Open Source has become the defacto way to build software. Everywhere we go, whether in the industry or not, we will come across open-source software and open-source software development. How and what are we doing in enabling the next-generation of up-and-coming developers to participate in open-source software development? Wouldn't it be wonderful if there are ways for the community, industry and academia to collaborate and nurture the next generations of open-source developers?
The Canada Open-Source Projects (CANOSP) program is an innovative program that connects academia, industry, and the open-source community in order to build the next generation of open-source developers. Through the CANOSP program, top students from Canadian universities are connected with open-source projects, which they actively contribute to and develop over the course of a semester under the mentorship of industry professionals. The Eclipse Foundation has been an active participant in the CANOSP program, with projects like Eclipse LSP4Jakarta, Eclipse OMR, Eclipse Adoptium and Eclipse AQAvit. Various other organizations and companies like Mozilla, IBM and Beanbag with projects like AdoptOpenJDK Quality Assurance, Review Board, and PRESC have also participated in it since its inception.
We will take a look at the CANOSP program, its experience and successes, and what we have learned from it advocating for Open Source and equipping university and college students to participate in open-source software development. Also, we will look at the benefits the participating open-source projects have gained, the values for up-and-coming (student) developers, and encourage and solicit greater participation from open-source projects, industry partners, academic institutions and students.
