Open Source Initiatives and You...

by Mikel King <mikel.king@techally.com>

Have you ever installed a cool new open source application or utility and after spending your spare time getting it up and running thought hey I'd like to help out. The only problem is that you are not really a software engineer because you can barely spell C let alone write enough code to program with it. There whole host of areas where one could help out, and I would like to touch upon some of the common and maybe perhaps some of the more uncommon ones available.

A good first step you should consider when you contemplate joining an open source team is to document what was required for you to install this new application on your system. This is especially true if you happen to have installed on a previously unconfirmed platform, or if you installation method deviated from the official documentation in any way. This will naturally assist you in drafting a How-To guide that other administrators will surely appreciate.

Evangelizing a project again not a particularly glamorous task either, and in fact it is nearly as low on the list as documenting the project. Regardless some one needs to step forward and cry out to the world 'Here yee, here yee...' If not you then who? One easy way to do this would be to polish that How-To into a full blown article for some <HINT>online periodical</HINT>. I am certain the readership would appreciate the fresh content as much as learning about that trendy new app you've discovered. The developers we benefit from increased usage which leads to more debugging, as well as more bug reports, and quite possibly patches.

Becoming a member of the projects irc or mailing list support channel. By volunteering and answering questions that newer users have when they invariably encounter a problem, you free the developers up to do what they do best. After a period of time they may even rely on you to consult with the endusers as a first line of defense gathering all pertinent details and drafting a well thought out bug report. All of this simply because you took that first major step; to scribble down the process you followed to install the application.

Obviously you could resort to the easy way out, and after reviewing the developers wish list buy that for them off of one of the numerous online retailer sites. Or should you live in the vicinity you might arrange to host a pizza party in their honor, or maybe con your little sister into going out on a date with one of the developers. Yes these a all perfectly acceptable way of thanking the dev team, well all except the sister part. But ask yourself honestly, "At the end of the day how much did you really contributed to the project?"

Besides if you really did introduce your sister to the developer, then you might end up have to buy a wedding gift, and rent a tuxedo. Then you will probably drink too much at the reception, thus making a total ass of yourself, becoming the embarassment of your entire family. You really don't want that, trust me.