I want to participate in some FreeBSD project

[Alexander Leidinger]

Quoting Equixen- <equixen at gmail.com> (from Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:05:12 +0530):

> Hello!
> I am a 3rd year B.Tech (Computer Science) student. I want to
> participate in some open source project during my summer vacations.
>
> I thought about going the Google summer of code way but due to limited
> knowledge and examinations during the 1st month of the program
> timeline didn't participate in it. However, I still want to help with
> the FreeBSD projects. I understand that there will be no stipend and
> possibly will not be provided any mentor but I request the FreeBSD
> team to kindly consider me for any of their ongoing project (I might
> help some student selected via Google SoC).

It is unlikely that you can help a GSoC student, they shall not rely  
on the work of other people to be able to finish what they start.

> I'm no programming expert and have only a basic experience in
> languages like C, C++, and various scripting languages. My aim for
> participating in a project with a big organization like The FreeBSD
> foundation is to understand how programming works in real world
> projects and use that knowledge to be an active contributor in the
> open source world.

The programming which is done in companies differs from what is done  
on OSS. Sometimes the OSS way is better (good code quality, good  
software engineering practices, smart people, ...), sometimes the  
company way of doing it is better (if it is a good company).

> Bio: I'm a 3rd year B.Tech (Computer Science) student. I've only basic
> experience in programming languages like C, C++, Scripting languages.
> I've absolutely no experience of working on real projects but I'm a
> fast learner and if given some pointers will try to a valuable
> resource to the project. I know I'll need to learn a lot and that's
> why I'm filling out this application because if I'm not selected this
> year I'll be better prepared for the next year. Additionally, any help
> provided by the FreeBSD team now (even if it's just a link to a book
> I've to read) will make me a better candidate for the future.

There is no specific pointer to things to read, as there is too much  
to read and it depends upon what you are interested in.

> Project Information: I just request to be included in any project
> which is to be started. I'll read about it as much as I can and will
> give a description of it and how I can help with it.

In the OSS world people to not get included (getting invited), they  
more attach themself to something (seeing a warm welcome when  
providing help).

We have the FreeBSD ideas list  
(http://www.freebsd.org/projects/ideas/), the wiki  
(http://wiki.freebsd.org/) and our bug tracker  
(http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr-summary.cgi?category=). I suggest  
to wait until the GSoC students and their corresponding projects are  
announced, and then have a look at the remaining ideas, or to have a  
look at the bug tracker and to try to understand and solve a problem.  
Try to find out what could be interesting for you and what does not  
look too hard for you, and then start to research into the topic. You  
can ask questions on the lists (reading the lists is a good way to get  
an idea how we work together, and it also gives insight into how  
things improve over time), if someone knows an answer to your question  
you will probably get an answer.

Bye,
Alexander.

-- 
Falling in love is a lot like dying.
You never get to do it enough to become good at it.

http://www.Leidinger.net    Alexander @ Leidinger.net: PGP ID = B0063FE7
http://www.FreeBSD.org       netchild @ FreeBSD.org  : PGP ID = 72077137