In my last article I cited the Vector Linux developers as an excellent example of the way Open Source developers respond to the user community. All of us who benefit from Linux and/or the myriad of Open Source applications out there are part of that community.
At times I’ve given back to the developers I appreciate financially, generally by buying a copy of a Linux distribution I was using heavily. With the advent of widespread broadband connectivity shrink wrapped copies of Linux have mostly disappeared from store shelves but you can still buy online. Most Linux distributors try to give you some extra value for doing this, either in terms of additional packages, priority downloads, or some level of professional support. Recently, though, my main means of giving back has been in the form of trying to make things I use better.
In my review of Vector Linux 5.8 I mentioned that I’ve used the distro for over six years. Vector, like every other Linux distribution out there, doesn’t package every piece of software I want or need. Indeed, Vector’s Extra repository of applications still doesn’t compare to Fedora Extras or the Ubuntu Universe so there’s always a bit more to add after installing a new version. In the past I’d either hunt down a Slackware package if I knew the required dependencies or else I’d just compile from source.
Somewhere along the way I realized that if I can compile and install a piece of software I can build a package for it as well. In most cases it takes just a few minutes of additional work. So far I’ve built about 40 packages for Vector Linux 5.8 Standard and I’ve contributed maybe two thirds of them which I feel I’ve adequately tested. They range from the extra lightweight JWM window manager I like to use on my Libretto SS1010 to Dia which I use for creating flowcharts and diagrams. I’ve also contributed fonts, dictionaries, and applications for the three languages other than English which I use since Vector is somewhat lacking in the area of internationalization. All of this was stuff I needed to install on my system anyway.
Many of the packages I’ve built are now in the VL Extra repository while others are still in the testing repository. They are availabaone of the volunteer packager I’ve made Vector a better distro by making more software easy to find and install.
My contribution to Vector Linux is quite small even when compared to some of the other volunteer packagers. It’s minuscule compared to the core developers. The point is that the strength of the Open Source community is that lots of people give back and contribute what they can. Lots of little contributions make a huge impact.
Most everyone has a skill they can contribute to an Open Source project. Maybe you have artistic talent and your favorite application could use better graphics. If you’re from Iceland and something you use hasn’t been translated to Islenska you’re help is definitely needed. I think we’ve all seen software that desperately needs better documentation. You definitely don’t need programming skills to volunteer and make a truly valuable contribution.
While a few Open Source projects have large corporate backing many, if not most, do not. If you really appreciate one and use it regularly I’d like to urge you to think how you can give back in a meaningful way. I realize the v word is scary to people. Most of us have busy lives. All I did was take something I had to do anyway, add just a little time, and I had a way to give something back to Vector Linux. I’d bet lots of you can add a whole lot of value to some project out there that you’re using anyway without making a tremendous effort. Please give it some thought.
Indeed, even the most simple of contributions is a great way to help a project, wether that be documentation of packaging.
You do not need to contriobute anything major like a package manager, even the simplest of things are appreciated wether it be a simple bit of documentation, a how-to on the projects wiki or simply a bug report. What is important is that you are becoming an active involved member of the community which we all as users benifit from.
I my self have only made small contributions, well two infact. The first was the documentation for Dolphin and the second is now packaging up software for Pardus Linux to go into the contrib repository. This is in the form of pspec.xml and actions.py files. These allow the user to easy build packages from source (its similar to how gentoo emerge works).
Of course though if the project accepts money donation then these re always welcome. Yould even put requests on what you wish your donation to be used for e.g. having your favourite distro ported to Amd64 etc.
And that is one of the great things about OSS, it can be as flexible as you need it to be. There is no one developer that you have to buy rights from to access the code. it's there to use and you can adapt it to best serve your own needs. MS cannot even come close.
Thank you both for your comments. tuxedep: Thanks for emphasizing my main point. What may seem small to you can be quite a big deal if you contribute something nobody else does.
I never hoped for a lot of comments on this piece. What I do hope is that at least a few people will think about it enough to contribute something to an Open Source project.
I'm myself involved into a small number of projects related to linux (general linux, not really focusing into a special distribution), and lately, I've become a debian translator. At the beginning, I was just subscribed to the mailing list where the translations into my native language took place, and all I did was just review, suggestions and small corrections. But I was luckily enough to be part of a community of open minded people, hard worker for their cause, and also people that I realized we match not only as OSS lovers, but non-computer related common hobbies too, people which I'd call 'friends'. I think community its very important when it comes about 'giving back'. At least it was in my case, for them I sacrificed some of my free time.
And I have another example why community its so important.
The romanian translation of opensuse's wiki. They're awful. And we all know bad documentation == bad advice, which can result an unpleasant experience of using linux. Misguiding people can even scare them away of linux. But back the point.
After checking the opensuse's wiki, and noticing its very bad translation, I did some research on my own, and I found out that the guy who did the translations, was someone working for Novell, which happened to have knowledge of romanian language (but was not a native romanian), and was asked if could take care about the translations (probably some economical reward too), and so he did. Besides Novell's mistake, asking someone to translate documentation without having knowledge if that person is actually qualified for such an (important task), the romanian community of opensuse had little/no interest regarding it. I assume because there is no one to listen their opinion, and because, why would they do the job, for free, of someone who's getting paid for it to do so (dunc-tank-like case?).
Conclusions? We are giving back (and for sure we do), only if we, first, are getting something in reward, about community is playing a key-role about it. Also, before giving back, we should make sure we are qualified for the task(s) we are planning, other way we risk to damage instead of helping.
Well said, I have always had the inner wanting to contribute. OSS has played vital role in my PC literacy for the cost of zero. I am indebted to it and they deserve the max assistance.
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