A First-Timer’s Guide to Getting Started with Open Source Code and Communities

So, you want to start using that open source thing. 

You’ve been reading Opensource.com and there’s a package that you’re excited about. You’d love to give it a try and maybe—just maybe—find a way to contribute to the community that made it (if, you know, it turns out as awesome as that article you found says it is). But where to start?

First-time installations

Every package is a little different—some run on different operating systems than your home machine, some have different dependencies, some expect a certain minimum level of technical expertise.