[gnome-love] Newbie -- Need project and help in getting started

["Roshan Mathews" <roshan gamebox net>]

Dear All,

I need some help getting started into GNOME development. In this 
message I shall try to put in brief accounts of my abilities and 
handicaps and try not to fill it with vague prattle. I have put 
the different parts into sections so that I can keep this request 
short (and despite the length, believe me, I've tried).

I  have read the 'Joining GNOME FAQ' and have decided I'd like to 
'Get Started Developing GNOME Applications'. I already have read 
the 'GNOME Programming Guidelines'(, and well, I also need help 
in writing code like the way it should be written). So here are 
the facts ...

                         Getting Started
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SECTIONS:
 * Who me?
 * Why GNOME?
 * What I can do (experience...)
 * What I cannot do ... other difficulties, (patches to volunteer, not CVS)
 * What I need? (tools, downloads ...)
 * My commitment ... and other things.

WHO ME?
 - My name is Roshan Mathews, aged 20, from Chennai, India.
 - I have done two years of college. No experience in programming 
   any medium or large projects.
 - I know some data structures and algorithms. (classical comp 
   sci)
 - I have no experience but I can learn real fast, so would like 
   to work on non-trivial* projects after a short stint at 
   getting familiar and started. (* I don't mean to slight any 
   project, but I'd like progressively tougher problems to work 
   on, once I have started.)
 
WHY GNOME?
 - It has a large community, which is ordered well, so I thought 
   it would be easier to begin working on a project.
 - I use it, so I will be directly seeing the results of my work. 
   :)

WHAT I CAN DO?
 - Basic C programming, some C++ and am learning Python.
 - Some basic computer science (algorithms and such).
 - can put in the 20 - 30 in a week, which Havoc Pennington said 
   was required.

WHAT I CANNOT (HANDICAPS).
 - cannot connect to the internet through Linux. Modem problems. 
   So I guess I cannot use CVS, hence I'd like a project in I 
   which can submit patches to a maintainer by email.
 - I am obtaining the source code through ftp at 
   ftp://ftp.gnome.org , all the 'base' and 'core' tarballs. (I 
   use RedHat 7.2 and didn't get the GNOME sources) So I hope it 
   will be up-to-date enough.

WHAT I NEED.
 - need help in where work is needed (list of projects)
 - help in getting started with the coding/debugging.
 - need pointers to online resources (preferably, those which can 
   be downloaded and read offline)

COMMITMENT.

I hope to get more involved in the GNOME project eventually, so I 
will complete the tasks I take up.

I would really like it if someone would reply to this post. I 
really don't know any other way in which I can get started except 
this list, so if no one replies I'll be left twiddling my thumbs.

PS: In case there is some other newbie on the list, I have a list 
of getting started pep-talk articles at 

  http://symonds.net/~roshan/articles

Regards,
Roshan
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   _|__|__|__|__| Roshan Mathews _|__|__|__|__|__|_
   __|__|__| http://symonds.net/~roshan _|__|__|__|
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