Listen to Bruno Souza explain on SYS-CON.TV how to maybe win yourself an $11,500 grant in the NetBeans 'Dreams of Reality' contest

Sun is offering ten grants of US $11,500 - equivalent to several months of pay for developers in some countries - for the best NetBeans projects submitted by open source developers. Conceived as a means of increasing general awareness around the NetBeans project as well as rewarding good work done by the NetBeans Community, the 'Dreams of Reality' contest is described in detail by worldwide NetBeans Community Manager Bruno Souza, the charismatic Brazilian developer, in a special audio webcast currently playing on SYS-CON.TV.

The NetBeans Innovators Grants are part of Sun Microsystems' overall US$1M open source initiative, and the Grants program will help make your best ideas a reality and reward you. The deadline is March 3, so there is no time to lose!

"You can submit a project proposal -- your ideas of how to improve the NetBeans Project -- and a panel of experts will assign to the best proposals a money grant," Souza explains in his interview with SYS-CON.TV.

"Once you have a grant approved, you know that you'll receive the money if you complete the project. You can then work on a module, develop an application on top of the NetBeans Platform, fix bugs on the NetBeans IDE or even work on missing documentation or translations. Whatever you think is needed to increase NetBeans adoption and push the NetBeans Project to its next level."

A total of 10 large projects will be chosen and awarded a grant of US$ 11,500 dollars, he explains. Another 10 smaller projects will be chosen and awarded a grant of US$ 2,000 dollars.

Awards will only be awarded upon actual project completion. Projects that excel may receive one of two possible gold awards of US$ 11,000 dollars or two possible silver awards of US$ 5,000 dollars.

So, to maybe get paid for ideas that help the NetBeans Project - apply now!