Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 19:54): Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 19:54):I saw a conversation about GSoC in one of the zulip channels
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 19:55):Some context: https://google.github.io/gsocguides/mentor/org-application
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 19:56):It's one of the most competitive and prestigious tech internships any student can get, but it takes a LOT of overhead to both apply, maintain membership, and mentor students
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 19:57):Google pays for the stipends themselves. I myself tried to get in three times and failed because I wasn't good enough, the bar is very high.
Philip Durbin 🚀 (Sep 24 2026 at 20:01):We tried to make Dataverse part of GSoC back in 2020. Well, specifically, Jim Myers tried, on behalf of GDCC. Please see his post at https://groups.google.com/g/dataverse-community/c/WhbkdML6Jbs/m/fF2XCVHvEgAJ
I can only guess that we weren't accepted?
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 20:02):50% of all applied orgs get rejected, sometimes even the Linux Foundation itself
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 20:02):But the competition is brutal, they'd overload the community
Philip Durbin 🚀 (Sep 24 2026 at 20:02):Overload the Dataverse community?
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 20:02):yes
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 20:03):To get accepted, you need to reach out, fix issues, and build a relationship with the maintainers so that when you submit an application, they would advocate for you
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 20:03):everyone knows what happened when Hacktoberfest had free tshirts, GSoC is no different, even higher stakes and career reputation
Philip Durbin 🚀 (Sep 24 2026 at 20:10):Here's the follow-up thread from 2020 - "FYI: Google didn't select us for Summer of Code": https://groups.google.com/g/dataverse-community/c/2VyO0lfKB1g/m/ksaC9DqYCAAJ
Janvi Kapoor (Sep 24 2026 at 20:11):Thanks for looping me in @Philip Durbin 🚀
Sharing my perspective as a student contributor:
When I initially applied to GSoC, my proposal didn’t make it. But staying in the community and continuing to contribute over time taught me that real open source isn't just about the seasonal application window. Understanding the codebase, familiarizing myself with maintainer workflows, and having patience to solve real issues (like getting PRs reviewed and merged after rejection) is what truly builds value.
Ash makes a fair point about the sudden influx of PRs during GSoC seasons which can overwhelm maintainers. At the same time, if structured with clear guidelines and dedicated mentors, it can introduce serious long-term contributors who stick around even after the program ends.
It definitely depends on whether the team has the bandwidth to mentor without pulling focus from core roadmap goals!
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 20:30):If the team has bandwidth, you can always apply and see how the dice rolls and figure stuff out on the way
Ash Manda (Sep 24 2026 at 20:31):Worst case we get real time data and a lesson on how to filter PRs and engage contributors. Best case we finally get a fully stable fully containerized production-ready Dataverse
Philip Durbin 🚀 (Sep 24 2026 at 20:38):Ha, take it to #containers :crazy:
Last updated: Nov 02 2026 at 07:01 UTC