Contributing page

[Frijol]

As part of tessel.io redesign we've discussed a better funnel to help people understand (that they can/are encouraged to/how to) contribute to the Tessel Project.

Some thoughts (potentially adaptable onto tessel/project/CONTRIBUTING.md, blog post, other place? as well):

Tessel is made by individual contributors like you.

The Tessel Project is completely open source. It grows and develops through the work of unpaid contributors from many backgrounds, levels of learning, and skillsets. Some contributors have been with the Tessel Project since inventing Tessel, some have grown from strangers into core developers, and some are Tessel users making one-time contributions by fixing typos, filing bug reports, or adding features they need.

Some contributors learned JavaScript by working on the Tessel Project, some are professional firmware developers, some are electrical engineering students, many are professional web developers or developer evangelists. We'd welcome some non-coders, too– there is always more to do with design, documentation, blogging, community management, use case exploration... the list goes on.

All of these types of contributors and contributions are welcome. We value diversity of experience, and we need a lot of different skill sets.

For many contributors, the Tessel Project is their first-ever open source contribution. This makes us very proud: spreading open source is core to our mission, and we work hard to be welcoming and inclusive.

Why do people contribute to the Tessel Project?

Here are a few reasons we've seen:

• Fixing their own problem/building the feature they want. For example, someone might discover a need to push code to two Tessels at once, and start poking around in the t2-cli repo to learn how to do this.
• Learning and mentorship. For example, someone trying to transition from web development to hardware development might start asking questions on issues in the t2-firmware repo, and eventually submit code and get code reviews from contributors with more experience.
• Creating a code portfolio to gain hireability. For example, someone fresh out of a coding bootcamp might want to work on the Tessel website to practice web skills and be able to discuss a practical project in interviews.
• Community and camaraderie with fellow Tessel developers. Long-time Tesselers get to know each other over time, often meeting in person at tech conferences around the world.
• The joy of creation. If you're an engineer in a non-engineering work role, for example, a code project on the side can be satisfying– especially if you can work with others and create or fix something that goes into production for thousands of Tesselers around the world.

Open source contribution typically isn't charity. Usually, the contributor gets a win out of the experience as well.

How can I get started?

There are two main entry points: Github and Slack.

• If you want to find something to work on by yourself, go to the github.com/tessel repo, open Issues on any repo, and look for the "contribution-starter" label. Other issues are fair game as well, but "contribution-starter" issues have the most complete information.
• If you don't know where to begin, join Tessel Slack and mention your interest in the main #community channel. One of the community members will get in touch and help you find something that you'll enjoy.

What can I expect from the Tessel Project as a contributor?

• Respect, kindness, openness, friendliness. This is extremely important to us.
• Code reviews
• Mentorship and help as you try to solve problems that are important to the Tessel project

What can I not expect from the Tessel Project?

• Dedicated mentorship (though you might be able to arrange this 1:1 with someone you've been working with)
• Responses to questions where you didn't Google it/put in some effort first
• Someone to make or fix something just because you made an issue for it
• Speedy responses. We try to be timely (and please ping us after a few days if we've neglected your contribution), but most Tessel contributors have full-time jobs doing something else
• Money. There are no Tessel contributors who get paid by the Tessel Project to contribute, including the maintainers and the steering committee.

What does the Tessel Project expect from me as a contributor?

• Respect, kindness, openness, friendliness. We have a code of conduct, and we expect you to live up to the spirit of the code of conduct and the community it protects, not just abide by imposed rules
• Earnestness, good intent, and a spirit of learning and contribution

What does the Tessel Project not expect from me as a contributor?

• A specific pledge of time or attention. We recognize that your time is yours. You are not obligated to finish an issue even if you started work on it. We encourage you to communicate and to record your efforts on issues and PR's as you go, though, so that others can learn from your work and take over if need be.
• Money or materials. If you have put in some effort on a Tessel Project issue and find you need hardware or materials to continue, the Project is able to reimburse necessary supplies. The Project makes royalties from hardware sales, so we should be able to help you get what you need. (That said, you are welcome to donate money if you wish– in the past we have used our funds to make new hardware, supply kits for traveling workshops, reimburse contributors for hardware, make hoodies for contributors, and throw an annual contributor summit.)

[HipsterBrown]

This is fantastic @Frijol! I really like to see everything laid out for the project on expectations and motivations as an open-source project. 👏

I would like to see all these sections applied to the CONTRIBUTING.md, as well as including in a blog post when that document is updated. Hopefully, it can spur some more contributions from the community as the summer approaches.

One note to make getting started a bit simpler. You can see all the open contribution-starter issues for every Tessel repo here -> https://github.com/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Acontribution-starter+user%3Atessel