See also: Open-Source | Free Software | Collaboration
- This page is a work in progress. If you are involved with an Open-Source or Free Software project, share your story.
- This page also applies to Free Software. The terms “Free Software” and “Open-Source” are used interchangably.
- See the pages for Open-Source and Free Software for discussion on what these terms mean, and why such software exists.
Contents
Getting Involved With A Software Project
On Collaboration
First and foremost, one thing needs to be made clear. Even though you are a consumer of the software, and you may find great value in adding improvements, you must understand that such software is a collaborative effort. This means that there are many opinions and many voices. This also means that even your best ideas may just not be compatible with those of others.
Why Contribute To A Software Project
Simply put, one would contribute one’s own efforts to a project to collaboratively improve it. Any number of driving forces may push onesself to be desirous of contribution:
- Having an idea for a feature
- Finding a typo
- Finding a bug
How To Contribute To A Software Project
If one has a specific piece of software in mind, the first thing which must be done is to discover more about the project:
- Where is the project hosted?
- The Open-Source wiki lists some project hosts.
- Does the project have standard practices for newcomers to follow?
- Who leads the software project?
- How do the project participants communicate?
Getting Started
Before one is qualified of participating with a software project, one must learn what makes that project tick. One must also be prepared to involve onesself with the very latest bleeding-edge release of the software. Apprehension must be swept aside.
TakeDown.NET -> “Open-Source/Getting-Involved”