Google Launches Summer of Code 376
chrisd writes "We're very happy to launch the Summer of Code today, and I thought Slashdot readers would be interested and might even help us spread the word (We have a flyer, even). The program is designed to give computer science, and other, students a stipend ($4500) while they learn to release and create open source software. We're working with a variety of Open Source software foundations and organizations and we hope to sign up around 200 developers. We hope the end result will be more open source developers! I'll be pleased to answer questions in the comment stream about this program. Thanks!"
Wary of title.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wary of title.... (Score:2)
Re:Wary of title.... (Score:5, Funny)
I think it will. I mean, the summer is normally when I want to spend a lot of quality time indoors, in front of my computer, writing code, breathing recirculated air.
Question for Chris: Are you guys supplying the vitamin D supplements, or do I have to pay for that myself?
Re:Wary of title.... (Score:5, Funny)
Chris
Re:Wary of title.... (Score:3, Funny)
Why just students? (Score:5, Interesting)
The one question I have is this: Why just students? Sure, it's always good to help out students (especially with money), but there are a lot of people out there who are doing this stuff on their own. You don't have to be in school to be trying to learn coding or work in open source (some of us do it as a hobby). This really isn't meant to be a complaint, it's a serious question, and I'm sure there is a good answer out there I just don't happen to know what it is.
Re:Why just students? (Score:5, Informative)
Who is eligible?
Students. Since the point of the program is to create new developers, we're looking to find developers around the world who have considered creating free and open source software but who have not yet taken the plunge. We felt that concentrating on the student population was a good place to focus these efforts.
Not from the faq:
Basically, You gotta start somewhere.
Chris
Re:Why just students? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why just students? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why just students? (Score:2)
Re:Why just students? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you open it up to everyone, it's harder to tell if the person will get the intended benefit out of it: education. Experienced coders could participate just for the money. The program isn't supposed to be mainly about the money, it's just there to get college students' eyes on developing open source software as an option.
Re:Why just students? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why just students? (Score:2)
Sometimes the biggest hassle for your customers is having to pay for your products or services. It still baffles me that a company like Google could become profitable without a revenue stream. That is, until they popped up with their search appliances, Adwords, and so on. Keep in mind that many people want more bang for their buck - features and reducing hassle are often mutually exclusive.
Re:Why just students? (Score:3, Interesting)
Again, Google is following the simple rule of Don't make it a hassle for your customers to do business with you. Google's advertisements are the best out there that I've seen. They don't try to jump out at you, they don't annoy you with flashing pictures or insipid audio, and a real
Re:Why just students? (Score:5, Insightful)
You appear to be under a misapprehension that you are a customer of google because you view their ads- you're not. You are their product. Their customers are the people that buy the ads.
Re:Why just students? (Score:2)
Why students? As noted, the intent is to draw new programmers into the fold. However, people like me could just have fun milking the situation. If I had $4,500 dollars for every half-finished project on my hard-drive, I could have a blast. However, I've already cranked out a lot of open-source code (and tutorials and full-blown courses) and I'll continue to do so without this incentive.
Re:Why just students? (Score:3, Insightful)
The point of this is to get people into the OSS fold who might otherwise just go down the all-proprietary path. A semi-commercial programmer who currently does some OSS programming doesn't need the help as much, they're already among the converted.
Also, $4500 is a lot more money in relative terms to a college student than it is to someone who's gotten their first 'real' paycheck, so perhaps Google thinks they'll get more effort out of their money by buying from the c
Re:Why just students? (Score:3, Funny)
"I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be"
Wouldn't this be sending the wrong signal? (Score:2, Funny)
*and* a free t-shirt! (Score:5, Funny)
Holy hell... a t-shirt? I mean the cash, well I know Google has a ton of that, but where on earth are they finding these T-shirts to spare!? I hope they technology behind these Tees is open sourced, and machine washable. Think of how much further I could take my undergrad degree if I had a free t-shirt...
Re:*and* a free t-shirt! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:*and* a free t-shirt! (Score:2)
I dunno, but there seems to be a cabinet that magically refills with tshirts about 3 times a week. It's great for the interns who hate laundry.
Re:*and* a free t-shirt! (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, if you live in India or China, that's a fortune. But I'd say any US college student should be able to do MUCH better interning.
Re:*and* a free t-shirt! (Score:2)
Thanks Google! (Score:2)
This is GREAT step forward for Google and I hope that many other companies will follow Google's lead. IBM? Sun?
Re:Thanks Google! (Score:2, Insightful)
Whether or not the whingers are getting louder, or I'm getting older the trolls are definitely beginning to drone on.
If there was somewhere else to go I would be there.
Google like everyone else makes mistakes (the cache thing...), but this initiative will hopefully open the eyes of at least a few students, and if we end up with another Linus or Bram type character, then the world will be a better place.
Re:Thanks Google! (Score:2)
If there was somewhere else to go I would be there.
Agreed. Maybe it really is an age thing.
I've been around here a long time, but a lot of the comments have really started to grate on my nerves the past couple of years. Hell, I think I made a grand total of 4 posts in all of 2004.
The problem is that there really isn't anyplace else as good for getting a quick synopsis of current IT rela
which is it? (Score:5, Funny)
When exactly is the application deadline?
The "summer of code" page [google.com] says June 24th. The pdf [google.com] linked from there says June 14th.
('Course if those were reversed I could've made some smart assed comment about the extra 10 days accounting for Adobe's pdf reader to launch).
Re:which is it? (Score:5, Informative)
Chris
Re:which is it? (Score:2)
A little late... (Score:3, Insightful)
Lacking a date on the flyer, I don't know if this is Google's fault or it just took a while to hit slashdot. Good idea, anyway.
no ... a little early ..... (Score:2)
Re:A little late... (Score:2)
I would have seriously considered this, but have already committed to a mathematics REU. The application deadline for that was in early April, which is late for most REUs, and I had to make the decision about
Open source (Score:4, Interesting)
What's the point of this, really? Why is Google suddenly so interested in fostering open source? And why only students? More pliable to the idea of giving your work away?
Re:Open source (Score:3, Insightful)
Google wants to encourage the development of open-source software partly out of the goodness of their hearts, partly as a PR tactic, and partly to take a stab at MS. This program is only for students because they want to encourage new developers to work on open-source projects.
Re:Open source (Score:2)
Re:Open source (Score:2)
I'm somewhat cynical, but my take on it is that Google benefits immensely already from open source. Now, Google could spend money and hire developers, pay them a salary and benefits, and have them write code for various projects and then open source them. However, why spend all that money? It has been shown that there are tons of coders willing to work for basically nothing at all. Google then gets to reap
I'm a college student (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I'm a college student (Score:2)
Re:I'm a college student (Score:2)
To me, your post conjures words like "knee jerk slashdot speak" and "OMFG!!1!!one!!!1! teh pr0prietary s0ftwarez R teh sux0r!!!! j00 diss my ide0logical movem3nt!1!"
Direction (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm definitely thinking of applying, but why GNOME and the perl foundry but no KDE or Java Foundry? never been fond of Perl or GTK+ myself, and I don't know anything about Python or
Re:Direction (Score:3, Insightful)
At a guess, google are building a corporate strategy around the first two technologies and would like these projects to yield results that they would find useful.
Normally I dislike arguments of the form "it's their dollar so they can do what they like" but in this case, it doesn't seem to odious a restriction.
Re:Direction (Score:5, Informative)
Man, the 2 minute posting restriction is killing me today.
Chris
Re:Direction (Score:2)
It would be really nice if there was no two minute posting restriction for high karma accounts. It is nice that there's no captcha for those user accounts with high karma. I really don't see why it would be bad to reduce the amount of time between posts for those accounts as well.
Re:Direction (Score:2)
Still need to think of a good project though
Please read the mentorship faq... (Score:4, Informative)
I'd love to add the KDE league.
Chris
Just great (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just great (Score:2)
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Bob Dylan [bobdylan.com]
Blender (Score:2)
It is advancing at a breakneak pace already and already provides superb functionality, but more coders is always welcome,
LetterRip
Spectacular (Score:5, Insightful)
It is more of a motivator to give the cash in one lump sum at the end of the summer, and it reduces the possibility for fraud, but many students need cash to scrape by.
Anyways, go google, I hope these 200 student developers do amazing things over this summer!
Re:Spectacular (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Spectacular (Score:2)
Couldn't you wring a loan out of your bank? I thought that most lenders were thrilled to give students credit. Especially if you have a letter of offer from Google in hand, saying that you will receive X dollars on Y date.
Think of it as your first work assignment: Using Google products and s
High Schoolers? (Score:2)
Missing option (Score:2)
Re:Missing option (Score:3, Interesting)
Now theres a scary thought if I ever I had one.
$4500? (Score:2)
That's why they ask students! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:$4500? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:$4500? (Score:2)
Big Corps code dreams (Score:2)
Suppose you have a brilliant idea (Score:3, Interesting)
Where would you submit something like that?
I ask because along with a friend, I have been working on what we believe to be a highly innovative application for a neural network, that - if we can get it working - you will definately love to have.
Problem is two-fold:
1) It's in the proof-of-concept stage, and our first attempt failed to even be a proof. We think this was due to crappy data to start with
2) It's not something that fits naturally into any of the mentioned organizations. The closest is Apache, but that's purely because they have a ton of Java-applications already.
The most "natural" organization for our idea, would probably be Google itself.
So what should we do?
Re:Suppose you have a brilliant idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Chris
Re:Suppose you have a brilliant idea (Score:2)
Heh
Oh, a follow-up question, which might be a bit odd and snide.
What we'd love to do is drop a fully functional program on the unsuspecting public like a bomb
Would that even be possible? Not talking about taking it under something other than likely LGPL (makes the most sense for us), just a "hush hus
Re:Suppose you have a brilliant idea (Score:2)
Would that even be possible? Not talking about taking it under something other than likely LGPL (makes the most sense for us), just a "hush hush" approach rather than bragging left and right about this great cool project, then having it fizzle.
This is absolutely poss
Re:Suppose you have a brilliant idea (Score:2)
Most unprecedented application
Have an idea you think no one's ever had before? An innovative application that doesn't exist but that everyone needs? Something so cool it just has to be done?
This bounty will be awarded to the authors of the most unprecedented application. Submissions will be judged by a panel appointed by the GNOME board of directors.
Re:Suppose you have a brilliant idea (Score:2)
Anyway, my take is to make it an LGPL program. Makes the most sense if we're going Open Source and want it a bit more restrictive than BSD.
To my mind anyway.
What the hell is /.'s problem? (Score:2)
This is a great idea and a huge help to open to source. You actually RTFA, they're working with a lot of other major open source programs on this - the work isn't going directly to google.
It's basically giving students and internship with an open source foundation, something that doesn't seem like it was a huge option before.
I know I'd go for it if I hadn't already found employment this summer.
Risky (Score:2)
The only problem for students like me who depend on summe
Pretend it's a job. (Score:2)
Great, but what about existing OSS developers? (Score:2)
I think this is a very grand move by Google, so don't take this the wrong way, but what about trying to provide some money to people who are already coding Open Souce Software, and who do so purely for the love of it, and who could otherwise really use the money?
There are a lot of "starving coders" out there who are working in Open Source. Indeed, in several of my projects I tend to find that some of the better developers are those who have lost their jobs, or who have had to take some other job, and who
Re:Great, but what about existing OSS developers? (Score:2)
Re:Great, but what about existing OSS developers? (Score:2)
Let's get a few things straight, okay?
First off, I'm not asking Google to give me money. Not that I wouldn't take it if it were offered, but I think there are other more deserving OSS developers.
Secondly, I am in fact being paid to do Open Source development, although this hasn't always been the case. I'm fortunate enough that the quali
Re:Great, but what about existing OSS developers? (Score:2, Informative)
The Summer of Code is about getting new developers interested in Open Source development. We're willing to risk that some students might not be long-term contributors, but there will be some that do!
KDE (Score:2)
How about us old farts... (Score:2)
I been going to school part-time for the last four years to learn programming while working the last seven years as a software tester. I got my A+, Network+, and MCP certifications, and I should have my Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) at the end of summer. If I can do the hamster dance for the dean, and get my i's and t's taken care of on the paperwork, I should get my A.S. degree in computer programing (my second associate
What a Joke (Score:2)
In 1995, another College Kid eventually earned a billion dollars making software to sell.
In 2005, the best a College Kid can hope for is $4500 bucks from Google.
Sounds to me like open source is an excuse to rip developers off.
Writing to SPECIFICATIONS! YES!!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Excellent idea to have them write a product specification, than have to MEET the spec to get paid.
Great project - no Mozilla? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm surprised to see that the Mozilla Foundation isn't on the list of participating organizations [google.com]. Seems they'd be a good fit.
Anyhow, bravo!
Awesome! (Score:2)
It's called a job.
But this is Google, so it's not just a job... oh wait, it is.
Doesn't look so fun to me (Score:2)
Re:Doesn't look so fun to me (Score:3, Interesting)
We didn't make this clear enough. Those are merely ideas. Come up with anything you want and write a proposal!
Feel like adding some new, cool feature to an existing OSS project? Fine. Want to write a plugin for a project? Fine.
It is limited only by your creativity. We asked the organizations to produce some lists to spur people's imaginations. Not to limit them to just those projects!
Yet another Google hiring gimmick... (Score:2)
It has side benefits, like helping out the OSS community (that is, if the students don't do negative work, drawing more of the mentors' time than the usefulness they contribute). But, first and foremost,
Brilliant move (Score:2)
This may or may have not been Google's intention, but the net effect is defiant middle finder thrust in the general direction of places like Provo and Redmond.
This program is remarkably cheap for Google compared to the publicity (read: mischief) it will cause. $4500 x 200 developers = less than a million dollars cash outlay. Compare that to the vein-in-forehead-throbbing reactions it will induce in Ballmer and Butthead. Priceless.
Nice one.
Re:Brilliant move (Score:2, Insightful)
If you like an organization and want to see a donation go their way, then select that org on your project proposal.
Our main idea is to help out the students, but we also recognize that the OSS organizations will be helping us out, and we want to help them in return.
Summer of... ? (Score:2)
Guess I've been reading Urban Dictionary too much.
Free Me Cheap (Score:2)
Suggestions? (Score:2, Interesting)
Some questions (Score:4, Interesting)
Is a programmer eligible for this if they already have been developing open source software? In other words, they already have experience working with OSS projects and producing public code.
Re:Some questions (Score:5, Informative)
Chris
Re:Some questions (Score:3, Funny)
Daniel
Differences (Score:3, Insightful)
I was gonna try and fit a Soviet Russia joke in there but I felt it would detract from my post.
Wine Resources (Score:3, Informative)
The Wine project has put together a list of resources to help someone thinking about this figure out a project. You might find the following helpful:
Re:ZzzZZZz (Score:5, Insightful)
Hold on a moment. They are offering Slashdotters money to program open source! How is that not right up the alley of "News for Nerds" and "Stuff that Matters?"
Re:Slashdot becomes a shill for google (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Slashdot becomes a shill for google (Score:3, Funny)
-Union Boss
Re:Country Eligibility (Score:3, Informative)
(except for those countries the US State Department forbids us from working with... the "terrorist" countries)
So yeah... Canadians are welcome!
Re:FUCKING DAMNIT SLASHDOT: QUIT SUCKING OFF GOOGL (Score:2)
This is where you go "Oh." and apologize.
Re:You missed the important question: (Score:2)
As a matter of fact, he's an EX... (Score:3, Informative)