Ask HN: Which open source needs contributors badly? I am a beginner

#1

Post by sanspace » Wed, Feb 27, 2013, 4:42 PM UTC

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Re: Ask HN: Which open source needs contributors badly? I am a beginner

#2

Post by lutusp » Wed, Feb 27, 2013, 4:44 PM UTC

> ... Which opensource needs contributors badly?

All of them. You might be better off choosing an open-source project based on your interests and background rather than looking for a project that's particularly desperate.

Re: Ask HN: Which open source needs contributors badly? I am a beginner

#3

Post by sanspace » Wed, Feb 27, 2013, 4:45 PM UTC

lutusp wrote: post #2

> ... Which opensource needs contributors badly? All of them. You might be better off choosing an open-source project based on your interests and background rather than looking for a project that's particularly desperate.

Thought of doing both. What would you suggest? Any favorites?

Re: Ask HN: Which open source needs contributors badly? I am a beginner

#4

Post by Jeremy1026 » Wed, Feb 27, 2013, 5:07 PM UTC

What language(s) would you want to work with?

Re: Ask HN: Which open source needs contributors badly? I am a beginner

#5

Post by gopalv » Wed, Feb 27, 2013, 5:12 PM UTC

sanspace wrote: post #3

lutusp wrote: post #2

> ... Which opensource needs contributors badly? All of them. You might be better off choosing an open-source project based on your interests and background rather than looking for a project that's particularly desperate.

Thought of doing both. What would you suggest? Any favorites?

Well, then go on - list your interests (or skills).

And please don't pick a project that's desperate for people - It's a classic case of the mythical man month.

Most of the time the core folks will find bringing up a new member up-to speed as a distraction, particularly when there's no commitment from either side to keep working on it (compared something like google summer of code).

PS: if all else fails, pick up a new programming language & write examples/cookbook-recipes for it

Re: Ask HN: Which open source needs contributors badly? I am a beginner

#6

Post by sanspace » Wed, Feb 27, 2013, 5:18 PM UTC

Jeremy1026 wrote: post #4

What language(s) would you want to work with?

I am a C developer and I work personally on PHP and have written some utility scripts using python. I don't stick to a language. I am a quick learner and I am flexible.

I would like to start with a small tasks / modules as of now until I get a hold on things.

Re: Ask HN: Which open source needs contributors badly? I am a beginner

#7

Post by eb0la » Wed, Feb 27, 2013, 5:33 PM UTC

All opensource projects need good documentation. That's not a small task ;-) but it's needed to get adoption.

Pick something interesting but hard to start/learn/understand and WRITE. This will sharpen your communication skills, which is crucial when explaining stuff to non-technical people (like your manager).

The installer / upgrade part of any project is also equally important; but it's better covered because it's part of the build process (the only exceptions is that you're selling enterprise software to a multi-million $$$ company: in that case your software must be as hard to install as posible in order to justify selling professional services).