Do you want to start a career in open-source? Do you want to learn amazing skills while getting paid? Keep reading!
Igalia Coding Experience
Igalia has a grant program that gives students with a background in Computer Science, Information Technology and Free Software their first exposure to the professional world, working hand in hand with Igalia programmers and learning with them. It is called Igalia Coding Experience.
While this experience is open for everyone, Igalia expressly invites women (both cis and trans), trans men, and genderqueer people to apply. The Coding Experience program gives preference to applications coming from underrepresented groups in our industry.
You can apply to any of the offered grants this year: Web Standards, WebKit, Chromium, Compilers and Graphics.
In the case of Graphics, the student will have the opportunity to deal with the Linux DRM subsystem. Specifically, the student will improve the test coverage of DRM drivers through IGT, a testing framework designed for this purpose. These includes learning how to contribute to Linux kernel/DRM, interact with the DRI-devel community, understand DRM core functionality, and increase test coverage of IGT tool.
The conditions of our Coding Experience program are:
- Mentorship by one of the Igalia’s outstanding open source contributors in the field.
- It is remote-friendly. Students can participate in it wherever they live.
- Hours: 450h
- Compensation: 6,500€
- Usual timetables:
- 3 months full-time
- 6 months part-time
The submission period goes from March 16th until April 30th. Students will be selected in May. We will work with the student to arrange a suitable starting date during 2022, from June onwards, and finishing on a date to be agreed that suits their schedule.
Google Summer of Code (GSoC)
The popular Google Summer of Code is another option for students. This year, X.Org Foundation participates as Open Source organization. We have some proposed ideas but you can propose any project idea as well.
Timeline for proposals is from April 4th to April 19th. However, you should contact us before in order to discuss your ideas with potential mentors.
GSoC gives some stipend to students too (from 1,500 to 6,000 USD depending on the size of the project and your location). The hours to complete the project varies from 175 to 350 hours depending on the size of the project as well.
Of course, this is a remote-friendly program, so any student in the world can participate in it.
Outreachy
Outreachy is another internship program for applicants from around the world who face under-representation, systemic bias or discrimination in the technology industry of their country. Outreachy supports diversity in free and open source software!
Outreachy internships are remote, paid ($7,000), and last three months. Outreachy internships run from May to August and December to March. Applications open in January and August.
The projects listed cover many areas of the open-source software stack: from kernel to distributions work. Please check current proposals to find anything that is interesting for you!
X.Org Endless Vacation of Code (EVoC)
X.Org Foundation voted in 2008 to initiate a program known as the X.Org Endless Vacation of Code (EVoC) program, in order to give more flexibility to students: an EVoC mentorship can be initiated at any time during the calendar year, the Board can fund as many of these mentorships as it sees fit.
Like the other programs, EVoC is remote-friendly as well. The stipend goes as follows: an initial payment of 500 USD and two further payments of 2,250 USD upon completion of project milestones. EVoC does not set limits in hours, but there are some requirements and steps to do before applying. Please read X.Org Endless Vacation of Code website to learn more.
Conclusion
As you see, there are many ways to enter into the Open Source community. Although I focused in the open source graphics stack related programs, there are many of them.
With all of these possibilities (and many more, including internships at companies), I hope that you can apply and that the experience will encourage you to start a career in the open-source community.
Happy hacking!