Google assigned Haiku five student slots for the Google Summer of Code 2008, so we had to narrow down our final choice from the many high quality student applications. This was tough: many good applications had to be left out, and we really hate leaving people out, particularly those who had shown an interest in Haiku. So we started entertaining the idea of sponsoring a few of these students ourselves. Today we introduce you to the Haiku Code Drive 2008, a program designed to raise funds from the community in order to sponsor students to produce code for Haiku. This is how it's going to work.
We contacted all the GSoC students that applied for Haiku but did not make it, and asked them if they were interested in carrying out their proposed project for a $2,500 stipend each. From their response, we have created this list of students and their projects; these are the candidates for the Haiku Code Drive 2008 program. Now we are asking you, the Haiku community, to fund the program by making donations. We will then hold a public poll so that the community can influence which candidates/projects they want to sponsor. At the end of the poll/donation period, we will determine how many and which of the students will be sponsored based on the donated funds and the results of the poll. Check out all the details of the program here, including a timeline with tentative dates.
We are not going to even try to figure out how many students we will sponsor; instead, we will just let the community influence the outcome by means of their generosity first and eventually their choice through the open poll. Needless to say, the more the community can afford to donate, the more students we will be able to sponsor, the more Haiku can potentially benefit.
We think this program will benefit Haiku in a number of ways. First, it will allow us to reward at least a few of the students that applied for Haiku at the GSoC but could not make it; and in doing so, it will also contribute to the growth of our developer base. Needless to say, the work resulting from this program can also bring advancements in various areas of the Haiku code base. But perhaps as importantly, this will also provide an opportunity for the community to contribute financially towards tangible goals, something that we have not done well in the past. All this, of course, with the usual ultimate goal in mind: to further advance Haiku towards that release we all so much want.
We know that many long time followers and lurkers as well as newcomers to our project have been waiting for a good reason to donate to Haiku. We are hoping that the community will grab this opportunity and show their generosity for our project. So show us your love for Haiku and start making those donations now. You only have until May 29, so don't wait!
And don't forget to spread the word!
Haiku Code Drive 2008 Links
- Haiku Code Drive 2008 overview
- List of candidates/projects
- Haiku Code Drive 2008 vote (starts May 22)