thelinuxlink.net

Been playing with eyeOS since hearing about it on the show last week.

This weekend, someone from the eyeOS community wrote a little application that acts as a Post-it note tool. It worked pretty good, but when I started using it, a bug appeared.... the app was not saving it's contents after editing.

But, this afternoon, we (I tested, he coded) worked it out and it's a great little app. I also made an icon for it, which got adopted into the app.

For not knowing anything about coding PHP and AJAX, I still feel quite good about what I could contribute into the further development of eyeOS. I know it's hardly anything... but it's nice to feel as part of a community.

I don't see how any user of a system like Micro$oft or Mac could ever get the same feeling of community... except for, perhaps, a community sharing the same problems.

The feeling of community was one of the reasons that made linux very appealing to me. It reminds a lot of the early days of home computers. I think it's totally cool that I've met and become friends with people half way across the world. This is because of linux!

I keep wanting to get into the opensource contribution world but I am either not motivated enough or too scared off by the number of lines of code in the project already. I have helped on the Gentoo forum some and I used to help on the LinuxQuestions forum and I have submited a few bug reports but have yet to code for any. I want to start with something small and preferably using python any suggestions?

Just keep in mind that you don't have to be a coder to contribute.

Many projects need alpha/beta testers so helpful feedback can get back to those doing the developing. Getting behind a project, using it and telling others about it is a great way to contribute, too.

Of course it all comes down to the individual person doing the code, but if you're good with GIMP or Inkscape, contribute on a graphical/interface level. It seems to help (and be appreciated) a person doing code if they don't have to do all the graphics stuff too. Or, do some documentation... user guides, help documents, that sort of thing.

Myself, with the fun I've been having with eyeOS, I think I'm going to try and learn some PHP and AJAX. It's been a long time since I've written code (aside from HTML), but I think I could get back into it.

There's all kinds of ways to contribute to a project. Just visit the sites and forums, talk to the developers and see where they could use the extra help.

Live long, prosperous and Open!