I got mail a from Prabhu(PR) few days back about extension of FOSSEE project and that they are looking for people for different roles. I had joined the project fairly early(July 2010) when it was getting started and we were trying different ways to show power of Python as alternative to popular proprietary tools used in academia, in terms of writing code, calculations, speed, everything.

We did workshops in different colleges, recorded screen-casts, events, documentations and even a full fledged course: SEES, around Python and various tools which could improve skills students to handle their courses and codes with good practices.

Though this sounds like a lot of documentation work, and not exactly like a "developer profile" but for starters to reach to the level that you can yourself understand these concepts, algorithms, good practices I think is the biggest thing at offer. And this time, as PR mentioned in mail, they are also looking for developers to contribute, develop and push things with some mainstream Open Source projects. Personally, I met wonderful people there, Prabhu, Asokan, punchagan, madhu, vattam, dusual and many more from active and thriving community. There is always good scope and room to grow.

When I had joined the project initially, I was excited about probably contributing, able to sit through classes etc. The mission of project is high minded and this kind of adaptation and acceptance is never overnight and always gradual. I remember being frustrated about lack of enthusiasm from the participants and not seeing results. But that's the thing, you get to take a chance, try things, see if they work, if not, adapt, try more, but try.

Note: I worked with the team very initially and only for a year so I am not aware of how currently things work at fossee, I think contacting them directly for latest update would be best.