Başarılı bir katkıcı nasıl olunur

Bu belge, Fedora Projesi’ne katkıda bulunmakla ilgilenen kişilere yöneliktir. Fedora Projesi’nde öğrenciler, profesyoneller ve hobiciler; bir araya gelerek yazılım, pazarlama materyalleri, sanat eserleri, belgeler vb. üretirler. Hepimiz bir noktada yeni gönüllüler olarak başladık. Aşağıdaki maddeler, bir takıma katılmanızda size yardımcı olma yönünde hazırlanmıştır. Bu maddeler bizim sizden, sizin de bizden ne bekleyeceğinizi bilmenizde faydalı olur.

Fedora’ya başarılı bir katkıda bulunmaktan keyif alacağınızı mı düşünüyorsunuz? Harika, hoş geldiniz! İşte dikkate almanız gereken bazı noktalar. Özgür yazılım projesine katılan herkes, kalmak için en iyi niyetle katılır. Birkaç kişi düzenli katkıda bulunanlar olarak kalır, daha azı proje içinde lider olur, diğerleri ise ilgisini kaybeder. Kalanlarla ayrılanlar arasındaki en büyük fark “bağlılık ve zaman”dır.

Bir taahhüt, biraz zaman ayırmayı gerektirir. Yaptığınız işi gerçekten seveceğinize inanıyorsanız, zaman ayırmayı düşünün. Zaman taahhüdü haftada sadece 4 saattir. Bazı gönüllüler haftada 15-30 saatlerini bu işe ayırıyor. Günlük işinizi sürdürürken bu kadar zaman ayırmak, zor bir zaman yönetimi becerisi gerektirir. Bir gönüllü olarak siz, günde bir saatten az olsa da haftada 2-4 saatinizi bu işe ayırabilir misiniz diye kendinize sormalısınız. Çoğu insan için haftada dört saat, bir günün tüm öğleden sonrasını kaplar. Bu, önemli bir zaman dilimidir.

Gönüllü olmak birçok açıdan büyük ödüller getirir: En öne çıkan ikisi, bir kişiyi Fedora ile tanıştırmada başarılı olmanız ve kendi egonuzdur; üçüncü bir fayda ise işinizle ilgilidir.

Geçim sağlamakla gönüllülük arasında karşılıklı bir yara söz konusudur. Birçok kişi, bu şekilde kendilerine bir "pratik yapma" ortamı sağlayarak becerilerinin arşa çıktığını görecekler. Bu gönüllülük, patronla çalışanı yararlandırır. Patronunuzla oturup çalışırken katkıda bulunmak için izin istemeye değer, Cuma öğleninde birkaç saat için bile. Evliyseniz, ailenizin bu zaman ayırmada size olanak tanıdığından emin olun. Gönüllülüğünüz ailenize, şirketinize ve size yarar sağlamalıdır. Ailenize, işinize ve size olan yararını açıklayın. Aileniz, sosyal yaşantınız için önemli kişilerdir (eş, dost, büyükler ve diğerleri).

Eğer iş yeriniz kabul etmezse, boş vaktinizde gönüllülük yapmanız gerekir. Aileniz size arka çıkabilir. Gönüllülük, çok haz veren bir şeydir.

The single biggest mistake most new contributors make is showing up "just wanting to contribute." It’s important to take the time to observe the team (refer to the section below) and see how their work aligns with your own skills and personality. Know that getting work to do on day one is very rare, and those who are highly skilled in a specific technology will still have to take the time to get to know an environment before access is granted.

For example, if you’re a database expert it is very unlikely you’ll be given access to databases (where personal info, passwords, etc are stored) within your first several weeks of volunteering. If you’re looking to become an ambassador, it is unlikely you’ll get marketing materials shipped to you in your first week. This may seem unfortunate, but it’s necessary to keep the project members working well together. The same can be said about any major changes, like a complete redesign of a system or a new look and feel for a website. Don’t get discouraged. Show up as often as you can, and get to know the team.

It is important to get to know the organization and teams you are looking to work with before you try to join them. Learn what they do and how they do it, and try to get to know the people involved. It is extremely unlikely you will be able to actually contribute from day one. In organizations with hundreds or thousands of people working together, understanding how things work is critical.

Don’t be shy about asking questions and getting to know people. Plan to spend several days or even weeks attending meetings, emailing on mailing lists and hanging out on IRC before you get to do any actual work. Offer suggestions on topics being discussed, and share any experiences (good or bad) you’ve had that is relevant to the discussion.

Part of observing and making constructive suggestions may require withholding judgment. When making suggestions, don’t assume you come with all of the answers or that the Fedora Project is ''doing it all wrong.'' There is a good chance we can improve the way we are doing things, however most of our current practices were developed over long periods of time after lengthy discussion. Your criticism may be better received once you have established yourself in the community and are perceived as understanding our culture.

It’s your job to decide what you want to work on. Pick something that’s important to you and something you have passion for. You’ll see this advice repeated several times in this document: Don’t just show up looking to have work assigned to you. Get to know the teams and procedures they have in place. Ask questions and really get to know what you’re going to be working on before trying to work on it.

When picking something to work on, don’t be the sole person to take on a huge task as your first contribution. Picking a task that’s too large significantly raises the chances of failure. Also don’t pick several things on several teams to work on. Start small, picking at most one or two things, and grow from there. The key is slow, steady, and sustainable growth. Don’t join with the immediate goal of becoming the next leader of the project. Start small.

After you’ve decided what you’re looking to do and what team you are looking to do it with, it’s time to send an introduction to the list. When sending an introduction (usually by mail list), include the following information:

If any of the above questions are not clearly answered, don’t send the email yet. You’re not ready. Remember, be specific about what type of work you’re looking to do. Saying "Whatever needs to get done" isn’t helping anyone. Saying "I’d like to help document system A," "I’d like to translate software for my native language," or "I noticed this webapp is particularly slow sometimes and I’d like to help fix that" is perfect.

This step is both incredibly difficult and important. Finding a proper sponsor will increase your chances of being a successful contributor significantly. Sometimes it’s absolutely required. A sponsor will help with training, introductions and teaching new contributors how a team works.

Most teams have mailing lists. Email the list, say you’re looking for a sponsor, and explain what you are wanting to do. If you haven’t heard back in a few days, reply saying that you are still looking. ''Keep doing this.'' Most sponsors are people that have been in the project for a long time, and are often very busy.

They don’t mean to be rude and don’t want to send the impression they don’t want new contributors. It’s just that at the moment, some people will assume other people will take care of you and so for the moment, no one does. This is a common problem — in real life as well as in online communities — and a difficult one to fix. But sticking to it and continuing to ask for help without being annoying will show that you are serious and ready to contribute. Don’t send this kind of message more than once every couple of days, but be positive, and persistent if needed.

Once you’ve got something to work on, it’s time to actually do work. The first several tasks you will work on will likely be small or maybe mundane. Do them consistently, conscientiously and well. This will raise the level of trust you have from the other team members.

As with other volunteer organizations, there are high turnover rates in the free software universe. Training volunteers is time consuming, especially for more complex tasks, and requires a commitment from currently busy volunteers. Spending days or weeks training someone only for them to vanish can be disheartening for mentors and sponsors. By giving out small tasks that have been hanging around, a sponsor can help you take small but vital steps, and learn whether or not the work you’re going to be doing is really for you.

If you have access to a repository, system, or content, consider yourself a partial owner. This doesn’t mean you should immediately re-design everything. Remember that other owners have time and effort invested in the current material as well. It does mean, though, that you should take pride in the work you are doing. If you see something not quite right, do research on it and notify the list. Seek work out, keep yourself busy and help others.

If you’ve found you’ve over-committed or decide volunteering isn’t for you, that’s OK. You don’t need to be embarrassed that you can’t contribute further. Contributors will not make you feel bad about it either. Realize that lots of contributors come and go every day. Being busy with your day job or not having enough free time is a perfectly valid reason for not being able to contribute. It’s even possible that you might not feel a good fit with the team or organization. You’re entitled to offer help as a volunteer how you want and when you want.

First and foremost, though, don’t just vanish. When a contributor or potential contributor agrees to do work, can’t follow through for a valid reason, and vanishes, the team may not know the work can be reassigned. In some cases, people in the team may even worry about the contributor’s health or well being.

When you’ve decided it’s time for you to go or take a break, let your sponsor or the list know and let them know what you were working on. Having people think you are working on something when you aren’t slows the team down, and ultimately doesn’t benefit you or the team.