Hey there. Do you want to take part in building the JH GitLab open source project and become a contributor, but as a newcomer you have no idea where to start? The truth is, anyone can join the JH GitLab open source project and become a contributor — technical background not required.
When JH GitLab’s SaaS platform first launched, I only came for the fast domestic network speeds — a freeloader at heart. As Becky put it, I walked in merely because there was free food and water here. As I took part in more community activities, I believe you’ll change bit by bit too, and want to get involved. But as a newcomer it seems there’s nowhere to begin, and facing a community full of experts you worry you have nothing to contribute. I understand how you feel, but don’t worry — the JH community is an inclusive big family. If you want to join, there’s always a place for you.
Kinds of Contributions
As a novice, my first worry was not knowing what I could contribute. I don’t know Ruby, I can’t write code. Actually, there’s plenty we can do beyond code contributions. Here are the kinds of contributions you can make.
Code Contributions
Well, this is the classic one, the one programmers want most. But you need to know at least one of these: Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Vue, Haml, RSpec, Go, Shell, Kubernetes. Master any one of them and you can try contributing code. Right now there are ten JH GitLab open source projects to choose from:
- JH GitLab: Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Vue, Haml, RSpec
- GitLab: Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Vue, Haml, RSpec
- GitLab Runner: Go, Shell
- GitLab Omnibus: Ruby, HTML, Shell, CSS
- GitLab Charts: Helm, Kubernetes, Ruby, Shell
- GitLab Development Kit: Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, Shell
- Gitaly: Go, Ruby, Git
- GitLab Pages: Go, Shell
- GitLab UI: JavaScript, Vue, SCSS, Ruby, HTML
- GitLab Shell: Go, Ruby, Shell
Once you’ve picked a project that interests you, fork it under your own account and start digging in — but read the Development Guide in each project first. We have to follow community conventions before our code can be merged into the open source repo. When your changes are done, open a Merge request against the open source repository; if the maintainers review it and everything’s fine, your code lands in the open source repo and gets downloaded and run by developers worldwide. How cool is that!
Documentation Contributions
Reading docs is unavoidable for developers, but JH’s docs have just started out — plenty of content is missing, plus typos and broken links. Frustrating to read, isn’t it? You’re perfectly capable of fixing it! Yes, roll up your sleeves and join the JH GitLab documentation effort.
The code for JH’s docs site, docs.gitlab.cn, lives at: https://jihulab.com/gitlab-cn/gitlab/-/tree/main-jh/jh/doc. It’s basically all Markdown .md files — simple, right. Same process as code contributions: fork it to your own account first, and read the Contribution Guide before starting. We need to follow some writing and terminology conventions — you can handle it!
If you’d rather contribute GitLab localization translation rather than documentation, there’s the Crowdin project: translate.gitlab.com.
Joining Community Activities
Simply taking an active part in community activities is itself a contribution to the community. That includes, but isn’t limited to, answering other users’ questions, finding problems and bugs, sharing and discussing tutorials. Community activity doesn’t show up in the code history, but don’t be discouraged: the JH community elects “community leaders”, and as one you get to organize community activities and put yourself in front of more people!
This very post, for instance, came out of my participation in JH GitLab’s JIHULAB 101 creator camp. Taking part in community interaction is what made this post possible for you to read — which is itself a contribution. So don’t worry that you can’t contribute. You’re more capable than you think!
Spreading the Word About JH GitLab
Maybe you can’t write code or produce content, but you can still spread positive word about JH GitLab, introducing people who love open source communities as much as you do to the JH GitLab community. For example: follow and repost the WeChat official account JH GitLab Developers; follow the JH GitLab Bilibili channel for free learning material; repost JH GitLab community events. The more people take part in community contributions, the richer and more complete the community’s services become — and you benefit indirectly.