It's time for would-be participants in this year's Google Summer of Code to register and submit their proposals to the mentor organizations that interest them.. But did you know that now it's not just for students? The new criterion is being new to open source - so if you missed out when younger, it's not too late to apply. 

2023 will be the 19th consecutive year of Google Summer of Code and the second year in which it will accept anybody aged 18 years and over who is a newcomer to open source software. 

The original motto of GSoC "flip bits not burgers" put the emphasis on the activity of coding - although the rubric suggested other tasks that could be done by participants. Now the emphasis seems to be more about forming lasting relationships between new volunteers and open source organizations and the latest description of the program is:

During Google Summer of Code, participating contributors are paired with mentors from open source organizations, gaining exposure to real-world software development techniques. Contributors will learn from experienced open source developers while writing code for real-world projects! A small stipend is provided as an incentive.

Participating organizations use the program to identify and bring in new, excited developers. Many of those new developers will continue to contribute to their new communities and open source long after GSoC is over.

Other changes introduced in 2022 which made the program more flexible in terms of time commitment are also being kept. Rather than being a set 12 weeks, projects can now be from 10-22 weeks in length and can either be "medium" at around175 hours or "large" at around 350 hours.

More details of the program are included in this introductory video and see Forward Planning For Google Summer of Code 2023:

The value of GSoC now seems to be recognized by contributors and open source organizations alike and there's a list of 172 organizations who are eager to get into conversations with GSoC participants. 

The period for contributor applications for the 2023 season opens on March 20 and runs until April 4 with those accepted announced on May 4.

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