Contribute to an open source software project

I just remembered that before I even added this goal to my list, I donated €5 to C2Doom. That’s an open source port of Doom to Symbian, which means I can play Doom I & II on my phone.

Now I’m always checking the ScummVM forums for the Symbian port, an ingenious piece of software that enables me to play LucasArts adventure classics on my phone. ScummVM is open source, and every time there’s a new build for my phone I’m the first to test it and comment on it.

I’ve also done a bit of work on Wikipedia. Does that count as open source?

Still, I never considered these things to be contributions, since they’re not code. I’m a programmer, and I really feel like I could and should contribute with my programming skills. So until I have, I’ll keep this goal in the “nice try, no cigar” column.

This goal is very much dependent on whether I have the free time to do it. As we all know, open source (usually) doesn’t pay, so I need to sacrifice time when I could have either made money or just slacked off. However, this is one of the few goals that I actually feel motivated to reach. I just love the concept of open source, the boundless sharing of knowledge, ideas and experience.

So anyway, I’m thinking of contributing to an open source dictionary for mobile phones. This way my motivation is two-fold, because I want to get their Japanese-English version to work on my phone.