: Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 09:38:44 +0100 (BST) : From: F J Franklin <[EMAIL PROTECTED] : Subject: Re: Newbie volunteer -- need some directions and help
: 1. Although I was very experienced in C, I knew : next to nothing about C++ so AbiWord has been a : huge education for me. I know very rudimentary C++ ... so will to crash through that too ... : 2. GTK+ - talk about jumping in at the deep end. : Why do you want to learn GTK+? Just for AbiWord? : or for some other project? I read that GNOME used GTK+ so I thought that I'd learn it before joining any project, now that I have started it I wouldn't be to happy to let it go half way through. :-| : 3. You seem to have done documentation stuff in : the past. Would you be interested in working on : AbiWord's documentation? What languages do you : speak? Actually I haven't done _any_ stuff before, what made you think that I had? Anyway, I really won't be able to do documentation ... isn't as interesting to _me_ as writing code. I speak English, Hindi and Tamil but can write only English. : I don't think it's possible, really. You are the : only good judge of your abilities. One thought, : however: since you do documentation work, would : you be interested in working on DocBook : import/export? There seems to be a lot of demand : for DocBook support but none of the developers has : had time to do it properly... Sure, I'll look at it. I'll the source by tomorrow, and Alan promised to help me wade through it, so I'll work on this. I have to learn DocBook though. : If you are up for this, I suggest doing it as a : plugin for the 1.0 release - after AbiWord 1.0 is : released the CVS sources will be changing rapidly : and this will be very confusing for everyone. If, : however, you develop plugins for AbiWord 1.0 you : don't need to use CVS at all, just get the source : tar ball for 1.0 and work from there :-) and all : those people who use AbiWord 1.0 will be able to : use the plugin. I'm pulling the 0.99.5 source from sourceforge ... is the 1.0 source totally different or is it built on this?? (ie can I get the 1.0 source but applying a bunch of patches to 0.99.5 or do I have to download another jumbo tarball??) : It's not really a question of "joining" the : project. Just get to know AbiWord, bit by bit, : submit the occasional patch, and once it becomes : clear that you know what you're doing then someone : will give you CVS access etc. Yes. OK. : Regards, Frank Thank you. : ps. If you feel like some topical insanity, hang : out on IRC :-) I don't stay online for very long. Maybe after June when I go back to college. :) : Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 11:21:29 +0200 : From: Andrzej Pruszynski <[EMAIL PROTECTED] : Subject: Re: Newbie volunteer -- need some directions and help : A developer have to be smart enough. There is no way for jump into core : developer group. You have to work step by step. : 1. At first TEST software and register bugs. : 2. READ comments of your bugs. : 3. LEARN how developers solve problems - read code of their patches : 4. if you have your ideas TRY write your patches. : 5. be HAPPY when devolopes DO NOT commit your patches : 6. be PATIENT - some day you won't ask how to help. This will mean that you : are more or less ready to do it. : "To follow the path: : look to the master, : follow the master, : walk with the master, : see through the master, : become the master." : Read also: : http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html Read, noted, and now totally chastised. :) Anyway, sorry about airing the stupid doubts. : Andrzej Pruszynski Thank you, too. Regards, Roshan -- Roshan Mathews <roshan gamebox net <roshmathews yahoo co uk ** http://symonds.net/~roshan **
