I have been passionate about Free Software for a long time now. My contributions have always revolved around helping people make amazing things happen and realize what they are really capable of. I’ve shown many people that small niche that just fits them perfectly and seen them grow from there and make a difference.
Along the way I’ve always come accross two problems:
- “I can’t do X (usually programming), how could I ever be useful to a project”
- “This is so overwhelming, I don’t even know where to start.”
I’ve done a lot of things to overcome this but it wasn’t ever enough somehow. Today I am at FOSDEM presenting a book, that will be another step towards fixing these problems. Today I am releasing Open Advice.
Open Advice is the result of the collaboration of more than 50 people from all across Free Software. It is a collection of short essays about key things the authors wished they had known when they started contributing to Free Software. It’ll give a headstart to everyone who wants to contribute. It’ll also be useful for existing contributors who want to know a bit more about other projects and areas of contribution.
The book is available as a paperback and free PDF and is licensed under CC-BY-SA.
What are you waiting for? Download the PDF version today or order a printed version.
Additional goodies: The LaTeX source is available and a bug tracker exists as well.
A year ago I started working on this project and today it is reality. If you’re at FOSDEM I’m sure you can see me bouncing around with joy 😀
