# 5 Ways to Contribute to Open Source Projects Without Coding



## shankar_ganesh (Jan 29, 2007)

*



			5 Ways to Contribute to Open Source Projects Without Coding
		
Click to expand...

*


> Maybe you've seen many good Open Source projects that are no longer maintained. One of the many reasons for that may be lack of contribution. In fact, there are many one-man projects out there. Most of any program's users are just that, users, not developers. Nevertheless, average users still can contribute to Open Source programs to make them better.
> 
> I made a search for ways to contribute before writing this and I didn't find much. However, I found two very good articles: "How to Contribute to Open Source Without Coding" and "HOWTO Pay for Free Software". These articles explain how to contribute to Open Source. I summarize the information in this post, with a little info added by me.
> *Contribute quality:* help to make a better project, better looking and with new features
> ...




SOURCE
*www.nongeeksight.blogspot.com/2006/09/5-ways-to-contribute-to-open-source.html


----------



## praka123 (Jan 30, 2007)

good infi,thambii


----------



## kumarmohit (Jan 30, 2007)

*7. Click on their google adsense ads*

In this way you make financial contribution without actually paying.


----------



## phreak0ut (Jan 30, 2007)

Nice info there. Doing my part


----------



## koolbluez (Jan 30, 2007)

Donate money or display their ads wherever u can...
I do the latter...
I luv freeware... but they lag behind because of lesser financial help.


----------



## desertwind (Jan 30, 2007)

koolbluez said:
			
		

> I luv freeware...



it's free software(or OSS), not freeware.


----------



## firewall (Jan 30, 2007)

well well well.. did i miss the best way ?????

folks... please use them for all of your jobs at least .....that is the best way to contribute ...


----------



## koolbluez (Jan 30, 2007)

desertwind said:
			
		

> it's free software(or OSS), not freeware.


What I meant is FREEware... everything free *img116.exs.cx/img116/6469/g5cgrin.gif which includes open-source too.
I didn't mean freeware... it's FREE-ware.


----------



## desertwind (Jan 30, 2007)

koolbluez said:
			
		

> What I meant is FREEware... everything free *img116.exs.cx/img116/6469/g5cgrin.gif which includes open-source too.



Freeware does not include Open Source or free software.

Freeware is a one you get free of cost.

Open Source is a software whose source is available for free, though depends on the license you'll have restrictions on what you can do on source

Free Software is one which offers you absolute freedom. Please not that the price may not be essentially free, even though in 99.99% cases it will be free. You'll be provided the source of the program and gives you to read, study, modify and redistribute the source code.

Please have a look at the following links
*www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html
*www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html


----------



## ilugd (Jan 30, 2007)

how do i go about choose which program to contribute to? Any deserving candidates?


----------



## desertwind (Jan 30, 2007)

@ilugd: there are many candidates. But selection one will depend on your skills, what type of service can you offer.

How about contributing to localization of gnu/linux, so that it can be more popularized in schools?


----------



## shankar_ganesh (Jan 30, 2007)

i help to translate ubuntu to tamil


----------



## ilugd (Jan 30, 2007)

I would rather start small like contributing documentation to softwares which i use. I am going to check out open office right now to see whether it needs documentation since i use it regularly and also once i start documenting (or assisting in it) i will have an additional incentive to learn its innards.


----------



## desertwind (Jan 31, 2007)

For those with coding skills, here's a list of high priority free software projects to contribute

***Free software 3D video drivers

***Develop a free compatible client for Google Earth. (The Google Earth client is non-free specifically in order to impose Digital Restrictions Management.) This project requires reverse engineeering, talk with us for advice before you start.

***Free BIOS

***Gnash (GPL Flash movie player)

***Xiph.org and free Internet protocols. See the project to-do list for more information about how to contribute.

***Add reversible debugging to GDB. Reversible debugging (the ability to "step backwards" through a program) is an obviously powerful tool. GDB does not support it today, but the foundations have been laid, and the GDB maintainers are looking for contributors interested in expanding those foundations.

Source: FSF


Also have a look at Contributing to Open Source Projects HOWTO

For Developers and Non-Developers, Have a look at *Help Wanted* section of Savanna

The current help wanted column says



> *   - 173 Developer
> *   - 6 Project Manager
> *   - 3 Unix Admin
> *   - 44 Doc Writer
> ...


----------

