Getting Started in Free and Open Source Software
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Getting Started in Free and Open Source Software
This panel discussion will be held in Regency Ballroom V from 4:15 - 5:15 PM on Thursday, September 30, 2010.
Session Description
Are you interested in contributing to a Free or Open Source software project, but you’re not sure how to get started? Wondering about some of the social aspects of participating in the community, as well as the technical details? During this panel discussion, key contributors to several Free and Open Source Software projects will discuss tips for successfully engaging with the project of your choice. Panelists will share their own experiences getting started in Free and Open Source development. They will also share best practices with audience members, helping newcomers understand the basics of contributing to Open Source so their initial foray is most effective.
Tips for Success
The community is more important than the project. Most of the people there are involved because of the community, not because of a particular passion for a feature.
Be a Learner. Your biggest mistake could be to not ask enough questions, or assuming you don't have enough experience to contribute. You should also be careful to not under (or over)-estimate the usefulness of IRC.
Don't be afraid to start small. Even adding an icon to a toolbar can make a big difference and be a great way to learn. Every contribution is worthwhile.
Core friendships are the rewarding part of the project. Find people to build that with.
It's not a meritocracy, it's a do-ocracy. Whoever has the time or energy gets to work on things.
Check out http://www.baypiggies.net/
Additional Resources
Please note that many FOSS projects will have their own "welcome wagon" learning resources/groups for new contributors or women's groups, such as Debian women or the Drupal Dojo. If a particular project seems interesting to you, ask on IRC or the project mailing list for resources that can help newcomers get up to speed.
http://www.ircbeginner.com/ircinfo/ircc-commands.html - Many projects do most of their communication via Internet Relay Chat (IRC). This document covers some basic IRC commands.
http://www.linuxchix.org/irc-beginners.html - Written by the LinuxChix community, this beginner's guide to IRC not only covers basic commands but also addresses netiquette, etc.
http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Women's_Caucus - Resources for women and anyone interested in increasing women's participation in free and open source software, may be helpful to you if you are working out which project is the best for you to join.
http://geekfeminism.org/2010/09/27/quick-questions-women-friendly-tech-news-women-friendly-open-source-projects/ - A list of (women) friendly open source projects
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Reviewing_a_Patch - Example of how to review a patch! Lots of projects need patches reviewed, and these are a great starting point if you'd like to start reading code from a project.
http://theopensourceway.org - a site that provides a guide "for helping people to understand how to and how not to engage with community over projects such as software, content, marketing, art, infrastructure, standards, and so forth"
http://www.slideshare.net/lhawthorn/getting-started-in-free-and-open-source-software - keynote presentation from Free Software and Linux Days Istanbul 2010 conference which provides an involvement overview for new contributors
http://openhatch.org - provides services to document your open source contributions, browse volunteering opportunities for newbies (i.e. bugs, documentation needs, etc...) and find other contributors near you
http://hfoss.org - focused on student participation in open source projects with humanitarian goals
http://xcitegroup.org/softhum - course level focus for HFOSS activities
http://teachingopensource.org - is a site for academics and open source developers interested in supporting teaching based in open source software
http://www.fosslc.org - a site intended for academics that provides support for learning about open source development
Presenter Contact Information
Please feel free to get in contact with any of with additional questions.
Leslie Hawthorn - mebelh at gmail dot com
Deb Nicholson - deb at eximiousproductions dot com
Greg Hislop - hislop at drexel dot edu
Selena Deckelmann - selenamarie at gmail dot com
Terri Oda - terri at zone12 dot com
