contributing to projects

As  work  gathers momentum  we  need  to  start contributing  back  to
projects. Do remember to send back patches of your work to upstream.

Contrary to  general perception,  we do not  need to geniuses  to have
out patches accepted. Here are some guidelines:-

1. Follow the coding styles.   Different projects might have different
   coding  styles. (indenting,  naming conventions,  commenting rules,
   etc). Remember to follow them. This is the first requirement.

2. Use the correct syntax. Uh. No,  I am not speaking of code. In your
   communication to  other members  of the projects,  it helps  if you
   use the words as ordinarily unerstood by others.

   example:-  `string' vs.  message.  A  message in  a .po  file  is a
 	     `string' while  writing code. But all messages  in C code
 	     are  not extracted  to .po  files. (ummm  ... not  a very
 	     good example though)

3. Remember,  you   are  being  watched  literally   by  thousands  of
   people. Even on lists with  few members. And they continue to watch
   your work even after you leave the project. Remember that lists are
   archived for  ever (if  the server goes  down, people  keep private
   archives and  reconstruct the archives).  Be honest about  what you
   know and  what you don't.  Any dishonesty, any foul  mouthing, will
   haunt you for rest of your life.

4. Know  your  limitations.   Admit   your  limitations.   Do  not  be
   authorative unless  you are sure, or the project leader.   (But if
   you are  the project  leader, and you  have to use  your authority,
   there some  problem with  *you*. And  if you do  *not* have  to use
   your authority, there is some problem with the *project*. (grin).

5. Share.  You are tall  because you  are standing  on shoulders  of a
   giant.  Remember  that this  is a community.  If you  share, others
   will share  with you. Do not  forget that you are  in the community
   and able to work on it in the first place, because someobdy else is
   sharing their work with you.
 
6. The  `giant' above is  the community.   If you  ignore it,  it does
   *not*  ignore you  - it  will  consume you.  Large corporates  have
   learned it  the hard  way. Do  you want a  `special class'  all for
   yourselves? 

7. Above  applies even if  you are  not working  on the  GNU Malayalam
   project. It applies even if you are working on non-free projects.

   If you dunno, here is is a  reminder - you are able to code for the
   non-free  OS'es coz  they have  allowed  you to,  by releasing  the
   internals, but mostly coz. others have reverse engineered them.
   
-- 
Mahesh T. Pai <<>>  http://paivakil.port5.com