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Volunteer Programming For Dummies?
Tios writes "I've been studying programming languages (C++, Java, C, Visual Basic) on my own with the self-guided, basic textbooks and tutorials, and I'm starting to get tired of working with examples that are not put into real use. I'm motivated to utilize my programming potential, but I've not had any experience programming in a team environment with lead developers, mentors, or collaborators. If finding a programming job isn't an option, I wonder if I could volunteer for programming in an open-source community. If this is a good idea, how do I start? What resources are out there that could get me oriented in volunteering? What kind of basic projects are out there, with a supportive team/mentor for me to develop, practice, learn, and contribute?"
Here are a few notes I wrote a while ago on the subject:
http://kegel.com/academy/opensource.html
http://kegel.com/wine/sweng/ might also be of some interest.
some projects have so called "junior jobs" - bugs or improvements that are easy enough so that a new contributor can tackle them - for example, http://techbase.kde.org/Contribute/Junior_Jobs
Rich
If you live in a 1st world economy, I wouldn't bother w/ RAC. Most buyers will only pay 3rd world wages to RAC sellers. It's quite frustrating and will probably be a complete waste of your time. The only Americans who make money at the RAC site are the owners.
Hey there, We created Codekindness, http://www.codekindness.org/ a site that links volunteer programmers and other techs with nonprofit organizations. Interestingly, the project itself needs some support, and so if you (or anyone else) who reads this would like to take it over, please contact me (through the contact form on http://www.plml.org./ The site has been successful in the past, but there simply isn't a time to run it now - despite that the need is greater than ever. Want to make a difference? It's an open project! Cheers, --Dave