Forge Your Future with Open Source

Set Your Goals

You may know that you want to contribute to free and open source software in some way, but can you put your finger on exactly why you want to do this? The answer is a lot harder than it seems at first. Some people may answer, “to get experience,” or “I believe software should be Free,” or “my teacher/mentor told me it would be a good idea.” While these might be motivations, they’re not goals. These statements are vague and difficult to pin down, therefore, it’s also difficult to tell whether you’ve succeeded in them. Goals must be specific and actionable, otherwise they’re just smoke in the wind.

After reading the past few chapters, you may have some more thoughts about why you want to contribute to free and open source software. ...