Need An Open Source Programmer Or Two (Beginners Welcome)

Over the past few months, I’ve been working with Rediviva Magazine on a special (somewhat secret) community project.  We’re getting closer to a possible launch and I’d like to get some more people involved so I thought I’d put the word out there to see whether there are any local programmers interested in working on it with me. Feel free to pass this around.

Overview

Ideally, I’d like to build a small team of programmers who are interested in building an Open Source Software web application that can hopefully become something bigger than what we at Rediviva want to start with. It’d be ideal if a couple high school hot shots are around who want to work up their resumes for later development jobs, eventually becoming a Project Manager on this one.

Bottom Line

1) This is not a money making opportunity, full stop.

Like most Open Source Software projects, this is is geared to the person who is a programmer because they really love to program; because they love making really cool stuff for the mortals. At best, we’ll be able to buy you lunch during code sprints. If we run into a hot shot high school hacker or two, we can definitely work out some sort of “Web Development Internship” credit, which might be useful to you.

2) You will be working as part of a team.

Sorry, but if you are the “my way or the whine-way” coder, or one who does great things sitting in his basement but can’t talk to a normal human, I can’t use you. I’ll take personality over skill any day of the week, because I can teach someone the skills they don’t have.

Speaking of good team players, a note to the girls: Female coders rock, you know you do. You communicate and work as a team by default- rather than force. Rediviva is run by 3 Women, with one more new on staff. I’m the token male. If there are some women out there who want to code, you are most welcome.

3) This isn’t “work.”

We’re not talking “a job,” we’re talking about “a project.” It’s Open Source Software, so I’m expecting you’ll be working on it in your spare time and during code sprints- not 8 hours/day (unless you want to). The Open Source coders out there are familiar with this, still, it’s been a question so I’ll state it outright.

The Details… Or Hints Thereof

Okay, if you’re still reading, you’re definitely an Open Source coder. So what are we doing? Well, I can’t give too many details,¹ but here are the things you need to be able to do or able to learn:

1. Programming: If it’s not obvious, you need to be a programmer. We’ll be using Python, PHP and Java, so knowledge of those languages would be great, but if you’re a programmer in any two other languages, you can probably learn what we need fast enough.
2. Web Development: We’re programming for the web, and creating an application that’s easily deployed by anyone. Here’s what we’re using:
   1. WordPress Custom Programming (PHP): We’ll be modifying a WordPress theme for Rediviva and eventually creating a Plugin.
   2. CodeIgniter (PHP): We’re developing a web app using this framework to start with.²
   3. Google App Engine (Python or Java): We’ll be building the web app in this eventually, so anyone can easily deploy and use it for free.
   4. Google Data API (PHP): Were working mostly with the Calendar API currently.
      
   5. Google Wave API (Python or Java): You’ll get a developer preview invitation to Google Wave if you don’t have access already. Go watch the developer preview to see what Wave can do. Oh, and request access to the Wave Developer Sandbox now- it takes a while.
3. PivotalTracker: It’s an Agile project management tool that we’ll be using to organize our development. It’s free, so if you don’t have an account, we’ll just set up one when we start and you can learn to use it on the fly.You don’t need to know all of this, or any of it for that matter, you just have to be interested in learning how to- and able to learn how. Any programmer can pick up the details of a framework, this list is just here so you know what you’ll be picking up.
4. Github: Source control is hosted at Github, so get a free account if you don’t already have one. Git’s pretty easy to use, and if you haven’t, it’s a good opportunity to learn.

By the way, I’d much rather program that have flame wars, so arguments about why these tools suck and other/completely different tools are the greatest thing ever will fall on deaf ears.³

What’s Next?

Interested in playing along, or at least learning more about the project? Contact me (John) via any method you see fit, the best being email or Twitter links at the top of the page. We’ll set up a meeting around Hood River or somewhere else in The Gorge and talk a bit. That way I can give you more info on what we’re trying to accomplish and see whether it’d be a good fit to work on it together.

Let’s get coding, yo.

1. And the good coders will be able to figure out a lot of details by seeing this anyway [↩]
2. Don’t bother flaming that Cake is better. I don’t really care. [↩]
3. Yes, I know there are other tools. Yes, I know there may be better tools. But honestly, tools are tools– and all are, for the most part, just as good as others. Choice of tools is basically a matter of opinion, despite the flame wars. These are what I started using when building this project, so this is what we’re going for. Not trying to be mean, just hate spending time on “what to use and why” when that could be spent building something useful. [↩]

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