[LA.pm] Next step for a newbie

[Ron Smith]

Cynthia,

Thanks for the link. I'll be heading over there later
this evening, to check things out. It Seems like I've
got a full plate now; thanks to all the responses. :)

Ron

--- Cynthia Kiser <cnk at caltech.edu> wrote:

> Quoting Ron Smith <geeksatlarge at yahoo.com>:
> > Where would I go to begin getting info on how to
> get
> > involved with an open-source project? The thing
> I'm a
> > little concerned with is, are my skills up to a
> level
> > where I can make a meaningful contribution.
> 
> If you are not already familiar with some of the
> tools commonly used
> for open source, remote team development, you might
> want to check out
> the LinuxChix course that is running
> http://www.linuxchix.org/content/courses/tools/ (And
> before you ask,
> men are welcome on all the LinuxChix list except
> grrls-only and there
> are plenty of men on the courses and techtalk
> lists.)
> 
> As for how to get involved when you are not sure you
> have the skills,
> one suggestion I have heard Dan Kagel make is to
> volunteer to triage
> bugs for the project of your choice. It gets you
> familiar with lots of
> aspects of the project and really helps the main
> developers focus on
> fixable bugs. The most valuable aspect seemed to be
> developing good
> test cases for the verified bugs. And once you are
> familiar with the
> code, you can start submitting patches along with
> your test cases. The
> code reviews of those patches will help you tighten
> up your idomatic
> Perl and move into full developer status. 
> 
> -- 
> Cynthia Kiser
> cnk at caltech.edu
>