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5 Ways to Contribute to Open Source Projects Without Coding

nongeeksight.blogspot.com — This article summarizes 5 ways to contribute to OS without coding with an extra. Very good suggestion for those that want to contribute but aren't developers

Who dugg this? Made popular Sep 26, 2006

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  • billyfoxtrot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Actually, he lists SIX ways to contribute.

    1. Contribute quality
    2. Contribute documentation
    3. Contribute support
    4. Contribute money
    5. Contribute publicity
    6. Contribute appreciation
  • billyfoxtrot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14That's listed under the first one, "contribute quality."
  • XVampireX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+147. Contribute Market Share
  • WDot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11If you're one of those folks that helps the family/friends/community with their computer issues a lot, carry around some Open Source software on a flash drive or CD. "Oh, IE let viruses trash your computer? I got Firefox on my thumbdrive right here, after I clean the mess up. What? You can't remember the administrator's password? Watch what I can do if I spin this Knoppix disc!"

    It's not a guarantee that everyone will fall in love with Open Source, or even consider it, but it'll rub off on some people.
  • 8^)Jung, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11"Contribute bandwidth"
    This is as simple as downloading as many open source projects as you can via bit torrent and then continuing to seed until you reach at least a 1:1 share ratio. This can save the people who pay for hosting a ton of money and it is very easy to do. In most cases I find the torrents actually a faster download than via HTTP or FTP with most open source projects these days.
  • podgey22, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11You try starting up a OSS project on your own while still doing your day job and then you can come back and say that. Money is very important to OSS projects.
  • keesj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9How about reading the article?
  • kingo55, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Its amazing how quickly linux is taking off in some places... I've even seen grandmothers using it for their computer tutor lessons!
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8digg should add a new category for open source projects and softwares!
  • i440, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12Number four is probably the most important. If it is practiced in abundance, all the other steps quickly become much more possible
  • bigwyrm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Seeding until you reach 1:1 means that others have downloaded from you exactly how much you have downloaded from them. You're not helping yet. If you want to help that way, just keep seeding until you have to reboot for the next kernel/hardware upgrade.
  • babbling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6No, it is possible to get viruses just by using IE. Visiting a website should not harm your computer, but because of certain exploits in IE, websites *can* harm your computer.
  • dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I agree, carrying lots of OSS on a USB flash drive is VERY useful.
    I've converted a few people to firefox just using PortableFirefox, which running live off a USB drive runs kind of slow. I've also impressed a few people withother diagnostic tools I've got on there, but the one that seems to impress the most people is OpenOffice.org portable. They can't seem to get over the fact that a fully featured office suite can be run from a portable device, let alone with so little space used. (And saving the documents of someone whose windows installation broke using knoppix, or other live cds, even if they don't even consider using it full time, they still usually want a copy for emergencies like that.)
    (I even have a fully featured http(apache)/mysql/php server that I can run from my USB drive, in windows, which can be invaluable when developing)
  • manbearpigm16, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I like the way you think, currently I have uploaded 20 GB of Ubuntu edgy knot 3 via Bittorrent, my hopes is those users along with myself can get the bugs reported.
  • 8^)Jung, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@bigwyrm
    Yes but if you use bit torrent you are not sucking up the bandwidth the developers have to pay for. You are sharing the bandwidth of the comunity which is cheap.
  • bingo1105, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Sure... grandmothers using Linux is a laugh... but I recently traveled to Indonesia and Ubuntu was the de-facto operating system in internet cafes. It's catching on and people are using it in ways that make sense. The fact that it's approachable enough for common people to use it for basic tasks speaks volumes for how far it has really come...
  • pyman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you have a blog or a website why not put a bittorrent link for Ubuntu on it?
    I have.
  • nmaster64, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I saw "maintain a web site" but that didn't trigger as "design a web site". I've never maintained a site for open source guys before, but I have built the initial site before handing it over to them...
  • XVampireX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The more there is market share for linux, the more there is a reason to write an application for linux.
  • MonkeyLord, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I totally second that motion... would be a great category
  • sellars, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm writing reviews for magazines. Nice $$ for me, and more people using open source. Everybody wins!
  • subgeniusd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Why would anyone digg down supporting OSS development with donations? Little freebie grabbing *****,,,
  • mugdecoffee, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Getting a 1:1 ratio would mean that you took bandwidth from one person and gave it to another with you acting as a middle man. If you are planning to seed, try to get a 2:1 or higher ratio such that you contribute a net increase in bandwidth.
  • minorbug, on 10/12/2007, -3/+35. Contribute publicity
    6. Contribute appreciation

    How about that.. its good for OSS, but not for blog publicity? As much adsense-trapping that goes on, theres also some legit blogs.. no sense in short circuiting their traffic.

    Imagine how popular Digg would be if one site (say, Google) refreshed the front page and provided a copy of the stories when Digg was trying to grow?

    No particular bug up the ass today, just kind of annoyed by direct-link comments today.
  • XVampireX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2No,really... It's not all about the money.
  • JQP123, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The fact that it's approachable enough for common people to use it for basic tasks speaks volumes for how far it has really come..."

    A browser still looks like a browser on most any operating system.
  • Mikecol, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1"7. Contribute Market Share"

    How is that different than #5 "Contribute Publicity"?
  • Soccrmastr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This is so old... was posted her eon Digg like 6 months ago. But at least its a refresher for everyone to start contributing again!
  • Burmask, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3give money
    give money
    give money
    give money
    give money
  • driya2000, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I live in Indonesia, and the big reason Ubuntu is catching on in here (especially on internet cafes) because Microsoft Indonesia promises investment if law enforcement cracks down on piracy. Last I heard, they announced a plan for a research facility here.

    Check out home users, all are still using bootleg XPs.
  • Mikecol, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Also under contribute quality.

    Edit: Oh well...
  • HalBSure, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1That's listed under the first one, "contribute quality."
  • slashdotislame, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1what about Quality?
  • nmaster64, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1What about web design?
  • xJVz, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2According to what I saw, he listed them as such:
    1. Contribute quality
    6. Contribute documentation
    8. Contribute support
    5. Contribute money
    8. Contribute publicity
    5. Contribute appreciation

    wtf...? (using Konqueror/Safari)
  • XVampireX, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3Life is not all about money.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2When you come back to Planet Reality, let us know.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -12/+1It is more of a guarantee that you won't be invited to the next family gathering.

    You are there to help fix their computer. Just fix the ***** thing. Leave your ***** OPINIONS out of it. And don't resort to lies if you ever want to be taken seriously again.

    Seriously...if you get virusrs with IE, it is YOUR FAULT. You are too ***** stupid and should not be using a computer then.

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