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Pomario
Asked: 2012-02-08 07:04:00 +0800 CST

How to give back to the OSS community without coding? [duplicate]

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Possible Duplicate:
How can I contribute to Ubuntu?

I have been using Open Source software for a few months and loving it. Something is dawning on me, a feeling of wanting to give back. Though, I do not know how to do it, as I do not have money to donate or time to code. Are there alternative ways I can do to help the OSS projects I learned to use and love?

community oss

2 Answers

  1. You can look up for get togethers and meetings of various Opensource projects and help by volunteering and/or hosting or starting a club in your city...

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  2. Best Answer

    As you compare free software with proprietary products, you will notice the differences in "the packaging". As you discover the gaps, you might find particular areas where your strenghts might fit in ...
    - give installation advice to you peers
    - help friends/people to migrate from closed source products to free software aequivalents
    - provide ongoing support to end users
    - help your environment to understand the value and philosophy of free software ...
    - ... or make them understand the drawbacks of closed source
    - hold speeches in front of people likely sharing your values
    - judge 'end user experience' of projects and provide feedback to their community
    - you might assist in documentation work. Or help moderating mailing lists / forums / wikis
    - help creating appealing artwork (icons, user interface, ...)
    - help testing new code
    - translate - user interface, documentation - collect and share success stories
    - collect reference users/companies
    - donate: machines, webspace, pizzas, beer, money, ...
    - join events, engage yourself as expert at exposition booths
    - join other events as noted above, share your ideas, learn from others, enjoy meeting with people who share your point of view
    - do marketing, spread the word
    - observe what's going on, join online discussions, comment other's blogs
    - send thank you letter to a project / a community / a developer / a contributor you estimate - recognize the value of free software, free knowledge, open standards, open data for society and economics
    - talking about ubuntu, you might press CDs or prepare bootable USB Sticks for your 'audience'
    - (continue as you like ...)

    Note: some of the deliverables mentioned are services. You are free to charge your clients for services. You should! ... in order to finance your contributions towards the projects and communities.

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