A talk I gave at Texas Linux Fest 2010 about getting involved with open source. --- Have you ever wanted to get involved with open source but don't know how? Are you struggling finding an open source project to work on? Do you want to get paid for working on open source? Well, this talk is for you then. You'll hear the candid perspective of someone that has been working in the trenches of open source for the past several years, from the good to the bad. In the end, expect to learn about how to get involved with a variety of open source projects and how it can benefit you personally and professionally.

1. Open Source from the Trenches
How to get involved and be successful
Chris Aniszczyk - zx@redhat.com
Principal Software Engineer
http://aniszczyk.org

2. Who the hell am I and why
should you listen to me?

3. Eclipse hacker/evangelist at Red Hat
Involved heavily at Eclipse. From committing to leading
Eclipse Foundation Board of Directors
Hacking on open source for the last several years...
Gentoo Linux, Eclipse, Fedora, etc...
IBM -> Self Employed -> EclipseSource -> Red Hat
I get paid to work on open source software

4. Why are we here?
Well, a student approached
me recently with a
question...

5. “How do I get involved with open source
and get good at it so I can get a job?”

6. At first, I was like...
WTF
What do I know?
He said there’s no practical
“getting started with open
source” guide out there...

7. He wants practical advice...
If I’m giving advice, I’ll do it
the open source way and
share it with the world

8. My advice?
Find your passion.
Contribute to it.
Brand yourself.

9. Find the right open source
project

10. Find open source projects
that are newbie-friendly
Don’t get distracted with
SF.net and other project
hosting sites...

11. Look at Google’s Summer of
Code list of mentoring
organizations...
http://socghop.appspot.com/gsoc/program/accepted_orgs/google/gsoc2010

12. These organizations have
already been vetted and
tend to be more welcoming
to new contributors
Which brings me to my next
point...

13. Mentors, Mentors, Mentors

14. I believe having a mentor is
crucial to your success in
getting involved with open
source...
Without a mentor you’ll
waste precious time...

15. There are a open source
projects out there that have
mentoring programs...
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mentors
http://www.eclipse.org/soc
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU/Mentoring
Take advantage of them!

16. Are you a student?
Do Google’s Summer of
Code* program!
http://code.google.com/soc/
*you get paid to hack on open source, that’s beer money!

17. Contribute to your passion

18. Many open source projects
are meritocracies
In order to get involved, you
have to contribute and build
your repertoire

19. So simply do the work by
finding bugs you can fix
Your mentor can help you
find some low hanging
fruit...

20. Remember, there are many
ways to contribute outside
of code...

21. If you like books,
this can give you
an insight on
how some OSS
projects are ran
http://producingoss.com/

22. Get an ohloh.net account
Track your passions...

23. Brand yourself

24. This may be odd to hear for
developers, but you are a
brand and you should
control your image

25. http://www.switched.com/2007/11/13/lying-male-intern-busted-in-a-dress-on-facebook/
Everyone is watching...

26. http://bhc3.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/how-to-tweet-your-way-out-of-a-job/
Like your peers...
And any future employers...

27. In open source land, things
are done in the open
Be mindful about it
Avoid negativity at all
costs and kill people with
kindness

28. If no one can find you, how
you can expect to be
successful in an
environment that is all
about being open?

29. Get a website & blog
Get on Twitter
Get on GitHub.com
Get on IRC
Get on LinkedIn.com
Share your passion with
the world via conversations

30. In the end, the point is that
you have to understand
you’re a brand and if you
want to help your open
source career, you need to
be findable

31. You should brand yourself
for the career you want,
not the job you currently
have

32. Networking is important
The opposite of networking
is NOT WORKING

33. Networking is one of the
most important things you
can do for yourself
Build a network via
conferences and online
interactions

34. Attend conferences,
tweetups and meetups
There is no better way to
connect to folks than
sharing a frosty beverage in
person

35. Thanks for listening
I hope my advice helps
Questions?
Chris Aniszczyk - zx@redhat.com
http://aniszczyk.org
http://twitter.com/caniszczyk