Público alvo deste documento
Este documento é direcionado a pessoas interessadas em contribuir com o Projeto Fedora. No Projeto Fedora, estudantes, profissionais e demais usuários de computador se unem para produzir software, materiais de marketing, arte, documentação, etc. Nós todos começamos como novos voluntários em algum momento. Os itens abaixo foram concebidos para ajudá-lo através do processo de ser admitido em um time. Serve para deixá-lo saber o que esperamos de você e o que você pode esperar de nós.
Coisas que você deve saber antes de começar
Então você acha que iria gostar de ser um contribuidor do Fedora bem sucedido. Maravilhoso!! Você é muito bem vindo. Aqui estão alguns pensamentos para levar em consideração. Todo mundo que entra em um projeto de software livre, o faz com as melhores intenções de permanecer. Alguns permanecem o suficiente para se tornarem contribuidores regulares, e alguns poucos ainda se tornam líderes dentro do projeto, enquanto que outros perdem interesse. A maior diferença entre os que permanecem e os que abandonam é "comprometimento e tempo".
Time commitment
A commitment requires reserving some time. If you strongly believe you will enjoy what you are doing, consider your dedication of time. Time commitment is as little as 4 hours per week. Some volunteers may spend 15-30 hours per week contributing. Doing that level of commitment while holding down a proper day job is a difficult time management skill. As a volunteer, you should ask yourself whether you can devote 2-4 hours per week, even though it's less than an hour per day. Four hours a week for most people is an entire afternoon one day. That's a significant chunk of time.
Get permission from work and family
Volunteering has great rewards in many ways. The two most prominent ones are your success at introducing a person to Fedora, another is your own ego. A third benefit is with your job.
There is a mutually beneficial relationship between working for a living and volunteering. Many contributors will find their skill sets at work increase dramatically just by having access to and learning from another environment. This volunteering benefits employer and worker. It is completely worthwhile to sit down with your employer and ask for permission to contribute during work hours, even if it's only a couple of hours on a Friday afternoon. If you are married, make sure your family agrees to your being busy for this time commitment. Your volunteering must be a win-win-win for the company, your family and you. Explain the benefits to you, to the business, and your family. Family is the important people in your social life. (spouse, friends, parents, others).
If work says no, then you will have to volunteer in your own time. Your family may be enthusiastic to help you. Volunteering is very rewarding.
Joining
The single biggest mistake most new contributors make is showing up "just wanting to contribute." It's important to take the time to observe the team (refer to the section below) and see how their work aligns with your own skills and personality. Know that getting work to do on day one is very rare, and those who are highly skilled in a specific technology will still have to take the time to get to know an environment before access is granted.
For example, if you're a database expert it is very unlikely you'll be given access to databases (where personal info, passwords, etc are stored) within your first several weeks of volunteering. If you're looking to become an ambassador, it is unlikely you'll get marketing materials shipped to you in your first week. This may seem unfortunate, but it's necessary to keep the project members working well together. The same can be said about any major changes, like a complete redesign of a system or a new look and feel for a website. Don't get discouraged. Show up as often as you can, and get to know the team.
Observation
It is important to get to know the organization and teams you are looking to work with before you try to join them. Learn what they do and how they do it, and try to get to know the people involved. It is extremely unlikely you will be able to actually contribute from day one. In organizations with hundreds or thousands of people working together, understanding how things work is critical.
Don't be shy about asking questions and getting to know people. Plan to spend several days or even weeks attending meetings, emailing on mailing lists and hanging out on IRC before you get to do any actual work. Offer suggestions on topics being discussed, and share any experiences (good or bad) you've had that is relevant to the discussion.
Part of observing and making constructive suggestions may require withholding judgment. When making suggestions, don't assume you come with all of the answers or that the Fedora Project is doing it all wrong. There is a good chance we can improve the way we are doing things, however most of our current practices were developed over long periods of time after lengthy discussion. Your criticism may be better received once you have established yourself in the community and are perceived as understanding our culture.
Escolha no que você quer trabalhar
É sua tarefa decidir no que você quer trabalhar. Escolha algo que é importante para você e que você realmente se importe. Você irá ver esse conselho repetido várias e várias vezes nesse documento: Não vá simplesmente aparecer esperando trabalho designado para você. Enturme-se e aprenda os procedimentos e como o time funciona. Faça perguntas e entenda realmente o que você irá trabalhar antes de realmente botar a mão na massa.
Don't jump into the deep end
When picking something to work on, don't be the sole person to take on a huge task as your first contribution. Picking a task that's too large significantly raises the chances of failure. Also don't pick several things on several teams to work on. Start small, picking at most one or two things, and grow from there. The key is slow, steady, and sustainable growth. Don't join with the immediate goal of becoming the next leader of the project. Start small.
Primeiro contato
Após você ter decidido o que você está procurando fazer e em qual time vocẽ pretende fazê-lo, é hora de se apresentar à lista. Quando for enviar sua apresentação (geralmente para uma lista de e-mail), inclua as informações a seguir:
- Nome
- Fuso horário / País
- Habilidades básicas e experiências
- Por que você está se juntando a esse time
- O que você gostaria de fazer (seja específico)
- Quanto tempo você pode contribuir (geralmente horas por semana)
Se alguma das questões acima não tiverem respostas claras, ainda não envie o e-mail. Você não está pronto. Lembre-se, seja específico sobre que tipo de tarefa você gostaria de fazer. Dizer "Qualquer coisa que precise ser feito" não é uma boa resposta. Respostas como "Eu gostaria de ajudar com a documentação do sistema A", "Eu gostaria de traduzir software para minha língua nativa", ou "Eu notei que esta webapp em alguns momentos é bem lenta e gostaria de ajudar corrigindo isso" são excelentes.
Encontre um mentor ou padrinho
Este passo é não só incrivelmente difícil como também importante. Encontrar o padrinho certo irá aumentar significativamente suas chances de ser um contribuidor bem sucedido. Ás vezes, encontrar um padrinho é totalmente necessário. Um padrinho irá ajudar com treinamento, apresentações e ensinar a novos contribuidores como um time funciona.
A maioria dos times tem listas de e-mail. Envie um e-mail para a lista, diga que você está procurando por um padrinho, e explique o que você quer fazer. Se passaram-se alguns dias e você ainda não obteve uma resposta, envie novamente um e-mail e diga que você ainda está procurando por um padrinho. Continue fazendo isso.. A maior parte dos padrinhos são pessoas que estão no projeto há bastante tempo, e estão frequentemente muito ocupados.
Eles não querem ser rudes e não querem passar a impressão de que não querem novos contribuidores. É só que, na hora, uma pessoa acha que outra vai assumir este compromisso de tomar conta de você e de repente, ninguém assumiu. Este é um problema comum -- tanto na vida real quanto em comunidades online -- e um problema difícil de resolver. Mas não desistindo e continuando por pedir ajuda sem ser irritante vai mostrar que você está falando sério e quer contribuir de verdade. Não envie este tipo de mensagem mais de uma vez a cada punhado de dias, mas seja positivo, e persistente se assim for necessário.
Contribuindo
Once you've got something to work on, it's time to actually do work. The first several tasks you will work on will likely be small or maybe mundane. Do them consistently, conscientiously and well. This will raise the level of trust you have from the other team members.
As with other volunteer organizations, there are high turnover rates in the free software universe. Training volunteers is time consuming, especially for more complex tasks, and requires a commitment from currently busy volunteers. Spending days or weeks training someone only for them to vanish can be disheartening for mentors and sponsors. By giving out small tasks that have been hanging around, a sponsor can help you take small but vital steps, and learn whether or not the work you're going to be doing is really for you.
Procure o que fazer
If you have access to a repository, system, or content, consider yourself a partial owner. This doesn't mean you should immediately re-design everything. Remember that other owners have time and effort invested in the current material as well. It does mean, though, that you should take pride in the work you are doing. If you see something not quite right, do research on it and notify the list. Seek work out, keep yourself busy and help others.
Quitting
If you've found you've over-committed or decide volunteering isn't for you, that's OK. You don't need to be embarrassed that you can't contribute further. Contributors will not make you feel bad about it either. Realize that lots of contributors come and go every day. Being busy with your day job or not having enough free time is a perfectly valid reason for not being able to contribute. It's even possible that you might not feel a good fit with the team or organization. You're entitled to offer help as a volunteer how you want and when you want.
First and foremost, though, don't just vanish. When a contributor or potential contributor agrees to do work, can't follow through for a valid reason, and vanishes, the team may not know the work can be reassigned. In some cases, people in the team may even worry about the contributor's health or well being.
When you've decided it's time for you to go or take a break, let your sponsor or the list know and let them know what you were working on. Having people think you are working on something when you aren't slows the team down, and ultimately doesn't benefit you or the team.