Developer related

[Jason Tackaberry]

On Mon, 2004-02-02 at 09:57, jeffrin_jose at rajagiritech.ac.in wrote:
> 	Do you know the procedure to become a developer ?

People are replying to your question in humour and without any real
answers because there is no procedure to become an official Fedora
developer (except, as people mentioned, possibly getting a job at Red
Hat).

The Fedora project is not unlike most other OSS projects.  Your status
as a developer is based on your reputation, and little else.  So, if
you're asking about a procedure to become a developer, it might look
like this:

     1. Lurk on the project mailing lists for a few weeks to assess the
        tone of the list, observe the key developers and coordinators of
        the project, and practiced list etiquette (this varies from list
        to list).
     2. Start putting your name out by answering questions on the list. 
        It's especially important that you put research behind your
        posts to the list.  If you come across as clueless, your
        reputation will be immediately tarnished.
     3. See what areas of the project need development.  Start off with
        small, low impact areas, such as documentation or small bug
        fixes.  Or, if relevant, you might want to scratch your own itch
        with a certain feature, but make sure you keep the scope of
        impact to the project as low as possible.
     4. Read all relevant documentation on contributing to the project
        and follow it closely.  For example, some projects may detail
        the process of submitting patches.  Deviate from that process
        and not only might you be flamed, but future contributions will
        be seen in a biased way.
     5. Once you've established a name for yourself in the community,
        you might consider volunteering for larger responsibilities that
        few people like to do, such as webmaster, release coordinator,
        documentation grammar nazi, etc.  What's available depends on
        the project.
     6. With a good name and reputation, your opinions will weigh much
        more in discussions.  This is important, and is key in being
        recognized in any OSS project.

If you want to get involved in Fedora, read and follow all the docs at
http://fedora.redhat.com/participate/.

Cheers,
Jason.

-- 
Jason Tackaberry  ::  tack at auc.ca  :: 705-949-2301 x330 
Academic Computing Support Specialist
Information Technology Services
Algoma University College  ::  www.auc.ca