Time: an evening a week or hour a day would be a good minimum I think, though it depends on your working style.
Project: have you used any open source projects before? They're a good place to start by joining the mail lists and getting into the projects. Also check out the sourceforge help-wanted section. Hen On Mon, 1 Mar 2004, Ariva Rajaraman wrote: > Speaking of Open Source, if I may ask. I am a Java/J2EE developer wants to > enhance my skills by working on a Open Source project. Where can I start ? > How much of time/day should I be willing to spending on average to be fair > to the project. Please advice. > > Thanks, > Ariva. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of Conrad F. D'Cruz > Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 1:32 PM > To: Research Triangle Java User's Group mailing list. > Subject: Re: [Juglist] Why is volunteering for open source a > badthing?(wasTechEngage III) > > > > > Michael Silverstein wrote: > > > These are two different topics. But anyway, I agree that the opportunity > > to acquire technology for free for the purpose of learning is a very > > clear benefit. > > Actually I was not referring to the acquisition of technology for free or > without paying!! Besides open source ... there are other "unique" and > "innovative" ways of doing that -- most of which are illegal!! > > I was talking about the experience one can get > by contributing to the development of an open source project. > > > As to the first point, it is often the case that when you give something > > away for free you build an expectation in the market that it will always > > be free. The exception is where you build up a dependency, and then > > start charging. Drugs come to mind, "your first hit is free but the next > > one we charge for". Since this is not likely to happen with software > > there is a possibility that over time as more software becomes free or > > very inexpensive it may drive the overall price of software down, as > > well as the price of people who make software, which the exception of > > certan specialty software. > > Hmmm ... Strangely enough the idea of drugs did not even come to my mind!! > > What about demo licenses? NFRs? Most companies give the developer > license away for free. Great for people who want to learn to use > the tools, sharpen their skills and spruce up the resume!! > > Many of us use the free tool as a window into what the vendor has to offer. > There are many tools that I have not become "addicted to" especially if > no paying project used those tools. So while the "first hit" was free, I > did > not pay for the "next hit" of many of the tools ... but know that I can go > back for several "free hits" if I want to -- be it open source or a vendor > NFR tool. > > I know that is the direction the TriJUG SIG will be taking as they > train the members who will be participating in the Java portion > of that free training. Ultimately a fair number of those members > will find paid assignments/projects to work on. Any experience > they garner from working on an open source project will only > help regardless whether it is configuration of the same/different > tools or developing different tools. > > > However, there are alternative models: > > > > Andrew Oliver said: > > > I founded a small company on the basis of my work in open source... > > > Jboss... > > > > Andrew pointed out several valid business models built on selling > > services for software that is provided for free. The cautionary note > > here is that not all free software lends itself to selling services, and > > not all users of software, free or otherwise, are inclined to augment > > that software with services. I personally have been the beneficiary of > > quite a bit of free software, yet I have not yet spent a dime on > > services. I think this is the more common model. > > Andrew identified the need and the areas that would support the model > of ... give away the software for free, but charge for customizing it. > It worked for POI and works good for JBoss too. > > It depends on what the focus of your career is and how you market yourself. > A "solutions architect" can creatively structure revenue generating > offerings > that blend free software with services that solve specific business > problems. > The value added services in these cases have very little to do with > the nitty gritty of customizing a piece of software but in providing > a larger solution that meets a business need. > > > On the other hand a company may do a better job capturing a market with > > free software than they would by charging for it, and the proportion of > > users who are willing to pay for services provides enough revenue to > > make the whole endeavor worthwhile. > > Yes ... and but more often than not a consultant who offers a broader > range of services than mere software customization stands a better chance > of landing a project/contract. > > > The other cautionary note is that when you provide software without > > charge you benefit members of a market who might otherwise have paid you > > or your employer to do the same thing. There may be other indirect > > benefits and it is important to have those clearly identified before > > spending your own finite and valuable resources. > > This is very true and it is up to an individual to recognize their own > assets > and liabilities. Sometimes it comes from painful lesson learned!! > Regardless > it is a personal experience and cannot be taught in a classroom or seminar. > > > If you find a way to sell those people services or are able to be paid > > by a company that does, or somehow receive some other indirect benefit > > then everything works out. If not you should reconsider the arrangement. > > I have run across some web sites that provide "expert answers" for microsoft > > products (mostly configuration issues). I am not sure how > successful they are at getting people to fork over $19.95/month to have > OS configuration issues solved. I think something like that would > probably be a working model for a few open source products/developers but > I am not sure it will be tremendously successful as a business venture. > > > Conrad D'Cruz said: > > > I think there are many problem in the IS/IT field that > > > pre-date the dot com boom and bust!! It is a lot more > > > involved and we cannot pin the "blame" on any one thing!! > > > > I don't think I was trying to say that. Economics is a vastly complex > > field and it�s a good day when you can even get two economists to agree. > > If you were to try to build a mathematical model of the world economy > > the number of variables, if you could even identify them all, would be > > staggering. > > ... and what ultimately works for the economists is a lot of "smoke and > mirrors" :) > and that's why they get paid the big bucks regardless of the state the > economy is in. > I think I am in the wrong line of work ... I can B.S. with the best of them > ... and > can even PhD (pile it higher and deeper). > > > I posed these questions as points to consider and also to suggest that > > free software has changed the equation to the benefit of many and > > possibly the detriment of some. Each of us has our own context within > > the world economy. It behooves us all to understand what that context is > > and whether participating in open source projects on balance benefits us > > as individuals, specifically when contributing on a volunteer basis with > > no clear promise or path to compensation. > > I do not disagree. Then again money may not be the only determining factor > and there may be some latent elements of altruism involved in the equation. > > Who knows? > > As for me ... at this juncture ... I can only say ... [* Java(TM) -- to > satisfy the > requirements of the list to keep the discussion on this list Java based] > > Conrad > > > _______________________________________________ > Juglist mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Juglist mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org > _______________________________________________ Juglist mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org
