18:57:32 <decause> #startmeeting PearlHacks2016
18:57:32 <zodbot> Meeting started Sat Apr  2 18:57:32 2016 UTC.  The chair is decause. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot.
18:57:32 <zodbot> Useful Commands: #action #agreed #halp #info #idea #link #topic.
18:57:32 <zodbot> The meeting name has been set to 'pearlhacks2016'
18:57:38 <decause> #chair jflory
18:57:38 <zodbot> Current chairs: decause jflory
18:57:52 <decause> #topic PearlHacks - Website
18:58:26 <decause> #link http://pearlhacks.com/index.html
19:00:21 <decause> #topic PearlHacks - Workshops
19:00:28 <decause> #link http://pearlhacks.com/workshops/index.html
19:00:40 <decause> #info Contributing to Open Source Projects
19:00:40 <decause> Location: Sitterson 014
19:00:46 <decause> If you’re interested in open source and aren’t sure where or how to start -- this is the right workshop for you! We’ll cover: how to find a good open source community; what kinds of contributions can you make (more than code)!; how open source communities work; discussion of women-friendly open source projects; and we’ll even look at a few specific projects (like Gnome and Fedora) and show
19:00:53 <decause> what the path for beginners looks like.
19:01:10 <decause> #info If you’re interested in open source and aren’t sure where or how to start -- this is the right workshop for you! We’ll cover: how to find a good open source community; what kinds of contributions can you make (more than code)!; how open source communities work; discussion of women-friendly open source projects; and we’ll even look at a few specific projects (like Gnome and Fedora) and
19:01:16 <decause> show what the path for beginners looks like.
19:01:38 <decause> #topic PearlHacks - Contributing to Open Source Workshop
19:01:47 <decause> #info Gina Likins is the speaker
19:01:50 <decause> So hi
19:02:18 <decause> for htose of you who were here, you already know how to pronounce my name
19:02:24 <decause> how many of you were at the GitHub workshop
19:02:40 <decause> We're going ot talk about open source communiities
19:02:42 <decause> what they are
19:02:47 <decause> and what it means to be open source beyond a licnese
19:02:50 <decause> how you can find one
19:02:53 <decause> and what you can do when you get there
19:03:06 <decause> we metioned this morning, that Open Source is a class of Software licenses
19:03:11 <decause> it is a hack on the legal system
19:03:20 <decause> and it lets you take, make, hack, and redistribute software
19:03:21 <decause> nifty
19:03:28 <decause> lots of people stop there, and think "that's the end of it"
19:03:35 <decause> open source software is developed by communities
19:03:42 <decause> the best software that you all know and love
19:03:43 <decause> like Firefox
19:03:46 <decause> and WikiPedia
19:03:55 <decause> Fedora
19:03:58 <decause> all the programming langauges
19:04:01 <decause> wordpress
19:04:03 <decause> drupal
19:04:10 <decause> all developed by communities of people
19:04:22 <decause> I could give a whole talk about why people develop open source
19:04:25 <decause> the big reason for you folks
19:04:33 <decause> it makes you much more hirable than your peers
19:04:40 <decause> I've been to career fairs across the country
19:04:45 <decause> 50 of them this year maybe
19:04:51 <decause> we'd often get resumes, the same resumes
19:04:53 <decause> same projects
19:04:55 <decause> same classes
19:04:56 <decause> diff names
19:05:04 <decause> resume after resume, exactly the same pretty much
19:05:19 <decause> when you're a software company, and you're hiring someone, you assume, they know this certain blog of stuff
19:05:25 <decause> and everyone konws that same blog
19:05:31 <decause> and what can you do to differentiate yourself?
19:05:40 <decause> Open Source Projects are a huge leg in the door
19:05:54 <decause> the folks who do it, are actual hackers
19:06:07 <decause> if you have a github account, then companies can see your work
19:06:11 <decause> they can see you worked in teams
19:06:18 <decause> sometimes time-shifted across the planet
19:06:34 <decause> People hack on open source often because it "scratches an itch"
19:06:49 <decause> if you're running a website, and you are using a CMS, and you really wish that it had an extension
19:06:53 <decause> you can WRITE IT!
19:07:09 <decause> let's assume then, that you can look for an open source project?
19:07:11 <decause> where might you look?
19:07:17 <decause> A: GitHub!
19:07:21 <decause> YEs!
19:07:27 <decause> Github has a browse feature
19:08:17 <decause> let's say you want to find python related project, related to women?
19:08:24 <decause> this first one, pyladies, is a good one
19:08:27 <decause> I was going ot mention it anyway
19:08:32 <decause> the group is *very* supportive
19:08:57 <decause> python in general is a very supportive community for women
19:09:13 <decause> even the BDFL, Guido Van Rossum, will show up to keynote at conference with a PyLadies tshirt on
19:09:26 <decause> so, here's a python timeline of women in the military
19:09:39 <decause> you could, if you were interested, make a pull request and contribute to it
19:09:44 <decause> I suggest you do one of two thigns:
19:10:05 <decause> 1) Look at the things you use, and if it is Open Source, start there if you find a bug or something that you'd like to fix
19:10:14 <decause> 2) Go to Github, and start poking around
19:10:28 <decause> #topic So you found a project
19:10:39 <decause> not every open source community is as equally welcoming
19:10:54 <decause> there are some communities that I wouldn't point anyone towards...
19:10:58 <decause> but how do you find out:
19:11:02 <decause> is it a helpful community?
19:11:04 <decause> is it growing?
19:11:10 <decause> some of the instructors I work with
19:11:15 <decause> when I'm working full-time with teachers
19:11:22 <decause> they put together this fantastic checklist
19:11:28 <decause> if you are online, if you go to:
19:11:41 <decause> #link http://foss2serve.org
19:11:47 <decause> that will bring you here
19:12:46 <decause> we're going to scroll down to the letter "P" and look at project anatomy activity
19:13:10 <decause> we ask them to pick a community, and evaluate using these guidelines
19:13:41 <decause> #topic How to Read a community
19:13:45 <decause> 1) Look for Leadership
19:14:01 <decause> you don't think of leadership usuall. there is a term: BDFL
19:14:08 <decause> Benevolent Dictator for life
19:14:20 <decause> they are the period at the end of the sentence, who makes the decisions final with help and advice
19:14:29 <decause> the apache software foundation, and other large proejcts, have governing boards
19:14:38 <decause> often, you'll see a tiered responsibility
19:14:54 <decause> with heads for each area of interest, like testing, or marketing
19:18:48 * decause introduces himself
19:18:56 <decause> #topic Specific Projects
19:19:06 <decause> we're going to look at various projects
19:19:13 <decause> one is a big hfoss project
19:19:20 <decause> 2 are Red Hat sponsored projects
19:19:26 <decause> one is just a big community
19:19:33 <decause> and one is a random github project (pyladies, we just found)
19:19:49 <decause> #topic How to Read a Community
19:19:55 <decause> 2) how do they work together?
19:20:06 <decause> pull-requests?
19:20:18 <decause> 3) How do they communicate?
19:20:41 <decause> IRC channels, and mailing lists? Often in 'old-school' ways
19:20:48 <decause> we want to see if there is a road-map
19:23:25 <decause> 3) Where is the code stored?
19:23:32 <decause> 4) How is it packaged?
19:23:44 <decause> 5) Upstream and Downstream communities?
19:24:00 <decause> 6) Version Control? What systems are they using?
19:24:12 <decause> 7) How are they tracking bugs?
19:24:18 <decause> those are thigns we want to look at
19:24:22 <decause> another I would add:
19:24:28 <decause> 8) How do you get started?
19:24:33 <decause> this is crucial, as a beginner
19:24:46 <decause> the first we're going to look at is sahana
19:24:53 <decause> #topic Sahana
19:25:01 <decause> #link http://eden.sahanafoundation.org
19:25:22 <decause> #info Sahana was written for deploying resources during disasters, natural and otherwise
19:25:29 <decause> can anybody figure out where the code is?
19:26:05 <decause> the good news is, they have a contribute section
19:26:08 <decause> that is well broken out
19:26:34 <decause> many of the Humanitarian (HFOSS) projects are good to work with because they tend to be purpose-driven
19:26:38 <decause> and welcoming to newcomers
19:26:55 <decause> if you scroll down, you see a "blueprint" which is like their roadmaps
19:27:01 <decause> check
19:27:07 <decause> they have some bug reporting guidelines, so we can click that link
19:27:08 <decause> check
19:27:20 <decause> they have done something really nice, that a big project sometimes does
19:27:25 <decause> we're not always looking for coders
19:27:28 <decause> we're looking for testers
19:27:32 <decause> QA and bug reporters
19:27:36 <decause> documentation writers
19:27:39 <decause> graphics and design
19:27:46 <decause> you can do just about anything to help with an Open Source project
19:27:55 <decause> how I help on my team
19:28:01 <decause> I started in web development
19:28:10 <decause> and I was in another IRC channel, and heard about htis new website
19:28:24 <decause> I found a broken link, and then I gave all this feedback
19:28:28 <decause> and I didn't realize it
19:28:33 <decause> but it was my first contribution
19:28:41 <decause> all my contributions are in marketing and communications
19:28:47 <decause> basically
19:29:00 <decause> Sahana here has given a fantastic list
19:29:03 <decause> if you wanna do code
19:29:18 <decause> if you wanna do outreach -- getting people involved by going to events and meetings
19:29:32 <decause> if you wanna do qa, and test
19:29:39 <decause> if you wanna do UI/UX
19:29:52 <decause> if they laid them all out, it probably means they are looking for new contributors
19:30:00 <decause> and finally, they've pulled out the easy bugs
19:30:24 <decause> any open source project that goes far as saying "these are easy fix bugs" is very likely welcoming to open source contributors
19:30:31 <decause> overall, what does your gut say?
19:30:46 <decause> Q: does it feel like it would be a good community
19:30:55 <decause> A: yes. It is very well organized, very bright colors.
19:31:14 <decause> gina: are they trying to make it easy for you to contribute? That is probably a project you can take a look at
19:31:18 <decause> here is another
19:31:25 <decause> #topic Project #2
19:31:32 <decause> this is a tip calculator
19:31:36 <decause> look at the readme
19:31:45 <decause> there isn't much here
19:31:49 <decause> there probably isn't a community
19:31:56 <decause> you see what I'm saying
19:32:06 <decause> yes, the code is open source licensed, but there is not community around it
19:32:11 <decause> let's look at mozilla.
19:32:20 <decause> #topic Project 3: Mozilla
19:32:27 <decause> where would I click if i wanted to work on Firefox?
19:32:33 <decause> *gina clicks
19:32:42 <decause> go to mozilla.org, and choose participate
19:33:57 <decause> #link https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/contribute/signup/
19:34:13 <decause> they have it broken out so you can find everything from code, to their twitter
19:34:24 <decause> there are coders who said "if you want to watch me code, you can join a live coding session"
19:34:29 <decause> this is all set up so easily
19:34:38 <decause> granted, they have *fantastic* graphic designers
19:34:53 <decause> the barrier to entry to go from "i'm interested" to "i'm doing it" is very low
19:35:06 <decause> this is a great example of a *humongous* project extending out wide
19:36:08 <decause> #topic Project 4: Ovirt
19:36:16 <decause> where do I go if I want to develop?
19:36:23 <decause> develop or community?
19:36:27 <decause> what are teh differences?
19:36:47 <decause> A: Develop is geared towards non-beginners, community has "get involved" and other "smaller stuff"
19:37:00 <decause> yes, this to me, develop and community isn't clear
19:37:08 <decause> I know what they're getting at
19:37:22 <decause> develop is for the folks who are getting into maintainership and packages
19:37:26 <decause> which they explain right here
19:37:38 <decause> but community, includes developers, and they are non-mutually exclusive
19:37:45 <decause> going back to the develop page
19:37:48 <decause> how do you start?
19:37:52 <decause> anybody got any ideas?
19:38:00 <decause> if you don't that's fine
19:38:15 <decause> A: Development Process?
19:38:20 <decause> gina: that is where I'd start.
19:38:31 <decause> it still to me, doesn't say "step1, step2, step3."
19:38:59 <decause> they have the architecture there
19:39:03 <decause> they have their process mapped out
19:43:45 <decause> #topic Project 5: Fedora
19:43:56 <decause> #link http://getfedora.org
19:44:04 <decause> #link http://whatcanidoforfedora.org
19:44:19 <decause> #link http://fedoraproject.org/easyfix
19:48:17 <decause> #action decause add WCIDFF.org to http://getfedora.org (consult web/design team)
19:48:43 <decause> #action decause add easyfix bugs link to http://getfedora.org
19:48:54 <decause> #topic Project 6: OpenHatch
19:49:05 <decause> they are the "Open Source Welcoming Committee"
19:49:15 <decause> they track projects, and track bugs
19:49:19 <decause> and categorize them
19:49:27 <decause> so you can match what you are interested in
19:49:29 <decause> ...
19:50:10 <decause> *gina deals with slow wifi
19:50:34 <decause> all the bugs/projects on OpenHatch are supposed to have a mentor associated with them
19:51:32 <decause> #topic Gina Thoughts
19:51:47 <decause> whatever real-time medium a project is using, find the one or two people who are consistently helpful
19:51:50 <decause> and nice
19:51:55 <decause> there will always be them there
19:52:01 <decause> they may not be the people who know everything
19:52:05 <decause> but they will know who to ask
19:52:17 <decause> they are the people who acknowledge questions, point to docs
19:52:24 <decause> you know those people, not just in CS, but in Real-life
19:52:31 <decause> the "helpful" person
19:52:37 <decause> if you need something, they have it, or can help you find it
19:52:43 <decause> open source communities have those too
19:52:48 <decause> often not "core contributors"
19:52:50 <decause> find them
19:53:01 <decause> find those helpful people, and reach out to them individually
19:53:26 <decause> and tell them you want to start working the project, and you'd like to know there is someone you can ask questions
19:53:34 <decause> build a personal relationship with somebody
19:53:39 <decause> that somebody will do 2 things:
19:53:49 <decause> 1) Be the person to ask when you try to find out new things
19:53:53 <decause> 2) They'll have your back
19:53:58 <decause> and that is so important
19:54:04 <decause> they'll know you are really interested
19:54:12 <decause> I am slightly dyslexic
19:54:27 <decause> organic chemistry is all about the orientation of molecules, and I wasn't so great at it
19:54:40 <decause> I was a straight A student, but I was getting F's!
19:54:59 <decause> I went to his tutorials every week, and I didn't get much better, but I passed
19:55:12 <decause> and I think it was becuase I was doing everything in my power to improve
19:55:19 <decause> and having an ally is the difference
19:55:21 <decause> I was lucky
19:55:34 <decause> I had allies in Open Source, who said "it's ok, I know what she's trying to do."
19:55:50 <decause> after you do your community investigation, and you find a project ot work with, this is the next step
19:57:51 <decause> 3) Learn how to ask smart questions
19:58:08 <decause> you will win friends and influence people forever if you ask good questions
19:58:26 <decause> "I read this, I tried that, I got this error, what can I do next?"
19:58:56 <decause> if you just say "I don't understand XYZ?" you'll often get an answer like "RTFM"
19:59:07 <decause> #topic Questions Break
19:59:24 <decause> Q: We went over how to evaluate a project that is large? How do you evaluate a small project?
19:59:36 <decause> A: You'll at least have a README. see if you can find the community, and watch it.
19:59:49 <decause> if you just observe, and lurk on the community, you'll get a sense
20:00:00 <decause> of who is helpful, and who is Nice
20:02:48 * decause mentions GitHub pulse and actiivty graphs
20:03:00 <decause> if active in 2 weeks, very good sign
20:03:09 <decause> if active in 2 months, probably alive
20:03:31 <decause> if active in more than a year, probably dead, unless development is done elesewhere
20:03:55 <decause> an RPI student, writing an extension for chrome by himself, but shipping code everyweek, means good things
20:05:38 <decause> Q: So, if all the code is open, then isn't is less secure?
20:05:54 <decause> A: So, "security through obscurity" is not more effectively.
20:06:29 <decause> #info Security Through Obscurity: It didn't work for the deathstar, it didn't work in helmsdeep, and it doesn't work in software.
20:06:44 <decause> A: Gina mentions Karen Sandler's pacemaker
20:07:55 <decause> #info "I am a cyborg lawyere powered by proprietary software" is the name of her talk
20:09:02 <decause> other questions?
20:09:15 <decause> fears? concerns? Dread? Excitement?
20:11:40 <decause> ok
20:11:42 <decause> thanks all
20:11:48 <decause> #topic Resources
20:41:49 <decause> http://gnome.org/outreachy
20:42:00 <decause> #link http://pyladies.org
20:42:21 <decause> #link http://summerofcode.withgoogle.com
20:42:28 <decause> #link http://openhatch.org
20:42:31 <decause> Thanks all!
20:42:34 <decause> #endmeeting