New Coder Introduction

From FreekiWiki

hey,

i'm martin, the code monkey at freegeek portland, and this is currently my stock response to interested new coders. there are no project management hours in my daily schedule, so that means i mostly just do the work. does that mean you can't help? no, it just means i won't be able to help you help much, so for you to do any useful coding, you will first need to figure out what to do.

the primary project i'm personally working on these days is the database app used to track volunteer hours and the flow of computer equipment. while we are currently using the application here in pdx, i would not consider it ready for release. if you're looking for a generic starting point, then, try to download and install the code, and tell me what breaks. http://dev.freegeek.org/projects/fgdb.rb/browser/trunk/doc/README_FOR_APP has the instructions on installing everything, and tell me, too, if the documentation is lacking.

(you can't *actually* post bugs to that trac, because it thinks everyone is out to spam it. instead, look it over to see what's currently being worked on, and send issues to the coders email list. once we've met you and seen that you really aren't a spammer, we can set up your trac account.)

if you're not interested in that particular project, i can try to find other useful things to do, but your best bet would be to come down to the building and participate as a regular volunteer for a little while. from there, you can find ways in which our current software is lacking and offer your expertise in solving those problems.

thanks,

- martin, freegeek.pdx code monkey