openSUSE Connect hacking session at FrOSCon 2010

Join the HackMeck!

HackMeck is the weekend hack retreat of the openSUSE Boosters team in the openSUSE development room @ FrosCON. The aim of HackMeck is to advance Connect, the social networking framework the project is using to connect its users with each other. This is a great opportunity for new contributors to participate together with experienced members on some specific objective.

Connect is built on top of the Elgg plattform and most of the features we want are already available as Elgg plugins. We will evaluate and enhance those in order to match our expectations. However, some additional features will also require the creation of new plugins. Connect runs on a combination of a web server and the MySQL database and is written in the PHP scripting language. If you already posses knowledge about this very popular web server environment we encourage you to join HackMeck! But even if you don’t there are plenty of cool things to do and this weekend will give you the opportunity to learn and further yourself.

The features that will be worked on during HackMeck include:

• OAuth and OpenID support for the login procedure

• An Event Calendaring System with CalDAV support

• Support for location based services like geotagging of people/events

• Enhance the ‘‘play factor’’ by engaging the users with badges and awards

• Support for generation of business cards and other representative supplies

If you are interested in social networking, hacking and shaping the future of this project and want to discover the inner workings of openSUSE make sure to come to HackMeck @ FrosCON 2010, August 21st and 22nd at the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. Don’t forget to register using the following form so it will be easier for us to plan the event.