Welcome to CHAOSS!

CHAOSS is an open source community dedicated to creating software/metrics/programs that measures and maintains the overall health of open source community health. Health in the aspect of community engagement, good code metrics, inclusivity, etc.

Now, as a new member, it can be overwhelming to navigate and sift through all that information -it was for me, so I’m writing this as a guide since the steps helped me out. I’m hoping it helps you and makes your onboarding a little easier.

A few first things to do:

  1. Join the slack channel, that’s the fastest way to join and be a part of the community.

  2. Introduce yourself to the #newcomers channel. Say hi, it’d help others get to know you and point you in the right direction. In case you’re unsure, here’s a format you can use:

    • Name

    • If you’re participating/contributing through an organization mention it here.

    • What you think you’d like to contribute to

    • Whatever other sentiments you’d like to add.

    Example: Hi, my name is Precious Onyewuchi. I’m an outreachy intern contributing to the documentation. It’s super exciting to figure out the value I can get from being a member of this community and how much value I can contribute too.

    "Slack #newcomers channel"

    This is a picture of my own introduction. Some parts of the image were blurred for privacy reasons

  3. As a follow-up for number two (2), if you’re contributing from a program (e.g Outreachy, or GSOC), find the respective channel for your program and join it. It’d be easier to get questions regarding that program answered and you can see other people like you in the same program to interact with and get help from. The channel for GSOC is #gsoc, and the channel for Outreachy is #outreachy, #general is for general questions and #augur is for stuff designated to augur, (e.g Installation (i figured that last part a little later. So, you’re welcome!)

  4. When in these channels, links to what is expected of you would be posted (it’d mostly lead to a Github repo). Read it carefully, and understand what is expected of you. The words in bold are important because as a new person, it’s completely normal to get lost in the community and end up doing what isn’t expected of you (i did it); especially for Outreachy and GSOC participants. Truth is, as much as the project is an interesting one and might make you have a bunch of interests you want to contribute to, your time as a contributor under these programs is limited, so for the duration of the program, you want to at least make sure you do what is expected of you. After the program, you can decide to fully be a contributor.

  5. After understanding the expectations, try your best to do them.

  6. The mentors are available to help you on the slack channels if you have any questions or there is some form of confusion. They might change at program intervals, but they’d definitely be communicated to you on the project description of your program page. Also, if you’re unsure, just ask your question on the Slack channel, someone will definitely give you an answer.

Thank you, i hope this helps and makes your open source journey a little easier and more enjoyable! WELCOME TO CHAOSS!🎉