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Nice, what did you do and how much time did it take? I've been hesitating to contribute but it would be great to read a blog post of someone just starting to co

Nice, what did you do and how much time did it take? I've been hesitating to contribute but it would be great to read a blog post of someone just starting to contribute to see what it takes! It might be enough to get over the fear.

ihalip 7y ago
I only did some small fixes for building the kernel with the clang compiler. Probably the most confusing thing when getting started is finding something to work on. There's no real centralized issue tracker/TODO list/ideas list - discussion happens mostly in mailing lists [0][1] for specific topics. If you follow the discussion on YOUR_FAVORITE_TOPIC long enough you should be able to find easy work items, people able to help further, reviewers for your changes etc. In my case specifically, I found the great people at https://clangbuiltlinux.github.io https://clangbuiltlinux.github.io, which is how I got started. [0] http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html [1] https://lore.kernel.org/lists.html https://lore.kernel.org/lists.html
- ndesaulniers 7y ago
  Finding where to start was the precise issue I looked to solve by setting up that issue tracker. And by being patient, leaving low hanging fruit, taking the time to file issues (explain, demonstrate, guide, enable), we've been able to help many people including yourself make their first contributions to Linux and LLVM. I'm proud of you, Ilie!
  - cogman10 7y ago
    Honestly, probably the hardest part of Open source ATM. Contributing to a project is, frankly, super intimidating. Doubly so when it is something as important as the Kernel.
    - ndesaulniers 7y ago
      I agree. Finding where to start/how to help, and fear of jumping in/criticism are biggest barriers to open source contribution. Also, time/family constraints and lack of mentors. Sink or swim!
  - ihalip 7y ago
    Thank you for the help!

ihalip 7y ago

I only did some small fixes for building the kernel with the clang compiler. Probably the most confusing thing when getting started is finding something to work on. There's no real centralized issue tracker/TODO list/ideas list - discussion happens mostly in mailing lists [0][1] for specific topics. If you follow the discussion on YOUR_FAVORITE_TOPIC long enough you should be able to find easy work items, people able to help further, reviewers for your changes etc. In my case specifically, I found the great people at https://clangbuiltlinux.github.io https://clangbuiltlinux.github.io, which is how I got started. [0] http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html [1] https://lore.kernel.org/lists.html https://lore.kernel.org/lists.html

ndesaulniers 7y ago
Finding where to start was the precise issue I looked to solve by setting up that issue tracker. And by being patient, leaving low hanging fruit, taking the time to file issues (explain, demonstrate, guide, enable), we've been able to help many people including yourself make their first contributions to Linux and LLVM. I'm proud of you, Ilie!
- cogman10 7y ago
  Honestly, probably the hardest part of Open source ATM. Contributing to a project is, frankly, super intimidating. Doubly so when it is something as important as the Kernel.
  - ndesaulniers 7y ago
    I agree. Finding where to start/how to help, and fear of jumping in/criticism are biggest barriers to open source contribution. Also, time/family constraints and lack of mentors. Sink or swim!
- ihalip 7y ago
  Thank you for the help!