[ale] How Do I Get Involved?

[Vernard Martin]

Marc Ferguson wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a silly LIFE question and hopefully someone with the a similar 
> scenario can help me out.  I'm going to kind of open myself up - so be 
> kind in your responses.
>
> I am a web developer with an extreme love or linux and FOSS.  I have 
> three young kids all under the age of 4 and I'm married.  I want to 
> get involved in our user group and in the linux community.  At some 
> point I plan to learn Python so I can contribute to a project, but I 
> need to figure out how can I get involved with our user group.  I have 
> all the meetings scheduled in Google Calendar, but I haven't been able 
> to pull away from the family to attend one.  I guess at some point 
> I'll have to put my foot down, but I'm kind of a dedicated 
> father/husband so my family's needs trump my own.
Strangely enough, the best way to get involved in a FOSS project is as a 
tester. almost every single project has a nightly build that they need 
tested to see if actually fixes the problems without introducing new 
ones. Finding someone to do testing is very difficult. And you can do 
this without being a programmer type. It just takes an attention to 
detail and some good organizational skills.

As far as learning python and becoming useful as a programmer, the best 
way is to find how to programis to find something that you need your 
self and then try to code it. It gives you more motivation in learning 
how to do something.

hope this helps

Vernard