NetBeans Commuity Docs: Are you Contributing?
by Amit
The cornerstone of any successful open source project is it’s community base. The stronger the community of the project, the better and bigger the project is. In fact, the concept of a Community is a central idea in any Open Source Project.
Who is the Community?
Community of any Open Source project is of course headed by the developers themselves. Then, comes the users of the software. These users play a vital role by using the software for their work / development needs. And then we have the Mailing lists where the developers and experienced users are waiting to help the newbie out when she faces problems in getting started with the software.
Giving Back to the Community
A central point is however the concept of giving back to the community. There are various ways in which you could do your bit for the community which produces the excellent softwares that you use. The way in which you contribute back to the Community is of course determined by your Technical skills, your main use of the software or you could have your own way of doing your bit – spread a word, teach others, etc.
- If you are a developer you could try and suggest/implement improvements, extensions to the existing software.
- If you have figured something about the software the hard way you could actually tell the community about your work
- If you are good at teaching people, write documentation, tutorials for the software.
- ..more
NetBeans Communty Docs
The NetBeans Community Docs is a venture which is “For the Community, by the Community“. It is a repository of Community contributed documents related to NetBeans. You can make a direct impact on the quality of the NetBeans community by contributing docs in a number of formats:
- Tutorials. Teach someone how to use your plug-in, or simply show someone how to perform a task using the NetBeans IDE. You can write a whole tutorial, or send us your list of steps and best practices that you discovered, and our writers will turn them into a tutorial. We will even provide you with a tutorial template.
- Flash Demos. Demonstrate how tasks can be performed using the NetBeans IDE. You can make a Flash demo from any existing tutorial, or create a new Flash demo. Look here to see how to create a Flash demo.
- FAQs. Do you have the answers? Add them to the User FAQ wiki page.
- Tips and Tricks. Give advice to other users.
- Translations. Translate existing documentation into your language. Help others to better understand NetBeans. Check out http://translatedfiles.netbeans.org/ for information on translating NetBeans.
- Blogging. Blogging about NetBeans? Just send us the URL and join the community
What do you get in return?
- The satisfaction that you are doing your bit for the community which produces such wonderful softwares. Your writings will reach a wide variety of NetBeans users.
- Chance to get the spotlight in the NetBeans community, Become Famous, Google-able
- And more…
So, what next? Get started with NetBeans 6.0. Download it here
Try it, and share your experiences.
Any queries? Be my guest and mail me at amitsaha.in@gmail.com
See you there at the Wiki!
Links:
Programming and writing about it. 
Yeah, the community and developers need to repay what they have learnt. Knowledge cannot be stored in a warehouse and grown, only the more you contribute, the more will it grow. There are people willing to learn new technologies and a dedicated coder or developer will never say no. Do your bit, contribute and help the sapling grow into a bigger tree. :) Cheers, June
Your words add to my original post.Thanks June!
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You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!