Has your company every wanted to partner with Google on their Summer of Code? (It’s not something they share, and I know people have asked.)

Don’t answer too quickly. You might want to check with some contacts in other departments, see if there ever has been interest in tapping the deeper benefits of sponsoring a summer coding event.

Red Hat took a look, which I wrote up in a report in the fall of 2009, and that’s the main reason we are doing Fedora Summer Coding 2010.

If you work for or with an organization, business, foundation, non-profit, etc. that benefits from a better Fedora Project … consider if you have some budget to help fund a student proposal.

Aside from all the potential benefits to the Fedora Project that directly or indirectly benefit you, your company stands to gain more than positive brand image. You help teach the next generation about how to be involved in FOSS, which teaches them the skills you want them to have when you hire them. Red Hat is not the only company who has hired former GSoC students.

We have the next 9 or 10 days to get funding pledges from sponsors for this first round. If you think there is any chance you or your organization might want to participate at any funding level, please contact me directly and we’ll go from there.

Even if you can’t make this first round, contact me anyway. For example, we’re discussing scheduling a summer coding for the Southern Hemisphere. This would make time for new sponsors in this calendar year.