Google Summer of Code and Symmetry Autumn of Code Projects and Mentors

[Mike Parker]

Some of you will have already heard that we didn't make it into 
GSoC 2021. Every year Google receives over 500 organization 
applications, but they can only accept ~200. I have no insights 
into their decision process, but I do believe our application was 
stronger this year than it was when we were last accepted in 
2019. Given that we've missed out on two in a row, I expect the 
odds will begin to favor us getting in again next year or the 
year after.

That said, it surely won't hurt our chances to have a larger 
selection of projects that students can choose from. Such a pool 
of projects also helps us if and when we have another SAOC event.

So I just want to remind everyone that the project ideas 
repository is there year-round. Anytime you have an idea for a D 
project that would benefit the ecosystem, please visit the 
repository and submit your idea:

https://github.com/dlang/projects/issues

When the time comes for GSoC or SAOC, someone will go through and 
tag projects that appear suitable for the event.

And I should point out, for anyone looking for a way to 
contribute to the D ecosystem, these ideas aren't exclusively for 
the two events. Everyone is welcome to come along and take one of 
these on. Just please be sure to leave a comment on the 
appropriate issue that you are doing so.

It will also be great to have a pool of people who are willing to 
work as mentors during the events. Anyone willing to mentor a 
specific project in the repository should leave a comment 
indicating their interest. And please, if you see someone else 
has already done so, leave a comment anyway. There's no guarantee 
that any given mentor will be available when the event comes 
around, so having some depth to the list is a good thing.

If you're willing to be generally available as a mentor, please 
drop a line to social at dlang.org to let us know if you're 
interested in mentoring for either or both GSoC and SAOC, and 
(broadly) what kinds of projects you're comfortable with.

These steps will help prevent us from scrounging around at the 
last minute for more projects and mentors. It will also allow us 
to better show in our GSoC applications that we have a lot we 
need done and that we could really use the resources the event 
provides. I don't know if that will increase our chances, but it 
surely can't hurt.