Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 01:46:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Donald Burr <dburr@POBoxes.com> To: Tim Gerchmez <fewtch@serv.net>, newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: RE: Don't log onto current.freebsd.org... Message-ID: <XFMail.980715014609.dburr@POBoxes.com> In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.19980714215811.00803870@mx.serv.net>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
My secret spy satellite informs me that on 15-Jul-98, Tim Gerchmez wrote: > I wish I was a C/Perl programmer and could help in the development of > FreeBSD... alas, I'm only a newbie dying for the hottest new FreeBSD > improvements and banging my head against the wall... I need a carpenter > to > fix that hole... This goes to EVERYONE, not just Tim. You don't have to be a hotshot programmer to help out with FreeBSD. There are plenty of things that DON'T require programming abilities that FreeBSD still needs a lot of help on. These include: * DOCUMENTATION. We need documentation! Just take a look at the FAQ or the Handbook (*especially* the Handbook) and you'll see a lot of sections that are not the easiest/clearest to read, are missing some parts, or are just plain missing entirely. Plus, IMHO, FreeBSD needs a lot of smaller "HOW-TO" type documents, similar to what the Linux people have, that guide the user through setting up ONE specific thing (e.g. PPP, DNS, et al). If you know how to do the task (ex. setting up PPP), and you know English, that's all you need. (Even if you don't know English, FreeBSD *NEEDS* documentation in other languages too!) Some people say "wow, the documentation is written in TeX or SGML (or some other weirdo format) that I don't know. But, you don't need to nkow how to use SGML, *roff, postscript, or any of the other documentation writing languages out there. You can always write your stuff in plain ASCII text, Microsoft Word, or whatever, and someone else [for example, myself] would be happy to convert it into the appropriate format. * PORTS. FreeBSD could always use more applications in the Ports tree. If ou found a cool program out there, that you managed to install yourself, write a port for it!! It's really not that hard, and the Handbook has an excellent section on how to do one, that basically holds your hand right through the whole process. * ADVOCACY. Plain and simple, FreeBSD is not a household word yet. Linux is much more in that direction than FreeBSD is -- ask a corporation's IS department if they've heard of Linux, they will probably say "yes." We need the word out -- if the company where you work needs a quick Internet solution (e.g. a webserver, mailserver, whatever), go to the IS department and preach FreeBSD. Give them a copy of your CD (this is a GREAT use for older FreeBSD CD's -- if you bought 2.2.6 and you still have 2.2.5 sitting around, hand it over! They don't necessarily need to see the latest and greatest, just for a demo. * QUESTION ANSWERERS. We always need folks that read the mailing lists and can respond to people's questions. This is a great way to show off your knowledge -- if you, after 130 hours of sweating over man pages and config files, FINALLY got ppp working, then show off!! -- find a message like "Help! Can't get ppp set up!" and respond to it! These are just a few ideas right off the top of my head. But it just proves the point that you don't need to be a pointy head in order to help out with The Project. --- Donald Burr <dburr@POBoxes.com> - Ask me for my PGP key | PGP: Your WWW HomePage: http://DonaldBurr.base.org/ ICQ #1347455 | right to Address: P.O. Box 91212, Santa Barbara, CA 93190-1212 | 'Net privacy. Phone: (805) 957-9666 FAX: (800) 492-5954 | USE IT. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FreeBSD - Turning PCs into Workstations - http://www.freebsd.org/ (NOTE: POBoxes.com appears to be working again -- fire away!) To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?XFMail.980715014609.dburr>