Mon 04 Dec 2006 |
What is 'contributing' to an Open Source Project?
Written by Brad Baker
What is an open source project? An open source project refers to the license under which the CODE is distributed. Feel free to use Wikipedia yourself to come up with your own idea as to what is an open source project.
How are open source projects managed or governed? Now this is an interesting question, however the answer is simple: They are all governed in different ways. Some are purely developer driven with non-developers having no say at all in the project. Others may even go the other way to a certain extent.
What is an open source community? In the context of Joomla, we have an largely online or virtual community. A definition of a virtual community can be found here. Our community is largely found here: http://forum.joomla.org and on the other official sites, like http://extensions.joomla.org. You may correctly note though, that this is not the only place you can find Joomla Community Members, however it IS the single biggest place that you will. It's been stated that anyone who uses Joomla is a part of the community, and that may well be your view as well.
What is the Joomla Community, primarily for? Primarily, the infrastructure the community uses to interact with, was setup as a place to find support for using Joomla. It also has many other lesser important uses, such as a place for Joomla Workgroups to work in. Note though, the Joomla CODE could still exist without the community (others forms of infrastructure could be used to facilitate the coordination and participation in the development of the code.)
Would Joomla be one of the world's most popular open source projects without the community? Absolutely not! Without the support of the community Joomla would not be what it is today. Joomla, although technically only code, has to many people, become a passion, whether it is for coding, interacting in the community, producing GPL Extensions, or making a commercial living from. So, getting back to the initial question then...
What is 'contributing' to an Open Source Project? I apologise to the many perhaps hundreds of people who I have missed, but THIS IS CONTRIBUTING:
Is it the number of posts that matters? No, it's the content and constancy with which they tirelessly continue day in and day out to CONTRIBUTE to this Great Project, within the contribution framework that we currently have. These people, and many many more that time does not permit me to list, are the ones that make Joomla what it is today. Are you one of them? People, THIS IS CONTRIBUTING! So, do YOU want to contribute?
If so, and ironically this is the best way to thank those who do contribute so much, you will involve yourself in helping others in the community or by contributing to the code, within the current framework. Even if their questions are repeated, again and again. This is a way you, anyone, can contribute and give back to Joomla. Will you? Rather than talking about how Joomla should be doing this and that, do it yourself, and show us how we can simply implement your solution, provide a proof of concept. Talk and complaining is a slap in the face to the very people who work so hard to support Joomla. Do you want to help out with the code? Testing the code? Documentation? Forum moderating? Translating? Design? Marketing? If so, please see: http://dev.joomla.org/content/view/14/55/ Can you contribute to Joomla in a financial way? If so, please see: this page.
Conclusion: There is no utopia. No one, and no project, is perfect. Do we have faults, yes, some of them may be more important to you than they are to me, however the fact remains, if you are here for Joomla, the structure is already in place (maybe not ideal, or perfect) for your contribution to be accepted.
So, will you contribute? If so, I look forward to seeing you in the community, genuinely helping people, in any way you can, within the current provisions that exist. Show me your contributions, and you'll have my respect! Talk is cheap, amateurs talk, professionals WORK. PS Didn't you love the comment from Chris here: "I didn't complain, I just started writing my own and donating it the project. I considered it was the best way of paying back for such great software." THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! :)
*Disclaimer: The preceding post is my own opinion and may not reflect the views of the Company/People I frequently represent. It is not designed to point fingers at any individuals, but rather is an effort to explain, from my point of view, how I fit in, and how I personally measure others contributions. I realise your view of 'community' may be different to mine, however the similar principles apply.
2006-12-04 06:15:26
And, my thanks to you for the endless hours of help and support you contribute for all of us.
2006-12-04 09:19:52
I think a good idea, so, a specific forum, a simple wish-list with its code solution by posters. It'd be a "dedicated" dev forum, a helping forum for the dev team but even a "laboratory" for new ready ideas.
Only one problem, in this forum who "decide" what's ok or not...
2006-12-04 11:12:54
[respect mode] If you listen very carefully you can hear me cheering and applauding for all of you
2006-12-04 19:10:20
2006-12-04 20:33:48
joomla 101 - read this
http://www.builderau.com.au/strategy/projectmanagement/soa/Open_source_projects_require_reality_check/0,339028292,320269139,00.htm
2006-12-04 21:07:24
Excellent post - even if it causes 1 person to help out on the forums to leave others to do other work it will be worth it.
Either way - its always good to vent out frustration.
2006-12-05 07:28:35
As Amy said, Joomla! is so wonderful and you guys are so wonderful and the forum is so wonderful that I just cannot put into words but I will try because it is so wonderful.
I found Joomla! and it made my life so much better. As a friend of mine once said, "Dude, get a life" and I was like "Huh". But I thought hey, maybe I should do something and then while surfing the net with a long board I came upon a big wave, one of the biggest I had ever seen. The Joomla! wave...... and I rode that wave... man it was a glorious ride. I loved it so much that I could not stop trying to catch that wave and you know how I keep catching that wave, huh, do you know? I help out on the forums man, that is how. Every time I help someone I am riding the perfect wave... bliss.
But lets not forget all the people that make this great thing happen for without them this would be but a husk of a shell in the palm of some guys hand as he walks through a field of wheat. It takes a field of corn to make a case of microwavable popcorn and that is nothing to sneeze at.
You too can feel the bliss I feel just by helping out. Of course you don't have to help out as good as I do or make posts as long and as detailed as I do. You don't have to go on and on and on and on and on and on and go off topic from time to time to time to time either. You could just help people with simple, straight to the point answers to their questions. It might not be as good to read and people might not notice you as much as when you post really long answers to questions that touch on topics not even mentioned in the question but that's ok.
If I could save time in a bottle I would save every minute with Joomla!
But lets not forget that I have helped out because you must recognize that I have helped and I have contributed and I do good for the community. You must recognize my contributions and glorify me properly and this I do say so respectfully. I know there are many people that help and contribute but I deserve some greater recognition because my posts are very long. Some people only post one liners or short links to answers already posted. I on the other hand give detailed responses and try and boost the morale of every poster that I reply to. Also, I go into great detail about things that don't really pertain to the topic at hand which adds flavor to the forum. I know taking threads off topic are not allowed but, hey, sometimes a guy has to do what a guy has to do to keep things flowing.
We as a community need to gather together to form a more cohesive forum where all people can love each other and help each other and not make so many commercial components, what's up with that. If it were not for Brad's wonderful thougtfullness and integrity throughout this communities growing pains we might not be here today. I like to think of Brad as the big toe of our foot, for if it were not for Brad we might just fall over.
Giving to Joomla! has made me so happy that I want to do nothing else but Joomla! I think I will change my name to Joomla! and you guys can help me find a last name. I will start a poll to decide what my last name will be and it can't be something like Smith or Jones, something catchy would be nice.
After all the hard work and may hours that I have put into Joomla! I hope that you all can realize how important it is and that you should help out in any way that you can. Just say Joomla! to someone you meet or make up a Joomla! song and post it on YouTube.
Another thought I had was to gather all the core members in one place and give them all a big hug. Now wouldn't that be nice.
To sum it all up, a great man once said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." and dang it Joomla! aint't broke. We just need to hang together and keep on trucking and make this dang CMS the best dang CMS there ever was, if there was a Joomla! draft I would sign up. There was one?
So you see that by this long post that I am someone who is important and that I matter. Please remeber that and don't forget so that I get all the respect that I deserve.
Open Source for life, player.
2006-12-06 22:38:13
http://cmsreport.com/node/536
2006-12-07 18:15:02