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Summer of Code Student Applications Now Open

Posted by kdawson on from the getting-paid-for-it dept.

The accepted Google Summer of Code 2007 mentors list is now complete at the Summer of Code website — 131 projects could use your help. Student applications are open and the end date is March 24. Google has an application guide in the Summer of Code Announce discussion group that provides more information on the application process.

53 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. summer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I prefer the Summer of Sex.

    1. Re:summer by Fuckin+ROBOTS! · · Score: 2, Funny

      I prefer the Summer of George!

      --
      You see 'em? They're EVERYWHERE!
    2. Re:summer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Absolutely. Even the "Summer of George" sounds like more fun:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Summer_of_George

        "I was Free and Clear! I was Living the Dream! I was Stripped to the Waist, Eating a Block of Cheese the Size of a Car Battery!"

    3. Re:summer by oofrab · · Score: 1

      Well how about the Slacker SoC project from nmap? http://insecure.org/nmap/GoogleGrants.html

      (Of course these were ideas for the 2006 SoC, but hopefully you'll get a chance to do IT this this year too).

    4. Re:summer by martin-boundary · · Score: 1

      I prefer the Summer of Sex.
      Great! But don't forget to show us the sores.
  2. multilingualize OLPC for SOC by wixi · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://wiki.laptop.org/go/WiXi

  3. Re:Um... W00t! by jacquesm · · Score: 1, Funny

    obligatory first question from google to applicants:

    How would you combat click fraud ?

    --
    MP3 Search Engine
  4. Crystal Space by mastershake_phd · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Crystal Space is on the list. Its an open source 3D/game engine. Cant wait till this is done and ported to some consoles.

    --
    Libertarian Leaning Political Discussion Forum.
    1. Re: Crystal Space by Z0mb1eman · · Score: 1

      OGRE > Crystal Space :p

      Okay, so I don't know enough about Crystal Space to make a valid comparison (though I think OGRE is more widely used?), but I just started learning OGRE, and it's also on the list.

      Either way, it's amazing to me that game engines of this caliber are available as open-source.

      --
      ClutterMe.com - easiest site creation on the Net. Just click and type.
  5. A suggestion for KDE by bogaboga · · Score: 1
    My humble suggestion is to have a project to make KDE and its whole environment a pleasure to look at especially in the font front by default. I find this Kdevelop screenshot very beautiful and always try to achieve this on KDE.

    Fonts are small, clear, sharp and crisp. I wonder whether such a screenshot is possible without MS fonts. If it is, then my request is to have steps involved to achieve this done away with. That's why I emphasize "default" in this submission.

    Have a look at http://www.kdevelop.org/graphics/screenshots/3.0/s ubclassing2.png

    1. Re:A suggestion for KDE by gerrysteele · · Score: 1

      Both offtopic and wrong. KDE looks good atm. I'm sure it will look better in kde 4.

    2. Re:A suggestion for KDE by Vexorian · · Score: 1

      I think that what really makes the difference in that screenshot is the font, which happens to be identical to windows' ...

      --

      Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
    3. Re:A suggestion for KDE by simcop2387 · · Score: 1

      the clear sharp crisp look of that font is because it isn't anti-aliased at all, i don't know what font it is, but making them look "crisp" like that is easy, just disable anti-aliasing.

  6. What about rejected organisations? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Our project - a fairly well known OSS project got rejected. We had a good comprehensive list of projects (that, IMO, rivals some of the big players in the announced list).

    We received no explanation of any kind. I understand that Google doesn't owe us anything, but surely some feedback will help us improve in the future, especially that we are trying to garner some corporate support.

    Anyone in the same boat? any ideas why this could happen?

    1. Re:What about rejected organisations? by jx100 · · Score: 1

      I'm not seeing ReactOS there. I know they have a wiki post about participating this year, and I was interested in contributing.

    2. Re:What about rejected organisations? by Raphael · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't know what project the parent post was refering to, but it is not only GIMP (with some interesting ideas) that got rejected.

      Other projects that were not selected include interesting improvements to the desktop infrastructure, such as GStreamer (list of ideas) or Avahi (list of ideas).

      --
      -Raphaël
    3. Re:What about rejected organisations? by gstein · · Score: 4, Informative

      In the next couple days, I'll be posting a rough summary of some of the things that we looked for this year in the applications. Please watch the google-summer-of-code-discuss mailing list.

      The first year, Chris DiBona and I just winged it and picked out about forty projects that we knew. In 2006, a bunch of people emailed us, and we manually picked some. This year, we had a web application to help organize the process, but the selection is still based on a manual review. We had something like 240 applications to sort through(!)

      I understand it is disappointing, but we had to pare the list down. A lot of people are asking "why not me?", and students will ask it in a few weeks, too, when their proposal is not accepted. We probably should have come up with some advice beforehand, but this stuff is always a rush. We have a bit on the AdviceforMentors wiki page, but I'll create a whole separate page for organization applications.

      Sorry if you weren't selected, but I hope you'll understand that we had to trim the list.

    4. Re:What about rejected organisations? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Yeah, because both of the original authors (Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis) now work at google.

      http://www.pixelbeat.org/docs/google_stars.html

    5. Re:What about rejected organisations? by bfields · · Score: 1

      Please watch the google-summer-of-code-discuss mailing list.

      "You must be signed in and a member of this group to view its content."

      And the "sign in and apply for membership" thing doesn't make it sound like joining is a trivial thing either.

    6. Re:What about rejected organisations? by dvice_null · · Score: 1

      > Anyone in the same boat? any ideas why this could happen?

      Let's say that I give you 5000 euros. You can give 1000 euros to any 5 people who asks for it. Now, you get 2000000 letters from people where they explain why they should get the money. What would you do?

    7. Re:What about rejected organisations? by chip_0 · · Score: 1

      I see that projects like Freedesktop.org and Portland are missing. Is that because they did not apply, or were they rejected? It would have been nice to see them up there as any improvements to them would benefit the entire linux desktop community.

    8. Re:What about rejected organisations? by Carewolf · · Score: 2, Insightful

      KOffice also got rejected for the second time. It will ride with the KDE project yet again. It just seems odd KDE isn't allowed to register the subprojects, when it gets more than twice as many applications as the second biggest project.

      I am assuming some of the GNOME/GTK projects got rejected this time to add some balance, they can always put their ideas under their umbrella project like KOffice does.

    9. Re:What about rejected organisations? by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      GStreamer and GIMP are as much GNOME projects as KOffice is a KDE project.

      * They share some developers
      * They share some resources
      * They share some fundamental libraries
      * They share the same initial letter

      And that is it.

      P.S. It is funny that you attack me for not knowing the projects and then make the exact same mistake you accuse me of with KOffice :D

  7. Zope requests by Bwanazulia · · Score: 1

    http://wiki.zope.org/zope3/SummerOfCode2007

    If you want to code for Zope, go check it out.

    BZ

  8. Re:Um... W00t! by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Obligatory dumb answer: one click at a time! :P

  9. HaikuOS Accepted! by kad77 · · Score: 1

    From the Haiku OS website:

    "We are pleased and at the same time thrilled to inform the community that Google has accepted our application to become a mentor organization for the Google Summer of Code 2007. Yes, we have made it! Students now have until March 24 to apply for any of our project ideas from the GSoC Web App for Student Applicants. If you are a student and are interested in working on one of our project ideas, please check out our List of GSoC Ideas and Students: How to Apply pages for detailed information."

    See http://www.haiku-os.org/ for relevant links.

  10. Re:how advanced should a coder be? by Nicholas+Bishop · · Score: 2, Informative

    There are over a hundred different organizations available to choose from, and many possible projects for each organization. Pick something you are comfortable with; if you consider yourself a novice, you should probably don't want to start out with a project for gcc, but there are many options for simpler projects.

    Most organizations also encourage potential applicants to chat with them on IRC about projects the student is interested in doing; that's a good way to find out in advance of completing an application whether you have the skills necessary to complete a project.

    One last thing to keep in mind is that you don't need to know everything before you start. Over the course of a three month project you can learn quite a lot about writing good code; you'll develop skills as you go along.

  11. Any companies other than Google? by starseeker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Google has been doing this now for some years with what appear to be fairly impressive results - I wonder if we might start to see other companies pick up on this a little. What about, say, the major Linux distributions sponsoring some projects for the major open source desktops? Or universities sponsoring some scientific software (I was very interested to see fityk on the supported list this year)? Or perhaps IBM could sponsor some work? There should be many possibilities.

    Google is supporting quite a lot of work and a great many projects, but it is unavoidable that many useful projects will fall though their net - they have only so much support they can offer. I would be interested to see other companies either partner with Google or do on their own what Google is doing - if Google can do so much, what could 5 or 10 more companies using the same basic method accomplish?

    --
    "I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
    1. Re:Any companies other than Google? by Fahrenheit+450 · · Score: 1

      Jane Street Capital is running a project like this that revolves around OCaml.
      But if you want to apply, you'd better hurry -- today is the deadline for applications.

      --
      -30-
  12. No better way to learn than by doing by geoffrobinson · · Score: 1

    Just look through and try to find something you find interesting. If you are a novice/intermediate programmer, you will stretch your abilities and, hopefully, learn a lot.

    --
    Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
    1. Re:No better way to learn than by doing by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Or you'll fail miserably and not make it past the first marker.

      I'll probably get modded down for that, but it's the truth. Plenty of interesting projects, all well out of my league...

  13. yes, but... by N3wsByt3 · · Score: 1

    Does it run apache?

    I mean, really, does it?

    --
    --- "To pee or not to pee, that is the question." ---
  14. What about SoC 2006 accomplishment ? by ospirata · · Score: 1

    Different from 2005 SoC, many projects haven't published a balance showing their achivements at Google SoC 2006. One example is the Gaim project. At 2005 they created a blog, so the students posted all their advances and priblems they have faced. But in 2006 almost no information was release, nor you saw any improvement at the Gaim's main tree. I suggest one rule for any OSS project apply for the Summer Of Code is to publish a balance of ALL the projects/students it coached at the previous year.

  15. Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

    I would probably apply to this program, but the pay really really sucks, wow.

    $4500 for the summer?

    I'm a math PhD student, writing a dissertation in numerics. I made 5 times that much last summer *after tax*, and I imagine most other CS-type graduate students can get about the same. $4500 is chicken feed.

    1. Re:Pay really sucks by /dev/trash · · Score: 1

      Dude. This is for like Undergrads. Don't be so damned greedy.

    2. Re:Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

      Dude. Undergrads need to eat and sleep, too. Also: "Google defines a student as an individual enrolled in or accepted into an accredited institution including (but not necessarily limited to) colleges, universities, masters programs, PhD programs and undergraduate programs."

    3. Re:Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

      This has nothing to do with greed, this has to do with expecting fair compensation for work performed. A lot of companies stand to benefit financially from this work being done. Why wouldn't I work for a company that's willing to pay me fairly for my contribution instead of one that tries to lowball me? No matter how good the cause is, they should still pay the workers fair market rates. It's not like google is hurting for cash.

    4. Re:Pay really sucks by /dev/trash · · Score: 1

      It's OSS. All they're doing is downloading some files, changing a few lines and surfing the web.

      I mean look at Drupal. They had SoC ppl last year. And the software is slower and buggier. Paid MORE that they're worth if ya ask me.

    5. Re:Pay really sucks by gstein · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You know... we get this every year. Some whiner says "they don't pay well enough." Fine. My thought is always, "do something else with your summer."

      Last year, we spent over $3 million on this program. This year, we're increasing that to $4 million. That means 800 students get an introduction to Open Source around the *world*. Your narrow view of life says the pay sucks. I don't think students in India would agree with you. Last year, an eastern European student used the money to start his own business.

      Those 800 students are going to have a nice little entry on their resume which will read a lot better than "flipped hamburgers at the local burger stand." These students will get to interact with some of the best Open Source organizations on the planet. And work with mentors who can show them how these communities work. They will produce more code, for the benefit of *everybody*.

      It is a fair bet those 800 students will produce more this summer than all the people who complain about the "low pay" will produce in *years*. I'm happy and fortunate to be able to do this, and I know there are thousands who are willing to participate. And I'm happy they will have a great attitude about it.

    6. Re:Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

      I agree with you, it looks good on a resume, and $4500 certainly goes a long way in some parts of the world. That said, you're eliminating a large pool of some of the best potential candidates by setting the pay so low. Perhaps it should factor in the local cost of living for the student? If I did this for the summer, and nothing else, I either wouldn't be able to afford to eat, or I'd need to find a much much cheaper apartment. Finally, it's emphatically not the case that those "800 students will produce more this summer than all the people who complain about the "low pay" combined". Between Microsoft, Microsoft Research, IBM, Apple, Sun, the NSA, various financial companies, and others, considerably more than 800 of the best programmers, scientists and mathematicians will have summer internships this year working on real problems, and generating high-quality solutions. Many of us would prefer to work on open-source projects if we could get paid a fair salary to do so (I certainly would). It wouldn't even need to match what I can get from any one of the companies listed. But it *would* need to be enough to pay my cost of living and allow me to put some cash in the bank for the next school year, contribute to my IRA, etc. In the bay area, that's about $3k a month, before taxes, considerably more than $4500. Maybe you're not interested in finding top american programmers. That's fine. But say so if that's the case.

    7. Re:Pay really sucks by paulbd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Many of us would prefer to work on open-source projects if we could get paid a fair salary to do so (I certainly would). It wouldn't even need to match what I can get from any one of the companies listed. But it *would* need to be enough to pay my cost of living and allow me to put some cash in the bank ...

      dude, join the back of the queue! do you have any idea how many of the mentors that SoC2007 participants will be working with would love to find a way to fulfill what you've just described? finding a way to work and live from work on open source projects is high on a large number of developer's goals, but the vast majority of these projects do not make much, if any money. the ones that enable Red Hat and others to sell Linux - well divide up RH's profits among all those that could be said to contribute, and there isn't a lot to go around. The ones that make google, amazon etc. possible on an infrastructure level clearly leverage more financial return but hey, guess what? They've been around for a while, and there are others far more deserving than you or I of any living based on their financials.

      In short: open source software development in the US doesn't really make a whole lot of sense anymore. Its not impossible, but its hard.

    8. Re:Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

      That's fine. I'm objecting to parent's assertion that saying that $4500 for a summer is crap pay is *whining*, not demanding that open-source projects pay me more. I'm merely explaining why it's infeasable for many students (in america) to take part in the summer of code. FWIW, all of my work done as an intern for the last few years is open-sourced, despite being done for "large corporations", at a fair salary. Plenty of big companies do some/all open source development, and pay well for it. My consulting work, sadly, not so much.

    9. Re:Pay really sucks by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      It's not bad. You get to do whatever you want, and it is approximately 30$/hour tax-free. For an under-grad or even a grad-student it is still attractive. AND don't forget the T-Shirt!

      Of course a Ph.D. can make more than that, and if he studies some natural science especially Physics, he can go to some of the big international research centers, like CERN and earn 5000$/month tax-free in a summer project. So seriously if you care that much about money, your last summer job sucked!

    10. Re:Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

      $4500 for the summer is emphatically not approximately $30/hour.

      $4500 / (12 weeks * 40 hours/week) = $9.38/hour.

      $5000 a month is a little on the low end for PhD students, but certainly not unreasonable for north america or europe. My last few internships have been more, I'd work for less if the work were interesting enough. Note that that money's not going to be tax-free (in the US, at least): income is income, even if it's fellowship income from a non-profit or government agency. The IRS changed this rule a long time ago.

    11. Re:Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

      While I agree that there are lots of great coders all over the world, and the average quality of american CS undergrads is pretty sorry, I'd also point out that of the programmers I know professionally whose work is really, truly, top-notch, all except one were undergrads at american universities (the other is Canadian). Most weren't born the the US, but they did go to school here.

      Anecdotal, I know.

    12. Re:Pay really sucks by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      ASFAIK SoC was nominated for 7 weeks in 2005

      Personally I don't consider it a full-time job, but just a project, which I invested 20 hours per week in.

      $4500/(7 weeks * 20 hours/week) = 32.14$/hour

      That has been how I've calculated the last two times I was in SoC. In reality I probably spend much more time on it, but much of it is after SoC is over and the project needs to be merged into KDE.

    13. Re:Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

      That's fair. I guess my objection then is that the pitch makes it sound like a full-time job: "It's probably not the right fit for you if you're starting another internship", when it really shouldn't be considered as one.

    14. Re:Pay really sucks by stephentyrone · · Score: 1

      Nobody wants AC's either. If you're going to make ad hominem attacks, have the gumption to stand behind them.

  16. Question! by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 1

    I'll be in freshman year of undergrad next year. If I get a team together and everything, can I apply as a student for SoC 2007?

  17. Re:Get outside, enjoy the summer of your youth by geminidomino · · Score: 1

    If they're SoC candidates in the first place, said time for interaction with said ladies is already in the realm of statistical anomaly. ;)

  18. RockBox made it to the list by Ptur · · Score: 1

    RockBox (http://www.rockbox.org/) made it to the list!
    The alternative firmware for mp3 players was mentioned on slashdot several times: http://slashdot.org/search.pl?query=rockbox

  19. GNUstep got accepted and has a lot to offer by sqar · · Score: 2, Informative

    GNUstep has a lot of different projects to offer - from entry level improvements for the beginner (like compiling the missing classes in GNUstep compared to current Cocoa and creating the header files) to advanced tasks like porting Apple's WebKit over to GNUstep (here you would need proper ObjC++ and C++ skills) or improving GNUsteps integration into the MS Windows Platform (tighter integration into the Windows look and feel, Windows programming skills are welcome). So there is something for everybody.

    newspieces:

    http://digg.com/programming/GNUstep_participates_i n_Google_Summer_of_Code_2007
    http://gnustep.blogspot.com/2007/03/summer-of-code -2007.html

    ideas:

    http://wiki.gnustep.org/index.php/Summer_Of_Code_2 007 (the wiki requires a registration here: webmasters@gnustep.org since we got a lot of wikispam before)

    regards, Lars

  20. what about rejected organisations by antisexy · · Score: 1

    Our project - a fairly well known OSS project got rejected. We had a good comprehensive list of projects (that, IMO, rivals some of the big players in the announced list). We received no explanation of any kind. I understand that Google doesn't owe us anything, but surely some feedback will help us improve in the future, especially that we are trying to garner some corporate support. Anyone in the same boat? any ideas why this could happen?

    --
    http://www.chatgroups.de