From: Ammar Ali Date: 2012-06-23T09:05:27+09:00 Subject: [ruby-core:45788] Re: How can I contribute? On 6/23/12 12:19 AM, Clifford Heath wrote: > On 23/06/2012, at 2:39 AM, David Albert wrote: >> Hello ruby-core, >> >> I've been using ruby as my primary language for two years now and I like it quite a lot. I'd like to start contributing back to it, but I don't know where to begin. Does anyone have any pointers as to where I can be helpful? > Don't bother. You can make all the contributions you want, but no-one even responds > when you try to discuss them, or even to offers advice on how to proceed. That is a very negative attitude, and it does not accurately reflect the reality. There are a lot of contributions made everyday, and they do get attention. My experience, minimal as it is, was very positive. It started with a need I had for something that ruby did not support (the Unicode Age property,) so I asked if this addition would be considered. I received a response, from a few people, including the maintainer, that it would, and that a patch would be welcome. I jumped on the opportunity, submitted a patch, and it was accepted. I think the best contributions are the ones that are driven by genuine need, and good understanding of a given problem, not that ones that are driven by the desire to contribute for the sake of contributing. If you have written extensions and gems, then I think that you have already contributed. But it doesn't have to be just code, there are many ways to contribute. You can contribute documentation, or improving the existing documentation. You can contribute by submitting bug reports, or by simply discussing proposed new features or features that strike you as awkward. Even fixing typos is a valuable contribution. It all adds up. In the case of the issue you mentioned, it would be better to ask more targeted questions about things you don't understand than it is to ask generally. As a first step, try to find out if the change was indeed intentional, and if so, why? That answer should help you with the next step. In any event, I didn't want the only answer you get to be "Don't bother"... please do. Anyway you can. I wish my schedule allowed me to, more often. Regards, Ammar