Do you have a favorite open-source project? Say you’re busy editing an image with Inkscape or you have a dozen torrents running in Azureus. They’re great, right?

But if you sometimes wish that it were better, there are some simple, creative ways to help out. What’s more, you don’t need mad programming skills (or spare cash to donate) if you want to lend a hand.

The truth is, the care and feeding of an open-source project is just as complicated as the management of a for-profit software business. Open-source projects require good programmers and good ideas, yes, but they also need marketing, documentation, quality assurance, and tech support. If you find a useful or engaging open-source project, you might want to help it keep growing and improving.

So, here I’ve gathered 10 of the simplest, easiest ways to “give back” to your favorite open-source projects — besides the two obvious ways — for a total of twelve.

1. Donate money to the project.
2. Donate your programming talent.
3. Spread the Word It doesn’t take much effort to generate a little buzz. If you find an open-source project that really works for you, take a minute to tell your friends. Blog about it, post a link to it, or IM your friends. Even if you only say “Hey, this looks cool, I’m going to check it out,” you’ll make a difference.
4. Proofread the Documentation When you’re first reading the project’s how-to manual, keep an eye out for any errors or problems in the documentation. One of the biggest problems open-source projects run into is documentation that grows obsolete or out-of-date. There’s nothing worse than a “getting started” guide that turns away new users before the software even has a chance to shine.
5. Submit Suggestions While you’re working with that shiny new open-source program, you may run into an “obvious” need for improvement. Whatever it is, don’t assume that it’s obvious to the developers, or that it’s on the project roadmap. Take a minute to give the development team a quick heads-up, and tell them what works (and what doesn’t) from the user’s perspective.
6. Submit Bug Reports Everyone hates a software glitch, but if no one lets the programmers know about it, it’ll never be fixed. What’s more, the more people who submit bug reports on the same topic, the higher the priority will be to fix it.
7. Certify Your Platform You’ll often see on a project’s homepage that it’s been well-tested on one platform (usually the one the chief developer uses), with a blanket statement that it “should also work elsewhere.” Well, if you try it out on a different platform and it works for you, drop the team a line so they can publicize it. Of course, if it doesn’t work, they should probably know that, too.

Continued… 12 Ways To Jack Up Your Favorite Open-Source Project (Part 2)

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