Google to Students: Try Open Source

Search giant Google has announced a contest that is intended to introduce aspiring developers to open source software. To sweeten the pot, Google will give $4,500 to each student who completes an open source project. Several groups are participating, including Gnome, Apache and The Wine Project, among others.

Google made several of its open source projects available to give students an idea of what the company is looking for. "By pairing applicants up with the proven wisdom and experience of established prominent open source organizations, we hope to make great software happen," Google wrote on Summer of Code Web site. The deadline for application is June 14.