[libvirt] Fwd: Start contributing with Libvirt (Finding a mentor or helpful tips)

[Eric Blake]

On 03/31/2014 10:00 AM, Julio Faracco wrote:
> Hi everybody!
> 
> I sent an e-mail to Daniel asking about contributing to the libvirt
> community for free.
> So, I copied the e-mail to the libvirt mailing list as Daniel suggested me.
> If anyone can help me I'd be pleased.

Welcome to the community.

I'd suggest starting off by reading http://libvirt.org/hacking.html and
http://libvirt.org/governance.html to get more of a feel for what
contributions involve.

Among other things, we prefer working in the open (keep the list in the
loop), which is why Daniel was right to redirect your 1-on-1 email back
to the list instead of answering you outright.

And if something didn't make sense, point it out - you aren't the only
new person, so we'd like to fix it to make it easier for the next reader!

> 
> - Can I fix a random open bug?

Sure.  There's plenty of bugs out there, but it may be easiest to start
with one that you can personally reproduce.

> - How to understand which bug can be easier to solve?

Feel free to ask on the list for some beginner project ideas.  I
personally find it helpful to try documentation patches first - as a
newcomer, your perspective is quite valuable in comparison to some of us
that overlook things "because they've always been that way"; plus,
documenting things can help you learn what the code is doing.

> - How to follow the conversation of the mailing list? Sometimes I feel so
> lost.

Unfortunately, that's going to be true of any high-volume list (it only
gets worse as you move on to larger projects like the kernel).

> 
> I was looking for a mentor (if you know someone who could help me) or a
> person who can help me to follow the right way to start it.
> Thanks very much.

I can't personally commit to time as a mentor, based on other
assignments I have, but in general if you ask on the list, someone will
try to respond (and if you go more than 48 hours without a response, we
don't mind a ping to kick us into action).  The #virt IRC channel on
OFTC is also a good resource, particularly for real-time questions.

-- 
Eric Blake   eblake redhat com    +1-919-301-3266
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

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