Hi!
The list has been too quiet of late. Yet, I've been getting subscription notifications telling me that new people are in-fact subscribing to the list. The logical conclusion here is that new people are joining the list, but *not* using it. I'm not sure why that would be. Are new comers shy, or are they scared of being flamed, or is there another reason?
I request/invite/implore any newcomers here to please go ahead and ask the list *whatever* you want, related to contributing to Fedora of course. We'll be more than happy to answer your questions and help you become part of the community.
We do not bite, I promise!
In the unlikely case that you have no questions and are well on your way to contributing to Fedora, I'll request you to at least send the list an e-mail introducing yourself. That'll tell us who you are, what you do, what you want to work on, and we can help you and introduce you to more folks that we know.
On 3/11/13 10:34 PM, Ankur Sinha wrote:
The list has been too quiet of late. Yet, I've been getting subscription notifications telling me that new people are in-fact subscribing to the list. The logical conclusion here is that new people are joining the list, but *not* using it. I'm not sure why that would be. Are new comers shy, or are they scared of being flamed, or is there another reason?
Shy mostly, and busy! I really haven't said much because it's been quiet and nobody else has.
In the unlikely case that you have no questions and are well on your way to contributing to Fedora, I'll request you to at least send the list an e-mail introducing yourself. That'll tell us who you are, what you do, what you want to work on, and we can help you and introduce you to more folks that we know.
I'm a System Administrator on the US West Coast (Portland). We are primarily a Windows shop, but I've been somewhat successful in bringing more Linux systems into what we do. I've been using Linux since 2003-ish, started with Red Hat 9 and have used most distributions for at least a short while. Primarily servers but I've used it long term on the desktop (/laptop) as well.
Right now I am involved in Freemedia. It was an easy group to join and get my foot in the door. I am interested in getting involved in Infra, but haven't really made the jump into introducing myself there. Mostly because I don't know where to start. My reasons for wanting to get into Infra are the overall interest in contributing to the magic side of things people only see when broken, but I have a selfish motivation of wanting to learn more about Linux system administration in a production environment, and also things like puppet which I haven't gotten around to playing with on my own, myself. I'd also like to learn Python, I haven't had the proper motivation of projects to do so on my own.
Hi Steven,
On Thu, 2013-03-21 at 22:48 -0700, Steven Susbauer wrote:
On 3/11/13 10:34 PM, Ankur Sinha wrote:
The list has been too quiet of late. Yet, I've been getting subscription notifications telling me that new people are in-fact subscribing to the list. The logical conclusion here is that new people are joining the list, but *not* using it. I'm not sure why that would be. Are new comers shy, or are they scared of being flamed, or is there another reason?
Shy mostly,
No need to be, we don't bite. :)
In the unlikely case that you have no questions and are well on your way to contributing to Fedora, I'll request you to at least send the list an e-mail introducing yourself. That'll tell us who you are, what you do, what you want to work on, and we can help you and introduce you to more folks that we know.
I'm a System Administrator on the US West Coast (Portland). We are primarily a Windows shop, but I've been somewhat successful in bringing more Linux systems into what we do. I've been using Linux since 2003-ish, started with Red Hat 9 and have used most distributions for at least a short while. Primarily servers but I've used it long term on the desktop (/laptop) as well.
Right now I am involved in Freemedia. It was an easy group to join and get my foot in the door. I am interested in getting involved in Infra, but haven't really made the jump into introducing myself there. Mostly because I don't know where to start.
That's why we're here, don't hesitate to ask any question you have.
My reasons for wanting to get into Infra are the overall interest in contributing to the magic side of things people only see when broken, but I have a selfish motivation of wanting to learn more about Linux system administration in a production environment, and also things like puppet which I haven't gotten around to playing with on my own, myself. I'd also like to learn Python, I haven't had the proper motivation of projects to do so on my own.
Just to be clear: these are all very valid motivations.
Most of contribute for selfish reasons, in addition to the general desire to make the world a better place.
If you want to learn Python, I'd recommend you read the book "Dive into Python". That's how I learned a few years ago. :)
And then, when you have a decent grasp on the syntax (enough to be able to read code and documentation), go have a look at the easy fixes for Fedora: http://fedoraproject.org/easyfix/
Most of the applications developed by the Infra team are there, and have many low-hanging fruits you could pick.
That should provide a nice way for you to pass the second foot through the door. ;)
And if you need help, just ask!
Hi, Overwhelming to see such concern from team. I am a student, about to finish my masters. I always wonder how to get started, even by going through "get started" column of open source or linux communities' website. I have keen interest in working on systems programming, I dont have much experience, but having good programming and logical skill, a helping hand would add a lot to my knowledge and my contribution to community. I am always ready to learn new things. Reply would be awaited.:) Thanks and Regards!
On Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 11:37 AM, Mathieu Bridon <bochecha@fedoraproject.org
wrote:
Hi Steven,
On Thu, 2013-03-21 at 22:48 -0700, Steven Susbauer wrote:
On 3/11/13 10:34 PM, Ankur Sinha wrote:
The list has been too quiet of late. Yet, I've been getting
subscription
notifications telling me that new people are in-fact subscribing to the list. The logical conclusion here is that new people are joining the list, but *not* using it. I'm not sure why that would be. Are new
comers
shy, or are they scared of being flamed, or is there another reason?
Shy mostly,
No need to be, we don't bite. :)
In the unlikely case that you have no questions and are well on your
way
to contributing to Fedora, I'll request you to at least send the list
an
e-mail introducing yourself. That'll tell us who you are, what you do, what you want to work on, and we can help you and introduce you to more folks that we know.
I'm a System Administrator on the US West Coast (Portland). We are primarily a Windows shop, but I've been somewhat successful in bringing more Linux systems into what we do. I've been using Linux since 2003-ish, started with Red Hat 9 and have used most distributions for at least a short while. Primarily servers but I've used it long term on the desktop (/laptop) as well.
Right now I am involved in Freemedia. It was an easy group to join and get my foot in the door. I am interested in getting involved in Infra, but haven't really made the jump into introducing myself there. Mostly because I don't know where to start.
That's why we're here, don't hesitate to ask any question you have.
My reasons for wanting to get into Infra are the overall interest in contributing to the magic side of things people only see when broken, but I have a selfish motivation of wanting to learn more about Linux system administration in a production environment, and also things like puppet which I haven't gotten around to playing with on my own, myself. I'd also like to learn Python, I haven't had the proper motivation of projects to do so on my own.
Just to be clear: these are all very valid motivations.
Most of contribute for selfish reasons, in addition to the general desire to make the world a better place.
If you want to learn Python, I'd recommend you read the book "Dive into Python". That's how I learned a few years ago. :)
And then, when you have a decent grasp on the syntax (enough to be able to read code and documentation), go have a look at the easy fixes for Fedora: http://fedoraproject.org/easyfix/
Most of the applications developed by the Infra team are there, and have many low-hanging fruits you could pick.
That should provide a nice way for you to pass the second foot through the door. ;)
And if you need help, just ask!
-- Mathieu
fedora-join mailing list fedora-join@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fedora-join
Hey, I'm new too (to fedora at least - I've been trying out other distros for some time now as a casual user before I end up here). I actually skipped introducing me in this list (don't know why really) and introduced myself right onto the Greek guys' mailing list. I'm Greek myself, a chemistry undergraduate student, but IT is my second passion, and since I loved fedora I wanted to contribute. I have no idea (yet) of python and stuff (but I'll get to that in due time) so for the time being I joined the Greek translation team, and also I'll participate in any test day that I can.
Hi,
On Friday, March 22, 2013 09:18 PM, orestis kranias wrote:
Hey, I'm new too (to fedora at least - I've been trying out other distros for some time now as a casual user before I end up here). I actually skipped introducing me in this list (don't know why really) and introduced myself right onto the Greek guys' mailing list. I'm Greek myself, a chemistry undergraduate student, but IT is my second passion, and since I loved fedora I wanted to contribute. I have no idea (yet) of python and stuff (but I'll get to that in due time) so for the time being I joined the Greek translation team, and also I'll participate in any test day that I can.
That's perfect.
In fact, it means you don't need fedora-join at all. :)
This list is here to guide those who don't know how to get started, and, well... you've already started.
If there's anything else we can do, though, don't hesitate to ask!
On Friday, March 22, 2013 08:27 PM, Sandeep Sukhani wrote:
Hi, Overwhelming to see such concern from team. I am a student, about to finish my masters. I always wonder how to get started, even by going through "get started" column of open source or linux communities' website.
That's something we hear very often.
Many people seem to be expecting a step-by-step guide for how to start contributing, but... that's just not how FOSS works. :-/
What is very important to understand is that you are trying to join a (mostly) volunteer-based community, to which you would contribute as a volunteer.
As such, you are the one who will choose what you will contribute to, what you will do.
And **that** is how you get started: by figuring out what you enjoy, what you'd have fun doing.
I have keen interest in working on systems programming,
Then that is what you should contribute to. :)
One thing to note, though, there isn't much opportunity for contributing **code** to Fedora. That's because Fedora is a distributor: we take software made upstream, package it as RPMs, and try to integrate it all into a coherent whole.
So if you want to contribute code, you should do so directly upstream.
Now, when you say « systems programming », that could actually cover quite a lot of stuff.
It could be the kernel, low-level userspace like systemd, low-level libraries like the glibc, important daemons like firewalld or httpd, etc...
But it really has to be a personal journey, where you identify the stuff you want to be working on, and then you just get to doing it.
Here's how it usually goes.
1. Find a cool project to contribute to
This is actually the hardest part, and is where no one can really help you.
To give you some clues where to search, try to look at the software you use. Any project that you enjoy using, that you think has a positive impact on the world, or just that looks cool.
2. Get familiar with how the community works on the project
You need to find how they communicate (mailing-lists, forums, IRC,...), where the source code is hosted (github, sourceforge,...), what is the procedure for contributing code (sending a patch by email, attaching to the bug report, sending a pull request,...), where is the documentation for building and installing the code, etc...
3. Find a bug in that project
The best is a bug that you encountered yourself, because that provides you additional motivation to get it fixed.
Otherwise, go find the bug tracker for that project, and read all the reports one by one, until you find something that 1. you can reproduce (this is very important) and 2. you feel would be a nice hack.
4. Get the code, straight from the VCS
Previous step told you whether the code was hosted in Git, SVN, Mercurial,...
So just check it out (or clone it), and then build/install it, and try to reproduce the bug again.
Turns out, some bugs could be present in the Fedora package, but already be fixed in the latest development branch.
If you can still reproduce the bug, then go ahead and fix it.
5. Hack
That's the part where you have fun reading code to understand where the problem is, bang your head a few times against the wall, and magically get a bug fix out of it.
And because you spent time on step 3, you know how to contribute your change back.
6. Wash, rinse, repeat
If you enjoyed fixing that bug (some code bases are horrendous that you might want to run away and forget about that project), if you found it was a pleasure to interact with the community (some are much more welcoming than others), and if you feel like it, then go back to step 3.
If not, then go back to step 1, and find a new project which will provide you with more fun.
7. Have fun
This is critical.
You will need a sustained motivation to keep hacking. Some people get it through a salary, but as a volunteer contributing to Free Software, you won't get that (at least, not right away ;) )
So you must get something out of it, or else you will burn out, get depressed, and the community will lose a valuable contributor.
Find something that gives you joy. Find something where you have fun. Find something where you feel like you're having a positive impact.
If the project is a pain to work with, thank them and walk away, towards greener pastures.
Most of the above works for non-code contribution by the way. Steps might have to be slightly adapted, but the journey is always similar.
I dont have much experience,
This has never been a problem for anyone. If you're passionate, you'll learn what you need to. :)
I understand this is probably not the answer you expected ("hi, project $foo needs help, read this and that page and do that to get started"), but we can't really do much more.
If we assign you to a project, you might not like it, and as a result you'll either give up or provide crappy contributions.
Nobody can find the right project for you, except you.
Hope that helps.
Hi Mathieu,
Thank you so much for your words, your response gave path to my efforts, which is very helpful, and lessen my fear to approach community, and it let me know there are people ready to help willingly like you. If required would get in touch with you for help.
Regards, Sandeep Sukhani
On Sat, Mar 23, 2013 at 1:05 PM, Mathieu Bridon bochecha@fedoraproject.orgwrote:
On Friday, March 22, 2013 08:27 PM, Sandeep Sukhani wrote:
Hi, Overwhelming to see such concern from team. I am a student, about to finish my masters. I always wonder how to get started, even by going through "get started" column of open source or linux communities' website.
That's something we hear very often.
Many people seem to be expecting a step-by-step guide for how to start contributing, but... that's just not how FOSS works. :-/
What is very important to understand is that you are trying to join a (mostly) volunteer-based community, to which you would contribute as a volunteer.
As such, you are the one who will choose what you will contribute to, what you will do.
And **that** is how you get started: by figuring out what you enjoy, what you'd have fun doing.
I have keen interest in working on systems programming,
Then that is what you should contribute to. :)
One thing to note, though, there isn't much opportunity for contributing **code** to Fedora. That's because Fedora is a distributor: we take software made upstream, package it as RPMs, and try to integrate it all into a coherent whole.
So if you want to contribute code, you should do so directly upstream.
Now, when you say « systems programming », that could actually cover quite a lot of stuff.
It could be the kernel, low-level userspace like systemd, low-level libraries like the glibc, important daemons like firewalld or httpd, etc...
But it really has to be a personal journey, where you identify the stuff you want to be working on, and then you just get to doing it.
Here's how it usually goes.
- Find a cool project to contribute to
This is actually the hardest part, and is where no one can really help you.
To give you some clues where to search, try to look at the software you use. Any project that you enjoy using, that you think has a positive impact on the world, or just that looks cool.
- Get familiar with how the community works on the project
You need to find how they communicate (mailing-lists, forums, IRC,...), where the source code is hosted (github, sourceforge,...), what is the procedure for contributing code (sending a patch by email, attaching to the bug report, sending a pull request,...), where is the documentation for building and installing the code, etc...
- Find a bug in that project
The best is a bug that you encountered yourself, because that provides you additional motivation to get it fixed.
Otherwise, go find the bug tracker for that project, and read all the reports one by one, until you find something that 1. you can reproduce (this is very important) and 2. you feel would be a nice hack.
- Get the code, straight from the VCS
Previous step told you whether the code was hosted in Git, SVN, Mercurial,...
So just check it out (or clone it), and then build/install it, and try to reproduce the bug again.
Turns out, some bugs could be present in the Fedora package, but already be fixed in the latest development branch.
If you can still reproduce the bug, then go ahead and fix it.
- Hack
That's the part where you have fun reading code to understand where the problem is, bang your head a few times against the wall, and magically get a bug fix out of it.
And because you spent time on step 3, you know how to contribute your change back.
- Wash, rinse, repeat
If you enjoyed fixing that bug (some code bases are horrendous that you might want to run away and forget about that project), if you found it was a pleasure to interact with the community (some are much more welcoming than others), and if you feel like it, then go back to step 3.
If not, then go back to step 1, and find a new project which will provide you with more fun.
- Have fun
This is critical.
You will need a sustained motivation to keep hacking. Some people get it through a salary, but as a volunteer contributing to Free Software, you won't get that (at least, not right away ;) )
So you must get something out of it, or else you will burn out, get depressed, and the community will lose a valuable contributor.
Find something that gives you joy. Find something where you have fun. Find something where you feel like you're having a positive impact.
If the project is a pain to work with, thank them and walk away, towards greener pastures.
Most of the above works for non-code contribution by the way. Steps might have to be slightly adapted, but the journey is always similar.
I dont have much experience,
This has never been a problem for anyone. If you're passionate, you'll learn what you need to. :)
I understand this is probably not the answer you expected ("hi, project $foo needs help, read this and that page and do that to get started"), but we can't really do much more.
If we assign you to a project, you might not like it, and as a result you'll either give up or provide crappy contributions.
Nobody can find the right project for you, except you.
Hope that helps.
-- Mathieu
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 12:27 AM, Sandeep Sukhani wrote:
Hi Mathieu,
Thank you so much for your words, your response gave path to my efforts, which is very helpful, and lessen my fear to approach community, and it let me know there are people ready to help willingly like you.
I'm glad I could help.
If required would get in touch with you for help.
Don't hesitate to ask, but please try to keep it on the mailing-list, rather than contacting me privately.
For one, I might not have time, while there are others who could help you here, and at the same time, any answer given to you could help others subscribed to the list. ;)
Hi,
My name is Greg. I joined the list a while ago but am just now introducing myself. I think I waited because I don't feel I have much to contribute at this point. I am a network "engineer" for a University in the mid-west of the US. I somehow arrived in IT after majoring in music... kinda weird. So far I have been focusing on wired and wireless networking, mostly Cisco. I would like to transition out this line of work towards a software engineering discipline, if possible, or find a way to blend what I currently with more software engineering. I've been pursuing a Comp Sci degree to do this, and I figure this group would be good for me to gain some experience outside of my studies and workplace by jumping into an existing project, working with code from others, possibly collaborating with others, and hopefully contributing fixes.
I'm not a complete newbie with Linux. My main box is running nix, but I have to use Windows on a separate box to handle some of my day-to-day responsibilities.
As far as languages go, I can make things in C++ and Java, but I think I enjoy C++ more.
I don't quite know where I fit in this group, yet. My interests are in networking, systems development, and optimization (although I'm not sure what that entails, it sounds cool, though!). For now, most of those topics are out of reach for me. That said, I do want to get started somewhere and work my way towards them. Basically, I just want to start solving problems through coding, etc... if that makes sense.
Take care, Greg
On Tue, Mar 12, 2013 at 12:34 AM, Ankur Sinha sanjay.ankur@gmail.comwrote:
Hi!
The list has been too quiet of late. Yet, I've been getting subscription notifications telling me that new people are in-fact subscribing to the list. The logical conclusion here is that new people are joining the list, but *not* using it. I'm not sure why that would be. Are new comers shy, or are they scared of being flamed, or is there another reason?
I request/invite/implore any newcomers here to please go ahead and ask the list *whatever* you want, related to contributing to Fedora of course. We'll be more than happy to answer your questions and help you become part of the community.
We do not bite, I promise!
In the unlikely case that you have no questions and are well on your way to contributing to Fedora, I'll request you to at least send the list an e-mail introducing yourself. That'll tell us who you are, what you do, what you want to work on, and we can help you and introduce you to more folks that we know. -- Thanks, Warm regards, Ankur: "FranciscoD"
Please only print if necessary.
Looking to contribute to Fedora? Look here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Join_SIG
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Ankursinha http://dodoincfedora.wordpress.com/
fedora-join mailing list fedora-join@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fedora-join
fedora-join@lists.fedoraproject.org
-
Ankur Sinha -
Greg Koprowski -
kraniasorestis＠gmail.com -
Mathieu Bridon -
Sandeep Sukhani -
Steven Susbauer