summerofcode.withgoogle.com",[66,67,69],"h2",{"id":68},"how-it-started","How It Started",[48,71,72,73,78,79,81,82,87],{},"In late 2025 I happened to discover Google Summer of Code while watching a ",[59,74,77],{"href":75,"rel":76},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002F@Green-Code",[63],"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 ",[59,80,24],{"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 ",[59,83,86],{"href":84,"rel":85},"https:\u002F\u002Fwiki.openstreetmap.org\u002F",[63],"OpenStreetMap"," due to the sheer variety of prominent GIS projects they maintain.",[48,89,90,91,96],{},"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 ",[59,92,95],{"href":93,"rel":94},"https:\u002F\u002Fwiki.openstreetmap.org\u002Fwiki\u002FGoogle_Summer_of_Code\u002F2026\u002FProject_ideas#Routing",[63],"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.",[66,98,100],{"id":99},"the-prep-phase","The Prep Phase",[102,103,104,108,111,114,117,120],"ul",{},[105,106,107],"li",{},"Introduction to OSS culture",[105,109,110],{},"Exploring closures.osm.ch",[105,112,113],{},"Exploring valhalla",[105,115,116],{},"First community contact",[105,118,119],{},"Maintainer feedback",[105,121,122],{},"Summary of prep contributions",[66,124,126],{"id":125},"summary-of-the-proposal","Summary of The Proposal",[102,128,129,132,135],{},[105,130,131],{},"Apparent problem to solve and main considerations",[105,133,134],{},"Sidecar service written in Python to keep valhalla server applications in sync with closures in closures.osm.ch",[105,136,137],{},"Components and steps of the service",[139,140,143],"u-button",{"href":141,"target":142},"\u002Fcontent\u002FGSoC-proposal.pdf","_blank","\nDownload\n",[66,145,147],{"id":146},"moving-on","Moving On",[102,149,150,153,156,159],{},[105,151,152],{},"Rejections and feeling of dissapointment",[105,154,155],{},"Frustrating coincidences",[105,157,158],{},"Reflecting on learnings",[105,160,161],{},"Proceding to new ambitions",{"title":163,"searchDepth":164,"depth":164,"links":165},"",2,[166,168,169,170,171,172],{"id":45,"depth":167,"text":46},3,{"id":53,"depth":167,"text":54},{"id":68,"depth":164,"text":69},{"id":99,"depth":164,"text":100},{"id":125,"depth":164,"text":126},{"id":146,"depth":164,"text":147},"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,true,{"title":10,"description":174},"Vg_XLJPBQ13GHQGrWJ79etQkORc4rI3gx0yKlGhsC6Q",[37,37],1782249099570]