JT Smith

Andy Lester will give a talk at YAPC::NA 2012 described as:

We all love open source software, but to many it seems you have to be a rock star programmer to contribute to your favorite projects. In reality, most projects are easy to join, if you know where to look.

In this presentation, I’ll deal with the common questions and problems of those looking to help out on projects:

• “I wouldn’t know where to start!”
• “What’s a good project to start on?”
• “How good a programmer do I have to be?” 
• “I’m just a nobody, they won’t be able to use me.”
• “They probably have enough people already.”

You’ll learn about different ways people of all experience levels can pitch in. From coding and documentation to devops and project management to publicity and community, there’s a place for everyone in the open source ecosystem.

If you’ve never had the joy of improving the software you use every day, seeing your work published for the world to see and use, this is the session for you.

[From the YAPC::NA Blog.]