Best Open Source Programs For Students to Participate

Contributing to open source is a great way to get real-world software development and other domain experience from the comfort of your home, even if you're a beginner and don't have a job in the industry. You don't need to be an expert to get started with open source, and you're going to get all these benefits of what it's like to work in a team, collaborate with other people, and work on a large codebase. One can test their skills, gain knowledge, and bond with the community in order to produce quality code that helps people around the world.

Here, in this article, we'll discuss various programs that are available for university students and even for working professionals to get involved in open source. So let's get started.

Top Open Source Projects for Students

1. Digital Ocean Hacktoberfest

Hacktoberfest is a really popular open-source program that is hosted by Digital Ocean and is open to everyone across the world. Here, you need to submit four or more quality pull requests and you'll either get a chance to plant a tree or get a limited-edition t-shirt. The main idea over here is that there's no such thing as a selection criterion in this particular program. So, this is very useful for individuals, in particular, wsho are just starting out with open source. You can contribute to participating projects on GitHub and even if you're not able to make a large major contribution what you can get out of it is how to use Git and Github.

Timeline: October Month

2. Google Summer of Code (GSoC)

The Google Summer of Code program is a program started by Google and has been completed for 17 years. It is a program that aims to promote open-source software development among university students. There are a few organizations and these organizations have mentors. First, the organizations apply to Google and after the organizations are selected then the students apply to the organizations. Bear in mind that you are not an employee of Google or even not an intern at Google. You're working with that organization that you applied to or got selected in. It is a paid program with a stipend of 1500 USD for Medium Size Projects and 3000 USD for Large Size Projects in India.

Timeline: February-November

3. MLH Fellowship

Major League Hacking (MLH), founded in 2013, is a global community for student developers. MLH recently launched a program known as MLH fellowship which is a 12-week remote program where students collaborate on Open Source projects that align their personal interests with the general requirements of the industry and students can participate from their homes. It has mainly three tracks - Software Engineering, Open Source, and Production Engineering. Here you will gain those skills that you require to be a successful engineer like writing good documentation, open-source best practices, communication, etc. Also, make sure you meet the eligibility criteria before applying for the program.

4. Outreachy

The Outreachy is also a really great program for students that aims to support diversity in open source. It is sort of a remote internship of 3 months and only a handful number of students are selected across the world. The Outreachy internship projects focus on programming, documentation, project marketing, etc. During the application process, you need to show some genuine eagerness that why you want to be an Outreachy intern and in turn, what you're going to accomplish, and then how you plan to promote diversity and all sorts of things. It is a paid internship in which you are paid an amount of 7000 USD.

5. Season of KDE

The Season of KDE, hosted by the KDE community, is an outreach program for all individuals across the world. KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software and you can contribute to KDE through the Season of KDE program. The participants of the Season of KDE program have not only contributed new features, but they are also responsible for developing KDE Continuous Integration System, ported KDE Applications, documentation, and various other things. Also, it is somehow similar to another prestigious program, Google Summer of Code.

Timeline: December - March

6. FOSSASIA Codeheat

FOSSASIA is a non-profit organization supporting developers and makers of free and open-source technologies. FOSSASIA Codeheat is one such program run by it. Codeheat is a coding contest and here the mentors are developers, professors, or contributors who like to share and become a part of the FOSSASIA open-source community. Codeheat is separated into two-month periods and after each period winners of the period are announced.  

7. Linux Kernel Mentorship Program

The Linux Kernel Mentorship Program offers a structured remote learning opportunity to people who are aspiring to be Linux kernel developers. People who have experience as a Linux kernel developer mentor the volunteering mentees and help them in becoming a contributor to the Linux kernel. If you want to become a contributor then this is the program you can apply to. They have some courses which you can complete first and get involved in it. This program is also supported by the Community Bridge.

8. Hyperledger Mentorship Program

If you’re into the blockchain, this is for you. You can contribute to Hyperledger. This mentorship program allows you to get practical exposure to Hyperledger open-source development. Community members who are interested in mentoring students submit their project proposals so you can look and find your niche. You will be allotted mentors who are quite active in the Hyperledger developers community.

9. GirlScript Summer of Code (GSSoC)

GirlScript Summer of Code is the 3 month-long Open Source program during summers conducted by GirlScript Foundation, started in 2018, with an aim to help beginners get started with Open Source Development while encouraging diversity. Throughout the program, participants contribute to different projects under the guidance of experienced mentors. Top participants get exciting goodies and opportunities.

10. GitHub Campus Experts

GitHub Campus Experts is a cool program for students who love tech and want to lead open-source communities at their university. You get training to organize events, teach coding, and promote open source. It’s not about coding projects but building skills and networks. Apply anytime, and you need to show passion for tech and leadership. No payment, but you get swag and GitHub perks.

11. CNCF Mentoring Programs

CNCF Mentoring Programs let students work on awesome cloud-native projects like Kubernetes with Linux Foundation mentors. It’s great for beginners wanting to learn cutting-edge tech. Projects focus on coding, testing, or documentation. You need to apply with interest in cloud tech. Some programs offer stipends, and you can check details on their website.

12. Open Source Promotion Plan (OSPP)

OSPP is a fun program where students contribute to open-source projects, often with Chinese communities. It’s a summer program open to everyone globally. You work on coding or documentation and get mentors to guide you. Show your enthusiasm in the application. It’s a paid program with stipends, and you gain international experience.

13. Julia Season of Code

Julia Season of Code is perfect for students into scientific computing. You contribute to the Julia programming language, working on cool projects with mentors. It’s a summer program where you need to show interest in Julia or data science. Some projects offer stipends, and it’s a great way to learn high-performance coding.

14. NumFOCUS DISCOVER

NumFOCUS DISCOVER is an exciting program for students to work on data science tools like Python libraries. You get mentors to guide you on coding or documentation projects. It’s open to beginners with an interest in data science. Apply with your passion for open source. Some projects offer stipends, and you build skills for future tech jobs.

Apart from these, there are several universities, and institutes that organize their own SoC programs to encourage newcomers.

E.g. NJACK Winter of Code by Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, KWoC by Kharagpur Open Source Society, IIT Kharagpur (KOSS), BOSS - Bountiful Open Source Summer by Coding Blocks, etc.

Must Read

• Introduction to Open-Source and its benefits
• Step Wise Guide to start with Open Source
• Top 7 Open Source Projects For Beginners To Explore

Conclusion

You don't need to wait for a particular program to start in order to contribute to open source. So it is not like when Google Summer of Code will open up applications that will be the only time you can contribute. If you know a particular tech stack you can start right NOW!! And most importantly, open-source is not something that you do for a stipend. You do it to make an impact, it should be your passion. True "open-source contributors" find the idea of creating value for people and impacting the world through their work gratifying.