Once again, the openSUSE Project will be participating in Google's Summer of
Code program! openSUSE was one of the 150 mentoring organizations accepted
this year, and we're excited to have the chance to work with students on
projects to improve the openSUSE distribution and its tools[1].
Mentoring
========
Now it's time to start signing up Mentors for the openSUSE Project. Mentors
review the student applications and score them, work with students during the
Google Summer of Code, and evaluate students performance.
We're looking for committed mentors who will work with students closely and
provide guidance not only on the project they're working on, but also help
them integrate with the overall project and teach them how to work within an
open source project.
If you're interested in mentoring with the openSUSE Project, sign up before
March 23rd[2].
You'll need to create a site-wide user profile[3] and send a request to
become a mentor (or send me a note[4] with your user ID).
Students
=======
Working with the Google Summer of Code is a great way to earn cash over the
summer while doing something rewarding and interesting, and contributing to
the open source community. Students who complete the Summer of Code will earn
$4,500 if they complete the program in good standing. (See the Google FAQ for
the payment schedule[5].)
The student deadline for Google Summer of Code is Friday, April 3rd. See the
FAQ[6] for the full scoop.
We're looking for students who can work on existing ideas[1] or bring their
own[7]. If you have a great idea that fits within the openSUSE Project,
please apply!
If your proposal is accepted, expect to do a great deal of work over the
summer. The time commitment is substantial, and we're aiming for 100%
completion of projects this year.
Ideas
=====
There's still time to submit ideas[1] on the openSUSE wiki. Preferably,
these will be from students or mentors who will work on the ideas -- but
that's not a requirement. If you have a great idea, feel free to put it up.
If you have questions about participating in the Google Summer of Code in
general, check out the #gsoc channel on Freenode. If you have questions
specific to the openSUSE Project, email zonker@opensuse.org[4] or ask on the
openSUSE Project (opensuse-project@opensuse.org) mailing list.
[1]: http://en.opensuse.org/Summer_of_Code_2009#Ideas
[2]: http://preview.tinyurl.com/cd2b8c
[3]: http://preview.tinyurl.com/asnxj2
[4]: mailto:zonker@opensuse.org
[5]: http://preview.tinyurl.com/d6f46e
[6]: http://preview.tinyurl.com/be4dlj
[7]: http://preview.tinyurl.com/clxccy
--
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier