So I am a bit new to Linux but I am really enjoying tinkering around on it. By day I work as a physicist/engineer but I am looking for a new hobby. I would like to, if possible, start working on some open source projects. I am new so I would have to start out with simple projects and build my way up. I could use more practice on the terminal but where do I go and what do I do if I want to really start getting into the open source aspect of Linux?
I am sure there are people that work on this all the time that frequent this forum. There must be some people that develop in their spare time.
Are there any people here that are collaborating on large projects in their spare time?
On 01/06/2011 10:36 PM, caleb782734 wrote:
>
> So I am a bit new to Linux but I am really enjoying tinkering around on
> it. By day I work as a physicist/engineer but I am looking for a new
> hobby. I would like to, if possible, start working on some open source
> projects. I am new so I would have to start out with simple projects
> and build my way up. I could use more practice on the terminal but
> where do I go and what do I do if I want to really start getting into
> the open source aspect of Linux?
>
> I am sure there are people that work on this all the time that frequent
> this forum. There must be some people that develop in their spare
> time.
>
> Are there any people here that are collaborating on large projects in
> their spare time?
There are not too many developers that hang around these forums; however, I am
one of them. I retired from a research job in solid-state
physics/crystallography/mineralogy 11 years ago. From a user of Linux, I got
interested in wireless networking with Broadcom devices and started helping
debug the bcm43xx driver in its earliest versions. When that driver split into
b43 and b43legacy, I was the one that ported the old code for legacy devices to
the new MAC layer. That was in 2006 and I’ve gone on from there.
My suggestion is that you pick an area that interests you and join the mailing
list for that project. The main thing will be to improve your C skills, or C++
is you pick a user code project. The other thing to do is to look over the
reviews for a given code contribution so that you understand how the code can be
improved.
Awesome! Haha, I knew I wasn’t the only physics person here. I started in condensed matter/ thin films/ and right now I am in photovoltaics.
I will have to start rummaging around to see what I am interested in for starters. The first one I will look at is Octave’s mailing list. Not that I want to get into that software but just to see what a mailing list looks like, etc.
If I can find something where I can use my physics background plus start coding and learn more about Linux/Unix etc. That might very well be heaven for me. Thanks again.
Agreed. The topics are endless and people differ all over. Find what you
love, offer to help, take off from there. Welcome to the community. To
get an idea behind some of the FOSS mentality read “The Cathedral and the
Bazaar” (Google for it… all online, good stuff).
Good luck.
On 01/06/2011 09:56 PM, Larry Finger wrote:
> On 01/06/2011 10:36 PM, caleb782734 wrote:
>>
>> So I am a bit new to Linux but I am really enjoying tinkering around on
>> it. By day I work as a physicist/engineer but I am looking for a new
>> hobby. I would like to, if possible, start working on some open source
>> projects. I am new so I would have to start out with simple projects
>> and build my way up. I could use more practice on the terminal but
>> where do I go and what do I do if I want to really start getting into
>> the open source aspect of Linux?
>>
>> I am sure there are people that work on this all the time that frequent
>> this forum. There must be some people that develop in their spare
>> time.
>>
>> Are there any people here that are collaborating on large projects in
>> their spare time?
>
> There are not too many developers that hang around these forums; however, I am
> one of them. I retired from a research job in solid-state
> physics/crystallography/mineralogy 11 years ago. From a user of Linux, I got
> interested in wireless networking with Broadcom devices and started helping
> debug the bcm43xx driver in its earliest versions. When that driver split into
> b43 and b43legacy, I was the one that ported the old code for legacy devices to
> the new MAC layer. That was in 2006 and I’ve gone on from there.
>
> My suggestion is that you pick an area that interests you and join the mailing
> list for that project. The main thing will be to improve your C skills, or C++
> is you pick a user code project. The other thing to do is to look over the
> reviews for a given code contribution so that you understand how the code can be
> improved.
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OK, thanks for the information and direction. I will get a copy of Cathedral and the Bazaar and start looking it over. I am also going through some of the stuff on Google Code University. This seems to be a great starting place for me.
Slowly, but surely I will master this sh!t. I am happy to be part of the community!
