The Perl Foundation is participating in Google's 2008 Summer of Code(tm) and we have a lot of capable, willing mentors looking forward to working with some talented, driven students. So, we would like you to help find those students (and quickly -- the application period opens March 24th and closes March 31st.)
This is a rare opportunity for students to get a chance to get a paid summer of hacking on exciting projects like Parrot, Perl 6, Moose, Jifty, SVK, Catalyst, or their very own Perl modules or applications. It also brings new talent into the community and gives the student a hefty "real world" experience with a knowledgeable mentor. Further, employers love to see this sort of demonstration of teamwork, handling deadlines, communication skills, resourcefulness, etc.
We're looking for promising students who are interested in open source (or maybe you know someone who *should* be interested in open source.) Knowledge of Perl is optional if the project is Parrot-related. The student doesn't need to be an expert in the problem domain (after all, learning is part of the process), but should bring a big pile of creativity, problem-solving skills, and determination.
Students should review the page of suggested projects, but are encouraged to bring their own proposals (those are often the best.) The most important first step is to get in touch with the community and start discussing their project idea with potential mentors.
Students: don't delay! We would like to see one or two drafts of your proposal on mailing lists before it gets submitted to the Google form. If you're working "in secret", that seems to indicate that we'll have a hard time getting updates from you over the summer. Similarly, procrastination in sending the proposal might count against you.
Additional information and links can be found here. We have a mailing list available for general questions and discussion, and will be available in #soc-help on irc.perl.org.
Google has posted some flyers if you happen to have a university bulletin board or hallway handy.
Additional info is on google's SoC page and their FAQ.
(Note that google has particular requirements to do with the fact that they are paying the students. The student must be able to show their
eligibility regarding enrollment and employability.)
Remember, the Perl community draws talent from many fields, so if you came to Perl from a non-computer-science major and still have contacts in that department from your university, it is probably worth mentioning to them.
