We're seeing quite a few newcomers come in and ask "what can I code"? They're not clear on what it is the community really does---how we generate all our outputs.
So, we need to keep explaining to them how Fedora is a community that produces a downstream Linux distribution, and so we don't write all the software that we include in our deliverables---rather we take software from upstream developers and make it available to users; and the only software we write is to enable to community to pursue its projects.
Can this, Fedora's place in the FOSS eco system, be documented somewhere? The "project" docs would be the ideal place in my book.
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Staying_close_to_upstream_projects
I am most focused on #67 and getting that figured out right now. But after that, I may have capacity to take on this ticket. I have personal motivations to see this get documented publicly too!
Just another point of view of the same issue. I see (I imagine, I suppose) that there is a lack of newcomers interested in other aspect of the community. For the same reason, maybe. People see a GNU/Linux distribution mainly as a stuff for IT folks. IT folks aka developers and sysadmins.
So a newcomer thinks that coding and sysadmin/sysop skills are needed in order to contribute.
In example:
Persona A: "I want to contribute to development (writing lines of code)". So, "I join the community looking to write code in my favourite programming language." Whoops, in order to write code there are more possibilities upstream.
Persona B: they are not aware that in the community there is room for design skills as well; they think that the Fedora Project is a place for technology experts only, devs, sysadmins and so on. They will never get in touch with the community.
Kind of a "what does fedora actually do" document, with an emphasis on places to get involved?
We have the Fedora Council's Guiding Policy, but it's a little ... abstract, and really more meant for internal guidance rather than as an explanation to new contributors.
Metadata Update from @jflory7: - Issue assigned to jflory7 - Issue priority set to: waiting on assignee - Issue tagged with: type - new docs
I am seeing more reasons and situations where having this information documented is valuable. I will take this as my last major docs contribution in the D&I Advisor role before stepping down in Fedora 34.
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