Re: Introduction to OpenSource

[Shantanu Tushar Jha]

Hi Avinash,

While I'll personally recommend using a Linux-based system, it is never a hard requirement to use a particular OS to work on Open Source software. Lets say for example you want to contribute to Firefox, you can do it from Windows without any problem. Its only when you want to work on something that is largely written for Linux (lets say, KDE or OpenStack) that you need a Linux based system. And even then, not always. Same goes with GSoC, if your project is platform independent, or written for the OS you use, you're absolutely great to go.

Cheers,

On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 9:19 PM, Avinash Narayanan <avi.na...@outlook.com> wrote:

Hi!

I had participated in the BMS-LUG events last year and am

missing them big time this year.

I haven't got myself to use open source operating systems.

I have begun to learn some python though. Is there any chance

that I can contribute to open source from a Windows PC? Also,

by sticking with Windows, how badly hit are my chances with

GSoC, if I have any?

…………

Regards,

Avinash Narayanan

(2nd Year CS in BMS)

--
Shantanu Tushar    (UTC +0530)
http://www.shantanutushar.com

[Santosh vattam]

Hi Avinash,

On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 11:35 AM, Shantanu Tushar Jha <shan...@kde.org> wrote:
>
> Hi Avinash,
>
> While I'll personally recommend using a Linux-based system, it is never a hard requirement to use a particular OS to work on Open Source software. Lets say for example you want to contribute to Firefox, you can do it from Windows without any problem. Its only when you want to work on something that is largely written for Linux (lets say, KDE or OpenStack) that you need a Linux based system. And even then, not always. Same goes with GSoC, if your project is platform independent, or written for the OS you use, you're absolutely great to go.
>
> Cheers,
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 9:19 PM, Avinash Narayanan <avi.na...@outlook.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi!
>> I had participated in the BMS-LUG events last year and am
>> missing them big time this year.
>> I haven't got myself to use open source operating systems.
>> I have begun to learn some python though. Is there any chance
>> that I can contribute to open source from a Windows PC? Also,
>> by sticking with Windows, how badly hit are my chances with
>> GSoC, if I have any?

First of all, it's great to hear that you have started to learn Python. I
can assure you that you are going to enjoy programming a lot more
with Python.

As Mr. Jha put above, it's never a hard requirement to use any particular
OS to contribute to Open source. In fact if you just give the source of
your college assignment problems (although, I would highly recommend
that you not do this unless you want your assignments copied by your
peers), you are already contributing to open source.

However, if you really want to try out open source OSes but are not
sure if you want to invest all the hard drive partitions, then I would
suggest you start off by using VirtualBox or VMWare and install your
favorite open source OS. That way you can check the OS out, see
if you like it, explore and play with it. Once you're comfortable with it,
you can go ahead and install it natively.

Regarding your question about GSoC, I have a bit of advice, please
bear with me, I am in the mood for some free advice right now and
unfortunately you have been trapped.

I would suggest you start contributing to open source projects with

the intention of learning programming, getting the experience of working
on a large project with developers across timezones, the experience
of working with a diverse team that is not co-located. GSoC, although it

seems like a really cool thing to have and of course the money is definitely

substantial, is not a great motivation in the long run. GSoC was started
with the intention of getting people hooked onto open source and not
as the end goal. In fact, most mentoring organizations look for students
who show the promise of continuing contribution to the project. This has
been my experience as well through GSoC as well. Please don't be
discouraged by what I said. There are so many GSoCers here and

almost all of them have gone ahead and mentored students, have been

regular contributors to their respective projects. Hell, some of them have

even been given commit access and have gone on to become the

highest contributors to the projects. In fact, I know of someone who

if I recall correctly, recently completed 2000 commits to his project.

That being said, I think right now is the perfect time for you to start.

Start looking for open source projects that interest you. Go on to their

IRC channels. Talk to people, go to their bug tracking system. Look for

little bugs with low severity/priority. Get your build environment set up

and hack away! In the next 5-6 months you will start understanding the
project well, your contributions will be appreciated. And then, you will

be in good shape to apply for GSoC.

Good luck and happy hacking! :)

[Avinash Narayanan]

My purpose of trying out GSoC us purely to learn some more coding. I don't really care if they pay me or not. It just seems like the best place to learn out there.

.................
Regards
Avinash

---

From: Santosh vattam
Sent: ‎03-‎12-‎2013 10:50 PM
To: bms...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Avinash Narayanan
Subject: Re: [bms-lug] Re: Introduction to OpenSource

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[Santosh vattam]

> My purpose of trying out GSoC us purely to learn some more coding. I don't really care if they pay me or not. It just seems like the best place to learn out there.

Cool! In that case, you have the motivation. You don't even need to wait for GSoC. You can start off whenever you wish to.People are always looking for help, they'll be more than ready to help you get started. :)

[Madhusudan C.S]

Vattam,

Wow, this is a pretty cool write up. I can't help but second it.

Shantanu, Deepak or Vinay,

Can we extract Vattam's post into a sticky note about GSoC or something, like they do it on many forums? Do any of you know how to do it?

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Cheers,
  Madhusudan.C.S