12 ms·

Organizations announced for Google Summer of Code 2021

97 points by mfilion 6y ago

mwint 6y ago
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. 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Code-in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Code-in
- op03 6y ago
  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.
  - mwint 6y ago
    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.
    - op03 6y ago
      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.
stefan_ 6y ago
Notice that this year, they halved the time allocated for the projects to only 10 weeks, among other changes. [1] 1: https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg-devel/2021-February/058664.html https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg-devel/2021-Febru...
- xyzzy_plugh 6y ago
  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.
- foota 6y ago
  I wonder if this is to make it more inline with a traditional internship, I believe that's about how long my internships were.
  - red2awn 6y ago
    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.
    - em-bee 6y ago
      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.
- xiainx 6y ago
  It used to be 12 weeks, not 20 as your comment implies: https://opensource.googleblog.com/2019/05/google-summer-of-code-2019-statistics.html https://opensource.googleblog.com/2019/05/google-summer-of-c...
nbenitezl 6y ago
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).
- eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 6y ago
  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. It's probably a ridiculous asymmetry.
  - bawolff 6y ago
    That's such a zero sum attitude. 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.
    - tamrix 6y ago
      It was a lot different than before the cloud. So when you fix some bug google may host that product 'as a service' where google profits and you don't.
      - bawolff 6y ago
        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)
  - izacus 6y ago
    > 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.
hpfr 6y ago
Sad to see GNU missed out. “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/msg00000.html https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/summer-of-code/2021-03/ms...
- KenoFischer 6y ago
  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.
- WmyEE0UsWAwC2i 6y ago
  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"? See for example R: https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/5111129224773632/ https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/5111129224... Is clearer than Sagemath (IMHO): https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/6362857865740288/ https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/6362857865...
- sigjuice 6y ago
  I see that GNOME, GCC, GNU Mailman, GNU Octave and GNU Radio are on the list. What does it mean for the GNU Project to participate separately?
8589934591 6y ago
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.
- pizza234 6y ago
  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.
  - 8589934591 6y ago
    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.
    - pizza234 6y ago
      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. 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/organizations https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/organizatio...), pick a project (ie. https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/projects/6211479520411648 https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/projects/62...) and see the detailed report ("GET THE CODE" button).
0mp 6y ago
Ach, great to see FreeBSD once again on the list.
notretarded 6y ago
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.
ralusek 6y ago
As long as Blender is in GSOC I remain happy...not that they need the help anymore.
iliekcomputers 6y ago
Google Summer of Code literally changed my life. 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!

97 points by mfilion 6y ago

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. 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Code-in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Code-in

op03 6y ago
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.
- mwint 6y ago
  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.
  - op03 6y ago
    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.

stefan_ 6y ago

Notice that this year, they halved the time allocated for the projects to only 10 weeks, among other changes. [1] 1: https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg-devel/2021-February/058664.html https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg-devel/2021-Febru...

xyzzy_plugh 6y ago
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.
foota 6y ago
I wonder if this is to make it more inline with a traditional internship, I believe that's about how long my internships were.
- red2awn 6y ago
  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.
  - em-bee 6y ago
    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.
xiainx 6y ago
It used to be 12 weeks, not 20 as your comment implies: https://opensource.googleblog.com/2019/05/google-summer-of-code-2019-statistics.html https://opensource.googleblog.com/2019/05/google-summer-of-c...

nbenitezl 6y ago

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).

eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 6y ago
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. It's probably a ridiculous asymmetry.
- bawolff 6y ago
  That's such a zero sum attitude. 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.
  - tamrix 6y ago
    It was a lot different than before the cloud. So when you fix some bug google may host that product 'as a service' where google profits and you don't.
    - bawolff 6y ago
      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)
- izacus 6y ago
  > 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.

hpfr 6y ago

Sad to see GNU missed out. “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/msg00000.html https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/summer-of-code/2021-03/ms...

KenoFischer 6y ago
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.
WmyEE0UsWAwC2i 6y ago
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"? See for example R: https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/5111129224773632/ https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/5111129224... Is clearer than Sagemath (IMHO): https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/6362857865740288/ https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/organizations/6362857865...
sigjuice 6y ago
I see that GNOME, GCC, GNU Mailman, GNU Octave and GNU Radio are on the list. What does it mean for the GNU Project to participate separately?

8589934591 6y ago

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.

pizza234 6y ago
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.
- 8589934591 6y ago
  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.
  - pizza234 6y ago
    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. 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/organizations https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/organizatio...), pick a project (ie. https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/projects/6211479520411648 https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2020/projects/62...) and see the detailed report ("GET THE CODE" button).

0mp 6y ago

Ach, great to see FreeBSD once again on the list.

notretarded 6y ago

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.

ralusek 6y ago

As long as Blender is in GSOC I remain happy...not that they need the help anymore.

iliekcomputers 6y ago

Google Summer of Code literally changed my life. 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!