Want to develop application for linux

[esafwan]

hi,
I have been coding for last 4-5 years, but all for windows. I have no experience in programing as a team. Now after learning about the opensource spirit i'm extremely interested to do some opensource project.

But I have no idea, where to started. How do i code and host it in some site(like sourceforge) so all can help? for example if I'm doing a project in gambas, how do i make use of things like cvs(i have no idea, heard of it) and all?

[GNU-Fan]

Hi,

I see two distinct ways to get experience.
a) Join an already existing project.
You would choose a project that interests you and which you have some experience in using already. The first step would be to find out where the developers meet and if the project is still actively maintained. Nearly every project has a homepage, which should be the first place to visit. Most developers communicate over mailing lists. This is what you need to find. Read the archives of the mailing lists to find out what the current state of the project is and where the current priorities are. Download the source code to see what the programming language of the program is and whether you think you can understand it. You will find that the language of choice for most Free Software projects are C or C++. Java and Python gaining some ground lately.

Next, think about how you could help the project. It may surprise you that most projects aren't really short of programmers. Instead what is often lacking is documentation, artwork, bugtesting.
So if you think the manual is missing an important chapter, write one. If you find a bug, single it out and write a short summary about it. When you send it to the authors, you already have contributed.

This is how I got started anyway. Small contributions to projects I like. An applet here, a tutorial there...

b) If you want to start with your own project, that's fine as well.
As your "homebase", you would either rent your own homepage or sign in on a hosting platform, like Savannah. Both choices have advantages and downsides.

If you rent your own homepage, you have the final say over everything that goes online. There is no one (except government maybe) who will put restrictions concerning your project. You can sell your software, put advertisements on the page, you name it. The downside is that you have to pay more or less money for it (may be cheap), and that you have more work with doing technical maintenance. (setting up database, version control software etc.)

If you choose to sign on a hosting platform, like Welcome [Savannah] that will be free of cost to you. You will get a working infrastructure (mailing list, webspace, bug tracker, SVN) set up for you. So you don't have to worry about that.
On the other hand's side, there will be some requirements on your project. On Savannah, you are expected to send in an archive of the current state of your project's sourcecode. It will be checked if it has the correct license text and whether it can run on a Free Software operating system (preferably GNU/Linux). So they wouldn't host Windows only software, for example.

EDIT:
By the way, if you already know a software project you would like to contribute to but are unsure about how to approach it, just post the name of the project. We will then be able to give more specific advice.

[esafwan]

Thanx for the reply....

I was thinking of starting my own project finding some nice concept. But my problem is that i hav no experience collaborating with others. I have never hosted a project source code online and don't have ever used any version control system. How do i work on a project hosted online? So that all interested can contribute? Where do i get started?

I hope that clears my current position!

[oz]

You can use places like the following to develop and store your work:

Google Code

SourceForge.net: Find and Develop Open Source Software