ArduPilot sticks out on this list - could be some cool projects there.
I can’t speak for the current times, but Google’s Open Source Programs Office was, hopefully still is, staffed by some great people. I won the “pre-GSoC” contest, GCI, many years ago. They flew everyone to SFO, had a day in MV, Segway tours, etc.
I met more diverse people on that trip than any other, many connections from that time that I still keep up with. I hope Google restarts in person events like GCI when it’s feasible, it would be a shame to lose those kinds of things.
Edit a few minutes later: we have lost it[1]. Hopefully they have something better in mind to replace it.
This is all superficial diversity. The problem with these types of incentives is you attract ppl who care about these types of incentives. Then you send them up the ladder and after 10-20 years they are still motivated by what freebies they get irrespective of what their skin color or sex is.
Companies full of such people then sit around wondering why they stagnate.
Talking less about visible diversity and more about diversity of backgrounds of folks on that trip. Mentors, especially, were an interesting crowd. Lots of experience to hear about in chats in the hotel lobby.
Stories and experiences are not overly interesting. Diversity in drive/motivation is.
Walk into New York UN offices and a neverending list of stories and experiences will flow. But the org is feckless because its selects for, over time a class of people more interested in showing others their UN credentials and perks than anything else. You can be mesmerized by the diversity and experiences and forget the middling outcomes over time of such groups.
I did GSoC over a decade ago (Wow!) and if the stipend was halfed I wouldn't have bothered -- any bottom of the barrel internship would've been more lucrative.
Not that the money was the primary driver for GSoC, but being able to dedicate a significant chunk of my summer to a project while being being able to pay the bills was a prerequisite for applying.
I have no idea how I'd juggle a GSoC project with another job, for that matter.
You are now supposed to work 4 hours per day instead of 8, so I don't think that is it. I feel the changes this year is going to decrease the quality of the whole event.
it's an experiment. if it fails, they'll change it back after a few years
it's good to try new things once in a while.
the part time schedule allows participation by a different group of students. it also allows weaker students to participate who may feel they need more time to deliver the expected results. now they have a buffer to do that.
whether that's a good thing or not remains to be seen. but the only way to find out is to try it.
The main thing that changed was not the project length, but that the projects are now supposed to be part-time (4 hours per day) instead of full time (8 hours per day).
I'm curious to see how it's going to work out. Halving the student's stippend and the scope of the projects is going to be a big change. On the other hand, it might make it easier for students outside the USA to participate. In other countries the GSOC coding period often overlaps with part of the school year, including final exams.
Money spent by Google in open source projects through GSoC projects is the one thing that keeps me from boycotting my use of Google products (due to invasive privacy and such matters).
You can get beyond that mindset by imagining how much money they earn by using open source software to run their infrastructure, as compared to how much they give back.
Meh,people can adopt the AGPL license if they're concerned about that. I'll never understand why half the time people will put their software under MIT terms and then be sad people don't contribute back. Besides, google as a player isn't particularly known for using the service loop hole (although others certainly do)
> You can get beyond that mindset by imagining how much money they earn by using open source software to run their infrastructure, as compared to how much they give back.
Isn't earning with opensource software pretty much the best outcome for OSS? It keeps people paid to maintain it while actively giving out - e.g. see how many 3rd party browsers (not to mention Electron apps) were able to grow based on Chromium, how many Android-based devices are out there, how many projects benefit from libraries like GTest, TensorFlow. Not to mention contributions to Linux kernel.
“After participating for 12 consecutive years, for the first time ever
the GNU Project got rejected as a mentoring organization in the Google
Summer of Code 2021.
We did not get any explanation other than: "We had many more
applications than available slots. We hope you will apply again in the
future!"”
I do wish they would let organizations apply earlier in the year (or even better the year before) so the organizers can know whether or not the organization will be accepted. In fact, many students start talking to us even the previous fall in preparation for an application to gsoc. But certainly, immediately after org announcements things really start, so everything, including project descriptions, mentors, etc. need to be set up. Handling the inquiries, getting the mentors set up, etc. is a nontrivial amount of work. We (Julia) missed out in 2015 and it was quite a scramble. We ended getting sponsorship to run a Summer of Code outside the Google umbrella to avoid disappointing the students, but more of a heads up would have been useful.
I know a community that held the event after being rejected to ensure that the "processes" where still in place for the future. They are now on the list again (haskell).
I think GNU should do something similar.
Ask HN: what are some OS projects that have a process to recruit help? Should OS projects have a "survival strategy"?
The larger GNU projects that have the manpower and ecosystem to deal with this on their own usually apply separately. The GNU ecosystem is much much bigger than them though. And its the smaller projects that usually benefit the most out of GSoC. So its quite unfortunate that GNU has been left out this year.
I started out as a GSoC student for GNU Wget 10 years ago and am now the maintainer. Many smaller projects like GNU Poke, MHD, coreutils, lilypond, Guix, etc. do really rely on a fresh batch of contributors every year that we try to convert into regular long term contributors.
indeed. i also remember at least at some point umbrella organizations were preferred because they could support many other smaller projects. so it's actually surprising that GNU as umbrella organization did not get accepted. any of the individual GNU projects that did get accepted could have instead joined the GNU umbrella if they were rejected individually.
1. Is it possible to work on these open source projects with some guidance/mentoring opportunities without the pay? I'm really interested in contributing/being part of an OS project but I have so far not been able to find beginner-intermediate level bugs for which I would need some level of handholding at least in the initial stages. I tried this for 2 apache projects trying to contribute but I could not get anyone to respond to my queries and I didn't continue with this further.
2. Are people who are not students allowed to work on these ideas/issues now or in the future? I have found these "ideas" to be available only during gsoc, but orgs in general I'm finding it hard to find these starter level ideas to get going.
If people are available for mentoring please let me know. I would be really grateful to learn from you guys. I'm open to learning languages as necessary. I'm good with Python, exposed to C and Java, able to read go.
I like the projects - django, mariadb, postgresql, python, git, kde - but i'm open to other projects as well.
The GSOC projects are not trivial ones, AFAIK, so the target is a bit different from yours. I also think that the project you mention are complex, with multiple reasons for the high barrier to entry.
If you like OSs, and you're looking for a low barrier to entry, my guess is that you could try working on Wine. I remember seeing fixes that are the addition of a constant or so (but I have no experience in the field, so I'm not sure). This could give you some basics, and pave your way to contribute to ReactOS.
I didn't mean GSOC are trivial. Apologies if I came across like that. My understanding is things approachable by students would be slightly easier compared to things approachable by someone working in the industry. Maybe my understanding is wrong.
Sorry, I didn't intend trivial in a disparaging sense :)
I was referring to the entry barriers due to technical difficulty.
To restate with better terms, I believe that the GSOC projects have a generally high entry barrier, due to the fact the they require knowledge in the field. I think the students are hardly beginners.
I'm a long term GSoC mentor and org admin. In my experience most free software projects are always happy to have new contributors. And if you ask, many will gladly hand hold you through the initial stages.
In fact, personally speaking, I would be more willing to do so outside of GSoC than within the confines of a Summer of Code program. Usually because it indicates a slightly greater level of interest, and more importantly we're not under a time pressure to get things done. It's more relaxed this way making the whole process more enjoyable.
Hit me up and I can introduce you to multiple projects within the GNU ecosystem that would love to have a new contributor.
Hi, could you please introduce me to some communities.
I am not a beginner but not an expert too. I love to contribute to open source communities when I am free. I also lead an open source community in my institute to introduce my juniors to use and contribute to open source .
Hello! Can you provide me some mean to contact you (or contact me) as well? I'm interested, and have professional resources, in participating to welcoming/established open source projects.
>If people are available for mentoring please let me know. I would be really grateful to learn from you guys.
I work on listenbrainz.org [0] by the MetaBrainz Foundation [1]. We use Python, React, Spark and a bunch of other stuff. I'm happy to help you get started with one of MetaBrainz's projects if you want. My email is in my profile.
I used to romanticise the idea of spending the summer coding up some cool stuff. Then I realized there's note to life than that, so stopped. I don't particularly do anything else but I realize it now.
39 comments
[ 4.9 ms ] story [ 104 ms ] threadI can’t speak for the current times, but Google’s Open Source Programs Office was, hopefully still is, staffed by some great people. I won the “pre-GSoC” contest, GCI, many years ago. They flew everyone to SFO, had a day in MV, Segway tours, etc.
I met more diverse people on that trip than any other, many connections from that time that I still keep up with. I hope Google restarts in person events like GCI when it’s feasible, it would be a shame to lose those kinds of things.
Edit a few minutes later: we have lost it[1]. Hopefully they have something better in mind to replace it.
1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Code-in
Companies full of such people then sit around wondering why they stagnate.
Walk into New York UN offices and a neverending list of stories and experiences will flow. But the org is feckless because its selects for, over time a class of people more interested in showing others their UN credentials and perks than anything else. You can be mesmerized by the diversity and experiences and forget the middling outcomes over time of such groups.
1: https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg-devel/2021-Febru...
Not that the money was the primary driver for GSoC, but being able to dedicate a significant chunk of my summer to a project while being being able to pay the bills was a prerequisite for applying.
I have no idea how I'd juggle a GSoC project with another job, for that matter.
it's good to try new things once in a while.
the part time schedule allows participation by a different group of students. it also allows weaker students to participate who may feel they need more time to deliver the expected results. now they have a buffer to do that.
whether that's a good thing or not remains to be seen. but the only way to find out is to try it.
I'm curious to see how it's going to work out. Halving the student's stippend and the scope of the projects is going to be a big change. On the other hand, it might make it easier for students outside the USA to participate. In other countries the GSOC coding period often overlaps with part of the school year, including final exams.
It's probably a ridiculous asymmetry.
Google gives back much more than most companies. Who cares how much they make from open source? Its not like open source comes with a price tag.
So when you fix some bug google may host that product 'as a service' where google profits and you don't.
Isn't earning with opensource software pretty much the best outcome for OSS? It keeps people paid to maintain it while actively giving out - e.g. see how many 3rd party browsers (not to mention Electron apps) were able to grow based on Chromium, how many Android-based devices are out there, how many projects benefit from libraries like GTest, TensorFlow. Not to mention contributions to Linux kernel.
“After participating for 12 consecutive years, for the first time ever the GNU Project got rejected as a mentoring organization in the Google Summer of Code 2021.
We did not get any explanation other than: "We had many more applications than available slots. We hope you will apply again in the future!"”
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/summer-of-code/2021-03/ms...
I think GNU should do something similar.
Ask HN: what are some OS projects that have a process to recruit help? Should OS projects have a "survival strategy"?
See for example R: https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/5111129224...
Is clearer than Sagemath (IMHO): https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/6362857865...
https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/organizatio...
I started out as a GSoC student for GNU Wget 10 years ago and am now the maintainer. Many smaller projects like GNU Poke, MHD, coreutils, lilypond, Guix, etc. do really rely on a fresh batch of contributors every year that we try to convert into regular long term contributors.
2. Are people who are not students allowed to work on these ideas/issues now or in the future? I have found these "ideas" to be available only during gsoc, but orgs in general I'm finding it hard to find these starter level ideas to get going.
If people are available for mentoring please let me know. I would be really grateful to learn from you guys. I'm open to learning languages as necessary. I'm good with Python, exposed to C and Java, able to read go.
I like the projects - django, mariadb, postgresql, python, git, kde - but i'm open to other projects as well.
If you like OSs, and you're looking for a low barrier to entry, my guess is that you could try working on Wine. I remember seeing fixes that are the addition of a constant or so (but I have no experience in the field, so I'm not sure). This could give you some basics, and pave your way to contribute to ReactOS.
I was referring to the entry barriers due to technical difficulty.
To restate with better terms, I believe that the GSOC projects have a generally high entry barrier, due to the fact the they require knowledge in the field. I think the students are hardly beginners.
However, I may be wrong. Something very interesting is that one can open the organizations for the past years (https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/organizatio...), pick a project (ie. https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/projects/62...) and see the detailed report ("GET THE CODE" button).
In fact, personally speaking, I would be more willing to do so outside of GSoC than within the confines of a Summer of Code program. Usually because it indicates a slightly greater level of interest, and more importantly we're not under a time pressure to get things done. It's more relaxed this way making the whole process more enjoyable.
Hit me up and I can introduce you to multiple projects within the GNU ecosystem that would love to have a new contributor.
I am not a beginner but not an expert too. I love to contribute to open source communities when I am free. I also lead an open source community in my institute to introduce my juniors to use and contribute to open source .
You can also try to get in touch with multiple projects via the gnu-soc mailing list on the gnu domain.
If you'd like to contact me directly, you can reach me on my username on the gnu domain.
I work on listenbrainz.org [0] by the MetaBrainz Foundation [1]. We use Python, React, Spark and a bunch of other stuff. I'm happy to help you get started with one of MetaBrainz's projects if you want. My email is in my profile.
[0]: https://github.com/metabrainz/listenbrainz-server
[1]: https://metabrainz.org
It was my first foray into actual work on large code bases, at a point of time when no company was ready to hire me.
I can imagine a world without Google Summer of Code and it's not one I'd like living in. Thanks, gsoc team!