Praseem Banzal wrote: > hi, > > i am new to open source but i would really like to contribute to it. > i would be thankful to you if you could give me some ideas to work on & what > should i know before working on the idea. > > i am a 2nd year student of BITS-pilani i have a good knowledge of JAVA. > > thanks > Hi I am sort of unsure where or what you wish to contribute with. Open Source is not a "single entity" like software companies - so your email left me in doubt whether you by "open source" meant "Debian" or an Open Source java project. This particular mailing list is about packaging java projects/programs for Debian. We mostly work with just compiling java projects and not so much coding of them. If you want to code java, you should consider going "upstream" and find a java project to join and help them (or even start your own). Working with java in Debian: ============================ Assuming you wish to package java projects then it would be a good start to learn how to general debian packaging. You will need to know how a package is built - The only "beginners guide" I know is the "New Maintainers Guide"[1]. There is also the Debian Policy[2], which is harder to read, but more formally defines how packages should be structured. You cannot really avoid meeting the policy, but due to its general nature there are sections of it that (usually) does not apply to java packages (such as rules for shared libraries). We also some have some documentation on java packages (e.g. the java-policy) but sadly some of it is very outdated; I am working on updating some of this. Going upstream: =============== The project you join will (usually) have its own set of rules to follow; so I cannot really give you any specific pointers there. However, even if you go upstream, keep distributions (e.g. Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora) in mind. A distribution is a good way of getting your project out to your users. The easier it is for a distribution to package your project, the more likely they are to do so. More or less each distribution has its own set of rules; so no one expects you to follow each of them down to the letter. Most of them however have a few things in common like: "Packages must be compiled from source." Anyhow - depending on your interest, I can go further into details with it. ~Niels PS: I CC'ed you since I was unsure if you had joined the list or not. [1] http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/ [2] http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/
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