FOSSMeet 2016 @ NIT Calicut - Getting Started Contributing to Mozilla
FOSSMeet is an annual event at National Institute of Technology, Calicut for promoting Free and Open Source Software.
This is the notes from my session titled “Getting Started Contributing to Mozilla”.
We aren’t paid to work in Mozilla. Then why do we still contribute to Mozilla?
Because of Mozilla’s mission. Our mission is to promote openness, innovation & opportunity on the Web.
It is easier to understand Mozilla’s mission if we look at the Internet as a large public resource. We have built everything conceivable on top of the Internet - communication, social media, e-commerce, banking, ticket booking, education, grocery shopping, food delivery, what you can imagine, you can build. Being such a powerful and useful public resource, there are multiple predators for the Internet. The Internet gets polluted in many ways. It gets attacked by many.
Internet Pollution
I call it Internet pollution when something is bad for the Internet.
- Large websites full of flash videos, scrolling images, yet inaccessible or useless text on it is a kind of pollution for me.
- Websites that work only when proprietary extensions are installed on a browser, or those which work only in one particular browser.
- Companies trying to monopolize Internet like Airtel, Facebook is polluting the Internet.
Mozilla protects the Internet from this pollution.
We keep the Internet a place where things can happen, where you and I can create a website today and make it usable today, where everyone is equal, a place of our dreams.
Mozilla Manifesto
At Mozilla we believe in a set of principles and values. Read the mozilla manifesto.
If you agree with our principles, you are a Mozillian!
Contribute
There are a hundred ways you can contribute to Mozilla. I’ll outline the most important and impactful ways to do so.
Technical
- Code for Firefox
- Desktop
- Android
- iOS
- Work with out automation team (ateam)
- Develop add-ons for Firefox
- Learn rust, write libraries
- Use Firefox OS for IoT hardware
- Test beta versions
- A lot more projects
Non-technical
- Documentation - for example, Mozilla Developer Network needs technical as well as language review.
- Localization - translate Firefox into your language
- User support - help others online
- Advocacy - Campus campaign on encryption, privacy, accessibility, net neutrality, etc.
- Mozilla Learning Network - Form mozilla clubs, organize events, teach people how to wield the web.
- Mozilla Science lab - Making research collaborative, accessible, and usable.
Please form a Firefox Club in your college
Communication Channels
We have a lot of communication channels in Mozilla. Please join the chat at these very important places:
- Our discourse
- Interesting mailing lists - careful, there are a lot of lists here and many are super active while some are hyper-inactive
- IRC
- There are some channels on Telegram too, which you can contact me to get added to.
Tools
There are two important tools you need to get acquainted with
More links
- mozilla.org/contribute - sign up here and that’s all you need to do
- whatcanidoformozilla - find out what you can do
- bugsahoy - find bugs to work on (there’s a special search feature to find easy bugs)
- mozillians - sign up for a Mozillian account and be a Mozillian
You can always reach out to me at mozillians.org/u/asdofindia