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https://github.com/ngi-nix/summer-of-nix

Summer of Nix is a coordinated effort to support selected free and open source software projects, by making them available as Nix packages or NixOS service modules.
https://github.com/ngi-nix/summer-of-nix

nix nixos nixpkgs nlnet

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Summer of Nix is a coordinated effort to support selected free and open source software projects, by making them available as Nix packages or NixOS service modules.

Host: GitHub
URL: https://github.com/ngi-nix/summer-of-nix
Owner: ngi-nix
Created: 2023-01-25T13:13:24.000Z (about 2 years ago)
Default Branch: main
Last Pushed: 2025-01-22T18:04:02.000Z (12 days ago)
Last Synced: 2025-01-27T16:42:49.875Z (8 days ago)
Topics: nix, nixos, nixpkgs, nlnet
Language: HTML
Homepage:
Size: 2.61 MB
Stars: 120
Watchers: 22
Forks: 4
Open Issues: 3
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md

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README

# Summer of Nix 2025

Summer of Nix is a coordinated effort to support selected free and open source software (FOSS) projects, by making them available as [Nix packages](https://search.nixos.org/packages) or [NixOS service modules](https://search.nixos.org/options?query=services).
It is funded by the European Commission's [Next Generation Internet (NGI)](https://www.ngi.eu/) initiative through the [NLNet Foundation](https://nlnet.nl/) and the [NixOS Foundation](https://github.com/NixOS/foundation).

This northern-hemisphere-summer program is a rare opportunity for students or early-career professionals with diverse technical skills and interests to practice disciplined software development with Nix while contributing to the public good and receiving some payment for it.
Participation in Summer of Nix has been – for some – a pathway to attractive jobs in software development.

Learn more about Nix on [nix.dev](https://nix.dev/).
Follow [updates on Summer of Nix on the NixOS Discourse](https://discourse.nixos.org/c/events/summer-of-nix/45).

## Goals

The program is designed for participants to **work, learn, and meet**:

- Improving the deployment story of [software projects funded by the NLnet Foundation](https://nlnet.nl/project/)

Just writing the code is not enough: Programs have to be easy to obtain and run to be widely adopted.
Getting complex software to work reliably on a whim is the aspiration for Summer of Nix.

As a participant, you will write Nix derivations, NixOS modules, integration tests, and documentation.
And you will solve a lot of tricky problems on the way.

- Skill-sharing among participants

Making computers useful for a mass audience requires diverse skills and broad knowledge, and no one person has it all.

As a participant, you will learn from – and teach – your peers about widely used programming languages, software testing, technical writing, web design, and the Nix ecosystem with various its tools.
You will closely collaborate in a group of five people on a regular schedule.

- Growing the Nix community

As a participant, you will join a community of [more than 700 active contributors](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pulse/monthly).
You will engage in an open source software development workflow and take part in public technical discussion.

After successful participation, you will be invited to NixCon 2024, a conference for Nix users and developers from all over the world.
And you will be afforded an opportunity for exposure with potential employers for whom Nix is a core strength.

## Timeline

- March: Organisers recruit mentors
- April: Mentors recruit participants
- Late May to early September: Work period with regular meetings

## Applications

All details about applications will be announced here in the first months of 2025.

### Participants

To be considered for participation, applicants must demonstrate:
- Fluency in English
- Essential programming skills, including proficiency with
- The command line
- Git version control
- At least one programming language
- Basic familiarity with Nix

Additionally, applicants have to:
- Meet the [technical requirements](#technical-requirements)
- Be available for a total of 160 hours of regular sessions over 13 weeks

### Mentors

To be considered for the mentor role, in addition to the [requirements for participants](#participants), applicants must have:
- [Merge access to Nixpkgs](https://github.com/orgs/nixos/teams/nixpkgs-committers).
- Command of at least two widely-used programming languages
- Firm grasp of software development best practices
- Excellent control of Git
- Experience with leadership and teaching
- Fluency with the Nix language, the module system, NixOS tests, and related tools

## Selection criteria

We select for qualification and motivation, as well as for diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

People who identify as members of groups currently underrepresented in open source software development communities are particularly encouraged to apply.
We put emphasis on establishing a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment where everyone can contribute their best.

## Eligibility

Natural persons of legal age from anywhere in the world can apply.

## Stipends

| Role | Base stipend [EUR] |
|--------------------|--------------------|
| Participant | 3000 |
| Mentor | 5000 |

Residents of [EU member states](https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/eu-countries_en) receive the base stipend.
For residents of other countries, stipends are adjusted according to [purchasing power parity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity) relative to the Netherlands.
See the [list of stipends by country](./stipends.md) for exact amounts.

You must be able to receive payments via one of:

- Bank transfer
- [PayPal](https://www.paypal.com)
- [Wise](https://wise.com)

## Technical requirements

Effective remote collaboration requires being able to simultaneously share your screen, view others' screens, talk to each other, and compile software.
This is only possible with sufficiently performant hardware, and therefore it's a condition for participation.

### Video calls

- Video camera
- Headphones and reasonable-quality microphone
- Consistently low-noise environment
- Enough processing power for multiple concurrent video streams

Please ask a friend to make a test call on [Jitsi Meet](https://meet.jit.si/) to ensure that they can see your screen and hear you well.

### Internet connection

- Sufficient bandwidth
- Stable throughout multiple hours of video call

From the organisers' experience, mobile data is unlikely to suffice.

## Questions and answers

### How to get notifications and updates?

Notifications are posted in the public Matrix room [Summer of Nix Announcements](https://matrix.to/#/#summer-of-nix-announce:matrix.org).
Set up your [Matrix client](https://matrix.org/try-matrix/) to receive push notifications on new messages.

News about the program are published in the [Summer of Nix Discourse category](https://discourse.nixos.org/c/events/summer-of-nix/45).
[Subscribe](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notifications-primer/228439) to receive push notifications or emails on new messages.

### Do I have to pay taxes on my stipend?

It depends.
**You are responsible for observing the laws that apply to you when receiving payments.**

The stipend is compensation for work towards a non-profit cause.
This means that in some jurisdictions it may be exempt from income tax, value-added tax (VAT), or from counting towards social insurance or health insurance obligations.

In some jurisdictions you may have to register a business to legally account for receiving payments.

Note that the stipend amount is exactly what the NixOS Foundation can pay.
If you have to process VAT, the total expense for the NixOS Foundation still must be the stipend amount, even if you put "reverse charge" on the invoice.

### Is this related to Google Summer of Code?

No, Summer of Nix is an independent program organised by the NixOS Foundation.
It is funded by the European Commission via the NLnet Foundation.

Summer of Nix was originally modeled after Google Summer of Code, but has developed its own profile.
We use the [purchasing power parity data](https://developers.google.com/open-source/gsoc/help/student-stipends#total_stipend_amount) from Google Summer of Code to calculate our stipends.

Unrelated, the Nix community applied for [Google Summer of Code 2024](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/call-for-mentors-google-summer-of-code-2024/39031) and [Google Season of Docs 2024](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/google-season-of-docs-2024-call-for-proposals-to-enhance-nix-documentation/40107), where you can participate to directly improve tooling and documentation in the Nix ecosystem.

### Why does this NGI-sponsored program use this or that software?

We do our best to select free and open source, privacy-respecting software.
But this is not a hard constraint, nor the only criterion.

We use:

- [GitHub](https://github.com/) for development and public technical discussion
- [Matrix](https://matrix.org/) for private, ephemeral, or real-time communication
- [Notion](https://notion.so/) for accounting

As a participant, you will need an account on each of these services.

## Contact

[Open an issue](https://github.com/ngi-nix/summer-of-nix/issues) to ask a question in public.
Send direct messages for questions that require privacy.

Responsible: Valentin Gagarin (program direction)

- GitHub: [@fricklerhandwerk](https://github.com/fricklerhandwerk)
- Matrix: [@fricklerhandwerk:matrix.org](https://matrix.to/#/@fricklerhandwerk:matrix.org)
- Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Accountable: [Stichting NixOS Foundation](https://github.com/NixOS/foundation/) (legal partner in the NGI Zero consortium, fiscal host)

Consulted and informed: [Nix Community Steering Committee](https://github.com/NixOS/org/blob/main/doc/governance.md) (governing body of the Nix ecosystem)

## Annual reports

- [Report: 2024 Summer of Nix](https://ngi-nix.github.io/summer-of-nix/SoN-2024-report.pdf)
- [Report: 2023 Summer of Nix](https://ngi-nix.github.io/summer-of-nix/SoN-2023-report.pdf)
- [Report: 2022 Summer of Nix](https://ngi-nix.github.io/summer-of-nix/SoN-2022-report.pdf)
- [Report: 2021 Summer of Nix](https://ngi-nix.github.io/summer-of-nix/SoN-2021-report.pdf)

## Acknowledgements

Summer of Nix is funded by the European Commission's [Next Generation Internet (NGI)](https://www.ngi.eu/) initiative through the [NLNet Foundation](https://nlnet.nl/) and the [NixOS Foundation](https://github.com/NixOS/foundation).

[ European Commission logo ](https://ngi.eu/about/)

[](https://nlnet.nl/foundation/)