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What are you doing to help the cause?

Jul 23, 2009  By LJ Staff

The "beer" may be free but it takes more than beer to make a party work. Choose the item that best describes what you're doing to help the open source party, if you do more than one of the items, choose the one that you feel provides the most value.

I write documentation for open source projects.
3% (22 votes)
I write articles or books about open source projects.
7% (43 votes)
I test open source software and file bug reports.
17% (108 votes)
I write code for open source projects.
16% (106 votes)
I donate money to open source projects.
10% (67 votes)
I troll in chat rooms/IRC/newsgroups and answer support questions.
14% (92 votes)
I don't do nuttin', it's free, let some other chumps do it.
5% (35 votes)
I don't do nuttin' eeter, but I at least feel bad about it.
23% (151 votes)
I do more than one of the above but didn't bother to read the introduction which would explain how I should vote in that case.
4% (28 votes)
Total votes: 652
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Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 06:32.

I think the Questions should be broadened: I marked that I write articles, but the truth is really that I proof read. This is a really important task that virtually anyone can do, but it helps to make the documentation more readable.
I do not have programming skills, & not enough skills to write good documentation, but I can clean up others' work.

regards D

More! More!

velska's picture
Submitted by velska (not verified) on Mon, 08/03/2009 - 08:27.

I also talk up FOSS at every turn, and explain why open source OS is safer than security-by obscurity alternatives.

I give support and set up people's systems to use either just applications or full OS. Just sold a customer of sorts, whose Windoze box I have maintained for a while, a cheap backup server running Samba on Linux. When he realized I can do a lot with the clunker he's about to trash, he thought, what the heck, we can always try it.

So yes, slowly but certainly... soon he's ready to try a desktop version.

Oh, yes, and my family is finally accepting my choice of Linux, when I managed to get their own profiles running in a virtualized windows on top of the 64-bit Linux. They may even one day realize, that Firefox isn't that much more dangerous on Linux than on win...

I support linux in more ways than one - its my life now.

Joseph Wojciechowski's picture
Submitted by Joseph Wojciechowski (not verified) on Tue, 07/28/2009 - 18:37.

Yes, I write documentation for open source projects.
Yes (Just started), I write articles or books about open source projects.
Yes, (Beta test Jaunty Jacklope) I test open source software and file bug reports.
Hope to (I am learning Phyton) write code for open source projects.
Love to in the future, to donate money to open source projects or sponsor developers.
Only when I have a problem, I troll in chat rooms/IRC/newsgroups and answer support questions.

About doing nothing:- Open source make your share, even if you think your doing nothing, you are flying the flag, and that is powerful. So even if you think "you don't do nuttin'," you are sending a powerful message to web sites, and other computer users. You send a message of freedom, a message of not supporting pirates.

What else do I do:- Yes, I do more than all the above, I also sell and support linux. I answer questions to whoever wants help, I help them believe there is an alternative to M$ and go out of my way to ensure that linux is something to be proud of.

Even a newbie can help

tom_g's picture
Submitted by tom_g (not verified) on Mon, 07/27/2009 - 10:59.

Even as a newbie I've found that just by posting in forums can help further the cause. Everyone's experience with a distro is going to be different. Bringing that experience to a forum, wiki, or doc - regardless of skill level - will help others or at least add knowledge to the library of your favorite distro.

Yes, it can be a little intimidating to wade in to what many think are deep, expert waters. However, once I took the plunge, I found warm and relatively calm with plenty of friendly swimmers and lifeguards. (OK - enough of the nautical metaphors.)

Hello? Where is the love for

Vincent (guest)'s picture
Submitted by Vincent (guest) (not verified) on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 11:36.

Hello? Where is the love for us translators? (And I write articles and provide support and code and report bugs as well, but hey ;) )

Oh, and I suppose artwork people could also use some respect.

Let's Call that Writing Documentation

Mitch Frazier's picture
Submitted by Mitch Frazier on Mon, 07/27/2009 - 11:52.

los queremos
nós te amamos
vi elsker dig
nous vous aimons
wir lieben dich
sizi seviyorum
chúng tôi yêu bạn
Мы любим вас
우리가 당신들을 사랑
Σ 'αγαπάμε
אנחנו אוהבים אותך
نحن نحبك
私たちはあなたを愛し
我们爱你

And the rest of you too.

Mitch Frazier is an Associate Editor for Linux Journal.

Not enough options

madwaxer's picture
Submitted by madwaxer on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 06:47.

-I routinely install Open source OS alternatives for my friend/family/clients and tell them how they are even better to use on Free OS systems

-I give away free Live OS DVD\CDs after informing and showing them how they can help them work more efficiently

I would love to help...

stubby's picture
Submitted by stubby (not verified) on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 08:07.

... but I still feel like such a noob. I "found" linux about 3 years ago and it wasn't until about a year later that I was comfortable enough with it to use it full time. I'm a senior Math/CompSci undergrad. I have more questions then answers. My knowledge of the system has grown by leaps and bounds in the last two years. I just recently took and aced an "advanced" class in coding C in a Unix environment.

I would absolutely love working on something or helping out in some way but I have no idea what if any project would be at a level that I could understand/help.

Could one of you gurus make a suggestion?

.... I guess then I would have to answer the poll above as:

I don't do nuttin' eeter, but I at least feel bad about it.

You could

mikesd's picture
Submitted by mikesd on Mon, 07/27/2009 - 08:18.

always look at some small programs bug reports and pour through the source and add feature requests or fix bugs.

Remember the small programs can be as important as the big ones like the kernel itself or KDE or things like that.

Or write a program the way you want and release it to the public under GPL.

--
That which does not kill me only postpones the inevitable.

Evangelism?

wespacker's picture
Submitted by wespacker on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 04:16.

Does vague evangelism count? ;-)

"No commercial developer can match the pool of talent the Linux community can bring to bear on a problem." -- Eric S. Raymond

multiple options???/

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 12:48.

dude ... let us select multiple options

Droopy

Mitch Frazier's picture
Submitted by Mitch Frazier on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 12:54.

It's a drupal thing, polls don't work that way.

Mitch Frazier is an Associate Editor for Linux Journal.

The best

G0DSP33DT's picture
Submitted by G0DSP33DT (not verified) on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 11:54.

The best way to help, is taking action.

I help as many users as I can, that way they don´t go back to use the "W" software.

Try to help at least 2 persons a day whit there problems.

only once choice?

chris j's picture
Submitted by chris j (not verified) on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 10:36.

I've:
Written Docs
Tested and filed bug reports
Donated Money
and did user support on mailing lists, in irc, and on forums.

Haven't done any of it recently. I either lost interest in the projects I was working with, or they folded (most folded).