Google Summer of Code 2008

Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is a program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects. Google will be working with a several open source, free software, and technology-related groups to identify and fund several projects over a three month period. Historically, the program has brought together over 1,500 students with over 130 open source projects to create millions of lines of code. The program, which kicked off in 2005, is now in its fourth year. If you are feeling nostalgic or are interested in learning more about the projects we have worked with in the past, check out the 2006 and 2007 program pages.

Google Summer of Code has several goals:

• Get more open source code created and released for the benefit of all;
• Inspire young developers to begin participating in open source development;
• Help open source projects identify and bring in new developers and committers;
• Provide students in Computer Science and related fields the opportunity to do work related to their academic pursuits during the summer (think "flip bits, not burgers");
• Give students more exposure to real-world software development scenarios (e.g., distributed development, software licensing questions, mailing-list etiquette).
  

Take a look at the program FAQs and Terms of Service. Google will also be hanging out in #gsoc on Freenode and on the program discussion list.