openSUSE accepted for Google Summer of Code!

[caption id=”attachment_7935” align=”alignright” width=”240” caption=”This could be a very special summer for you!”][/caption]

openSUSE has cleared the first hurdle towards a series of successful Google Summer of Code projects! As was disclosed last Saturday by OMGSUSE: Google has accepted our proposal and we are now a mentoring organization. This means that if you’re interested in working a whole summer FULLTIME on openSUSE and getting paid for it, this is your chance!

Thanks to the ideas on our GSOC 2011 ideas page and the mentors who have already stepped up, you’ll have a great start in openSUSE development. While the number of slots is not decided yet, it is now time for you, potential students and mentors, to start fleshing out those ideas and talk to each other!

What’s next?

Already the#opensuse-project IRC channel (on Freenode) is buzzing with activity. Students and mentors are discussing the proposals - and that is exactly what is needed.

Timeline

Check out the timeline on the Google Summer of Code site. Right now, you need to know the following dates: On March 28 the student application period opens. Yes, that is next week! Students have until April 8th to send in a formal proposal after which the openSUSE GSOC team will review the applications. Then Google will make the final decisions which will be published on the GSOC 2011 site on April 25th. Mentors should start registering now, and work with their potential students to create good proposals!

Students

If you want to be a student and work on and within openSUSE for this Google Summer of Code, you need to start working on your proposal right away. First up, you should subscribe to the opensuse-project mailinglist. Introduce yourself, and let people know that you are looking for a mentor. If you are keen to dive right in, our development list is opensuse-factory.

Next up, that proposal. You might be inspired by something from the openSUSE GSOC 2011 ideas page. There is a list of project suggestions with a variety of abilitities and skill sets including web programming, Python, Perl and Ruby on Rails. Alternatively, suggest and idea of your own!

Once you have your idea, start to write! Contact the openSUSE team working in the area you’d like to work on and see if it is something they are interested in. Try to find a mentor, get feedback on your idea and find out if it is doable. In case you based your proposal on an idea from the idea page, contact the mentor (if there is one already) on IRC or by mail. If you have more generic questions you can always ask on the #opensuse-project channel on the Freenode servers or mail the opensuse-project mailing list.

More info about GSoC you can find on this site.

Mentors

If you are willing to mentor a student for GSoC 2011 for openSUSE, you should start with subscribing to the gsoc-mentors mailinglist. It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on the project mailing list and IRC channels for students needing mentors. Next up is registering as a mentor on the Google website and contact our admin Vincent Untz to accept you. Ask questions on the GSoC mailinglist please!

Of course you will now have to help your potential student(s) to finish a good proposal and keep them engaged!

Time to get started

So, gear up, friends. It is time for a Summer of writing great Code for openSUSE. Talk to each other, ask questions, don’t be shy - and remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers! If you are unsure if you are able to do do it, please come talk to us in the #opensuse-project channel on the Freenode servers. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if it turns out you’re not experienced enough yet or we don’t have a slot for you there is no problem. We can still mentor you, help you out with setting up your development tools, answer your coding or packaging questions and teach you the ropes of working in a Free Software community. So you can’t lose - either way, you can be involved in openSUSE, learn valuable skills and have some fun!