The Pragmatic Open Source Contributor

I sometimes have the feeling that salaried programmers shy away from fixing or extending open source code due to some combination of the following: They don’t think it’s part of their job. Their employer doesn’t think it’s part of their job, and/or does not have the necessary legal infrastructure and will. They’ve been frustrated in the past with rejected or ignored patch requests. They are worried about the time committment for the entire process. These are understandable barriers that I would like to break down. More broadly speaking, I have two aims for this guide. First, I hope to encourage fostering the shared knowledge that open source software represents. Especially if you work in larger-scale environments or are early adopters of promising new technologies, you have a great opportunity to spot issues and areas of improvement that can benefit everyone. Second, I aim to provide a playbook for how to successfully do this kind of work and set expectations for what you can ex ... Read full article.