On May 31, 2005, Google announced its Summer of Code initiative to reenergize open source community. The estimated $1 million outlay ($4500 for each successful applicant) is less than Google’s profit in two hours. From chatter in various forums, this initiative will be a resounding success.

This is a foraging party’s raid involving about 200 young, fervent, energetic, idealistic cadres, excuse me, programmers. This is not what powers in Redmond wanted to hear – proprietary Windows platform will be under renewed siege.

One cannot but admire such deft application of Chaos Theory, best explained by oft quoted example of a butterfly fluttering its wings in Peru and causing a tornado in Texas, a few months later.

Imagine effects that will be unleashed when Google decides to increase this outlay by 100 times – an amount within normal R