Getting Help the Free Software (and Open Source) Way - What You Should Know Before You Get Started (
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Before I start ranting and raving about where you
ought to go,
I feel obligated to cover some important points when it comes to
gathering
information through live sources. Reliable, fast, and friendly as they
might
be, they don't always turn a blind eye towards people who don't follow
the
rules, spoken or not. Just keep the following guidelines in mind when
asking
for help:
- Keep a good attitude. No one likes a
loud-mouth know-it-all, so ask nicely and thank people for their
answers.
- Be willing to do some of your own
foot-work and learn. Give a man a fish; you feed him for a day. Teach
him how to fish; you feed him for a lifetime.
- Be willing to give answers as well as
ask for them. Be willing also to give more relevant information on your
topic when it is requested of you.
Unlike web pages, which don't care whether you're a
jerk or
not, chat channels, e-mail lists, and newsgroups require some amount of
social
finesse in order to get the information you need quickly and
effectively. This
is especially true in the world of Open Source and Free Software. Like
a search
engine, to get the best results you have to be able to play by the
rules and to
know how to ask a question. The better you know the rules, the faster
and more
accurate results you are likely to receive. Before you go off into the
world of
Free Software and Open Source development, however, make sure you
understand
what you're getting yourself into. Sometimes there's more to keep in
mind that
just getting your project done.
The following are some sources I highly recommend
you check
out now, before you need to start your search for technical knowledge
in the
Open Source and Free Software communities:
The brainchild of Richard
M.
Stallman (commonly known as RMS), the Free Software Foundation (FSF) is
an
organization set up on the premise that the practice of Copyright,
unlike in
the paper-and-ink publishing industry, is not particularly appropriate
for the
digital software industry. In 1984, RMS began creating the GNU OS (GNU
is Not
UNIX Operating System), seven years before Torvalds created the Linux
kernel.
Out of the development of the GNU tools came much software, including
the
category killer Emacs. A category killer, as Eric Raymond explains in
his work,
The Cathedral and the Bazaar, is a piece of software so good at
what it
does that it has no competition because no one feels the need to
compete with
it. Stallman and the FSF are also to be credited for the creation of
the
General Public License (GPL), also known as Copyleft.
Note that Free Software
is not the
same thing as Open Source. Open Source Software, like Free Software,
espouses
the principles of creating open, high quality, powerful software. The
FSF
claims that unlike Free Software, however, Open Source shuns the ideas
of
freedom, community, and principle which are at the foundation of Free
Software.
Agreeing with the goals and principles of the FSF is not necessary;
knowing
what those goals and principles are should be.
This monumental work by
Eric S. Raymond (ESR) explains the
methodology and philosophy behind OSS.
This paper, first presented at Linux Kongress in May of 1997, uses the
story of
ESR's creation of Fetchmail to describe how he figured Open Source
development
should work. In it, he explains his realization of how amazingly
effective peer
reviews and feedback loops are within the Open Source model. His ideas
can be
summarized in the following quote: “Release early. Release often. And
listen to
your customers.”
From their website, “the
Open
Source Initiative is a non profit corporation dedicated to managing and
promoting the Open Source Definition for the good of the community...”
Containing everything from a list and explanation of various OSI
certified Open
Source software licenses to the infamous Halloween Papers, this web
page is
essential to helping anyone build and argument for open source in all
relevant
aspects, including technical, philosophical, and business.
Simply put, The Jargon
File is the
most comprehensive guide to hacker-talk ever assembled, period. Even
the most
seasoned programmer will from time to time run into phrases that he/she
doesn't
readily recognize. Because of this, ESR's Jargon File is a necessary
tool for
anyone serious about information gathering on the Net.
With that out of the way, it's time to get started.
After all,
if you're planning to do any sort of Open Source project management, or
if you
simply want to look for answers to a current conundrum, you'll need to
learn
how to dig for information quickly, right?
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