More than 900 students will be involved in Google’s Summer of Code (GSoC) this year (2007). It’s an impressive number no matter how you look at it. And it says a lot for Google’s commitment to building free and open source software communities. Makes me wish I was a student again.
Each of the students will have a mentor from within the community that he or she will be joining. So the headline figure here could just as easily be 900 mentors involved in Google’s Summer of Code. That too is a very impressive number. Communities need connectors - people who will aid the introduction of new members and guide them in the practices of the community they are joining. Google gets that. Makes me wish I was going to be a mentor for a student on one of these projects. Maybe you are thinking that too (either wishing you were a student or wishing you were a mentor). I can only urge you to join in. Find a project that has a welcoming community, of a style you like, and connect with it.
Some of the projects that caught my eye in the GSoC this year include:
- BBC Research and Development’s Kamaelia project
- DSpace, a perennial favourite in the higher education community
- eXist, an XML database that gets plenty of interest here at Oxford University Computing Services
- Moodle, a virtual learning environment favourite in the further education community (and also possibly HE as well)
- MoinMoin, a popular wiki engine used by none other than OSS Watch
There are lots more - about 150. In fact it begins to look as though Google’s Summer of Code is becoming a marker for something. I think it is something to do with openness, approachability, a certain kind of community that flourishes in the free and open source world. The projects that get involved all need to have the ability and the commitment to work with newcomers to their communities. And the focus, as much as it is on “Code”, is really on community.
Finally, just in case you were wondering whether anyone in the UK is involved in GSoC, take a look at Google’s map (requires Google Earth). I’m also delighted to report that Ross Gardler of Apache Forrest will be serving as a mentor again this year. I’m delighted about this because Ross is also one of our own - OSS Watch’s most recent member of the team. Still, I wish it was me 
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