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diff --git a/posts/2013-06-15-first-foss-contribution.md b/posts/2013-06-15-first-foss-contribution.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32aa752 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/2013-06-15-first-foss-contribution.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +title: My First Real FOSS Contribution +date: 2013-06-15 18:00 +tags: foss, mediagoblin, python, federated, decentralized, wsu +summary: I added a small feature! +--- + +I spend a lot of my free time writing code. I usually work on my own +personal projects that never really go anywhere. So, I decided to take +a detour from my normal hacking routine and contribute to an existing +free software project. My contribution was accepted awhile ago now, +but I wasn’t blogging then so I’m rambling about it now. + +It’s wise to find a project with a low barrier of entry. An active IRC +channel and/or mailing list with people willing to help newcomers is +ideal. I remembered hearing about +[GNU MediaGoblin](http://mediagoblin.org) at LibrePlanet 2012, so I +decided to check things out. MediaGoblin is a media sharing web +application written in Python. Their bug tracker marks tickets that +require little work and don’t require a deep understanding of +MediaGoblin as bitesized’. + +I chose to work on +[this ticket](http://issues.mediagoblin.org/ticket/453) because it +didn’t require any complicated database migrations or knowledge of the +media processing code. I added a new configuration option, +`allow_comments`, and a small amount of code to enforce the setting. + +Eventually, the ticket got reviewed and +[Christopher Webber](http://dustycloud.org) (MediaGoblin’s friendly +project leader) merged it: “Heya. Great branch, this works +perfectly. Merged!” + +It was a very small change, but I was happy to _finally_ have some +actual code of mine in a real free software project. I have a strong +passion for free software and the GNU philosophy, so it’s really great +to participate in the community. My job as a professional software +developer eats up a lot of my time these days, but I hope to find the +time to continue hacking and contributing. |