Marion's Weblog

I always hesitate to write about something I don't know much about for fear of looking like a fool. But then I remind myself that although there are lots of people who know a lot more than I do, I've always found that when I swallow my pride and ask what seems like it might be a dumb question there are often at least a few others who wanted to ask the same question.

I've thought a lot about what to write in this blog. One of my goals in life, and by extension in this blog, is to be an interesting person. So what can I write about that is interesting to readers and interesting to me. Obviously everybody finds different things interesting but I think I am going to try turning this around a bit. Instead of talking about what I already know I'll go ahead and ask some of the questions for which I am interested in finding answers.

One subject that has been on my list for some time is Open Source. As a computer science major who hasn't programmed anything in about 15 years I keep thinking that digging into an open source project like Firefox or Roller would be fun. I have always loved a puzzle and figuring out how one of these applications works would definitely be a challenge. I've been browsing but I wonder what the best place is to start.

Comments:

There's always the Open Sourcing of Solaris to consider being a part of.

Alan.

Posted by Alan Hargreaves on November 15, 2004 at 07:29 PM PST #

True, there' s always Open Solaris.

There are also a countless number of other open source (OSS) projects that one could work with or for.

The <strong>really</strong> important question is though: "What will trigger the interest of a potential contributor, draw him into the bowels of the source code and eventually make it fun to be part of the team?"

One good reason that I can think of is the team itself. There's nothing as infuriating or as mind-numbilgly boring as working with a team that makes cooperation difficult or even plainly impossible. On the other hand, working with a good team of smart people can be loads of fun.

Another good reason is the "itch factor". Contributing to a project is far more easy if the results of the contribution are directly visible as advances or improvements in tools that one uses every day (or, at least, very often).

Yet another important reason is the "challenge" level or its close relative: the "new toy factor". Playing with new "toys" (software or hardware), or with projects that seem daunting at first but extremely satisfactory when done, is more challenging and also more fun. Working in a project whose aim, results and 'products' are boring, uninteresting or trivially replaceable by other, more useful tools is a knife that cuts both ways. Most of the time it cuts down the interest level, though.

Finally, one good reason to join a particular OSS project are the "educational opportunities" inherent in the project itself. That is, if learning is interesting not only because it has good results but also as a process.

Most of these reasons apply equally well to all OSS projects (including Open Solaris, I guess).

So, what OSS project should you join? I'm not sure if I can recomment the <em>one, true, absolutely marvellous choise</em>. I think nobody can. It's a decision that you should make, picking an OSS project that satisfies as many as possible from the following criteria:

1. It's fun to work with the team.
2. It implements a useful "tool" for you.
3. It's not something that looks trivial.
4. It advances knowledge of some topic.

Posted by Giorgos Keramidas on November 16, 2004 at 06:05 AM PST #

Giorgos, Thanks for the thoughtful comment. You make some excellent points. And it is inspiring! Marion

Posted by Marion Vermazen on November 22, 2004 at 04:04 PM PST #