Re: Google Summer of Code

["Jim Whitehead II" <jnwhiteh@...>]

*snip*

I wanted to take some time out to review the way Google Summer of Code
works, and stress the opportunity we have as a community to
participate in this project.  The process begins with the mentoring
organization application that we've been developing [1].  Google has
the following definition for a mentoring organization:

"A group running an active free/open source software project, e.g. the
Python Software Foundation. The project does not need to be a legally
incorporated entity. If you're looking for a broader picture, you can
find a list of all mentoring organizations who have participated in
the past on the GSoC 2005, 2006 and 2007 pages. Mentoring
organizations must produce and release software under an Open Source
Initiative approved license in order to participate in the program."

There are some who are skeptical that any view of the Lua community
won't be accepted based on this criteria, but I happen to disagree.
Either way, I think it is important to let Google decide whether or
not whatever "organization" we use is a valid community.  Consider the
following 2007 GSOC mentor LispNYC (http://www.lispnyc.org/home.clp).
This is a LISP user group in the metropolitan New York described by
the following:

"Lisp NYC is a group devoted to the advocacy and advancement of
professional software developers in their adoption of Lisp technology.
 We accomplish this through targeted programs of education and
outreach as well as regular monthly meetings, email lists, development
projects and spirited conversation with NY metro area Lisp
professionals."

It is unfortunate at this time that we don't have a formal
organization that works to produce Lua projects, but we do have a
community that qualifies by far.  Certainly we could have each of
these projects or organizations submit their own applications but that
seems to be silly considering  the way we're currently structured.

Once the mentoring organizations have been chosen by Google, the
students are allowed to submit their proposals.  They can do this
using an application form, or whatever method we prefer.  These
proposals can be based off our project ideas [2], or be entirely new
ideas.
We as an organization rank these proposals in the order we'd like to
see them accepted.

When this is complete, Google will determine how many projects our
organization is allocated, and we offer the top X proposals to the
students.  Students may be submitting more than one application to
different organizations so this administrative work takes a little bit
to shake out.

When all is said and done, we have a group of students that are
working on focused projects over the course of the summer, paid a
stipend by Google.  This is an enormous opportunity to get people
involved in the Lua community, since money and time often stand in the
way of participation.

We have less than a week to complete our application [3] and submit it
to Google.  I am willing to be the administrative organizer for the
summer, but I need some help narrowing down exactly what the
"Organization" we are using is, and how we would define it.  In fact,
the following questions are the most important:

- Describe your organization.
- Why is your organization applying to participate in GSoC 2008? What
do you hope to gain by participating?
- What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with your
project's community before, during and after the program?

The rest of the questions are more administrative and can be answered
without the need for a committee.

 Please take a moment to help think about this, so we don't let the
opportunity pass us by.

- Jim