Patterns for engagement in free software projects

Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects are developed in a collaborative manner, by communities of contributors that work on publicly available source code. However, many potential contributors are still daunted by the FLOSS world. The Patterns for Engagement in Free Software Projects present solutions for recurring problems that emerge when prospective contributors are willing to select a FLOSS project to get involved and to contribute with. They are organized around three clusters: (a) Selection Patterns , that help prospective contributors to find suitable projects, (b) Involvement Patterns , that deal with the first steps towards getting familiar and involved with the selected project, and (c) Contribution Patterns , that document best practices for submitting different kinds of contribution to a free software project. The Patterns for Engagement in Free Software Projects catalog is itself a FLOSS project. Its license allows free reuse of the text, as long as the modified versions are distributed under the same license.