Andrew MacDonald wrote:
> I know C++ (did some OS hacking; network hacking at school last year), I
> know some javascript, but that was a while ago. I've messed around a bit
> in XML doing some work for a company last year, but I can't say it was a
> huge experience. I'm very familiar with HTML - use it often (I'm an old
> fogey who insists on writing HTML by hand :)) I'm mostly interested in
> the Mac side, since I use OSX, so I've been reading the Mac newsgroups too.
>
> I'll check out IRC when I get a chance - never really learned to use
> that before (dunno how hard it is or even any good OSX IRC clients?).
> I'm more interested in working on the backend stuff, but the learning
> curve looks very steep, and I might be interested in moving into some
> frontend stuff just to get my feet wet and see how it all works. Right
> now I'm working on getting my build environment setup... where do you
> recommend I start?
Great!! I'm always thrilled to see more Mac folks getting involved
(definitely a minority in the community of Mozilla developers). The
first thing I'd recommend is getting to know some of the other Mac
developers on the project. Check out the netscape.public.mozilla.mac
newsgroup and maybe introduce yourself there. If you haven't already,
start downloading daily Fizzilla builds
<http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/nightly/latest-trunk/mozilla-macosX-trunk.sit.bin>
(even before you get your build environment set up) and start looking
for problems in the builds that bother you (scratching an itch is one of
the best ways to get started). If you find something that doesn't behave
as you'd expect it check Bugzilla to see if it's reported (it probably
is, if you can't find it feel free to poke me on IRC for help locating
the bug). When you find the bug, or report it if it isn't already
reported <http://www.mozilla.org/quality/bug-writing-guidelines.html>,
let the bug's assignee know (comment in the bug) that you're interested
in helping out and ask for some pointers from that developer about
getting started. Hopefully the assignee will be able to help you get
started. Even before you get a build environment and pull the source you
can read the source in HTML with LXR at
<http://lxr.mozilla.org/seamonkey/> and you can use Bonsai (the "blame"
link at the top of an LXR view of a file) to see who has been working on
that file.
You could also go the rout of looking for bugs to fix in Bugzilla. I'd
start with a query for New, Assigned and Reopened Status, Mac OS X
Operating System, and Enhancement, Trivial and Minor Severity. I would
be glad to help you with any Bugzilla queries if you need it (see IRC
instructions below). That query yields this list of bugs tonight (this
is a static list)
<http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?bugidtype=include&order=bugs.bug_id&bug_id=,73548,73734,74245,74292,75772,75880,76990,78498,78662,84271,84453,86538,86553,87773,90254,90804,91583,91807,92205,92680,92899,94210>
and can be run with this link for up to date info anytime
<http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&op_sys=MacOS+X&bug_severity=minor&bug_severity=trivial&bug_severity=enhancement>
. These are bugs reported against Fizilla and may actually affect other
Operating Systems or Platforms. Most of Mozilla's code is
cross-platform (XP) and so are most of our bugs. It might be that the
bug you decide to work on isn't specific to Mac OS X but if you're not
going the "scratch an itch" rout (which would most likely turn up bugs
that are XP since most of our bugs are) you might as well start with a
smaller list and the OS X reported bugs of low severity is a nice number
(I think it's usually around 30 bugs).
I'm a good resource for all things Bugzilla but I'm not a developer so I
won't be able to actually help you with coding. Some good names to know
and ask help of for Mac specific issues are [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], and [EMAIL PROTECTED] and
for build stuff [EMAIL PROTECTED] (I've probably left off a good name or
two).
If you decide to work on a bug that is not specific to Mac there are
lots of other people depending on the area of the bug. A good place to
start asking questions about fixing a particular bug is with the
Component Assignee
<http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/describecomponents.cgi?product=Browser> and
<http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/describecomponents.cgi?product=MailNews>.
In addition to that there are some especially friendly people in
particular areas. For mail-news issues [EMAIL PROTECTED] and
[EMAIL PROTECTED] are good contacts. For Browser front-end stuff
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], amybe
[EMAIL PROTECTED] and the Mac folks listed above. You might also talk
with [EMAIL PROTECTED] who is a UI design expert and particular to Mac
(he's always got a great list of problems with our UI that desperately
need fixing).
For general Quality Assurance, Testing and Bugzilla information you can
find lots of tips and activities at
<http://www.mozilla.org/quality/help> and if you need any help in this
area or in coding please get on IRC. Your Mozilla build has a simple
IRC client (I recommend going to
<http://www.hacksrus.com/~ginda/chatzilla> to update to the latest
version because the one in the tree is a bit behind) that you can use to
connect to the server irc.mozilla.org and join #mozilla (development
talk) and #mozillazine (qa, testing, advocacy, other general chat). To
connect using Chatzilla just select IRC Chat from the Tasks menu and
then type /attach moznet in the Chatzilla client or click on the link to
moznet that appears in the content pane of the chat client. When it
connects type /join #mozillazine or /join #mozilla (or click on any of
the channel links that appear in the content pane after it connects to
moznet). It will prompt you for a Nick (type something here or you will
join the channel with the nick IRCMonkey). I'm sure that there are IRC
clients for Mac that are more powerful than Chatzilla but I've found
Chatzilla to be completely sufficient.
If you have any further questions please let me know here or in email or
IRC. I'm available pretty much 7 days a week and during weekdays I'm
avilable from about 9am to 8pm (Pacific Daylight Time). Weekends I
usually check mail a couple times and might be on IRC some.
Hope this help some. I'm sure some others can add useful info that I've
left off. (I surely left off the names of some very helpful people who
might chime in [sorry folks] or who you will find as you get to know
people.)
--Asa
