The content collected and shared on Opensource.com is the result of the time, energy, and contributions from people all over the world. The writers you see published here, the community you see engaged with us on social media, and our readers keep Opensource.com going. The team working on curating and polishing the stories and news from our contributors is inspired and motivated by the power of open source communities. Here are a few great things our contributors say about their experiences working with us:
7 big reasons to contribute to Opensource.com:
- Career benefits: "I probably would not have gotten my most recent job if it had not been for my articles on Opensource.com."
- Raise awareness: "The platform and publicity that is available through Opensource.com is extremely valuable."
- Grow your network: "I met a lot of interesting people after that, boosted my blog stats immediately, and even got some business offers!"
- Contribute back to open source communities: "Writing for Opensource.com has allowed me to give back to a community of users and developers from whom I have truly benefited for many years."
- Receive free, professional editing services: "The team helps me, through feedback, on improving my writing skills."
- We're loveable: "I love the Opensource.com team. I have known some of them for years and they are good people."
- Writing for us is easy: "I couldn't have been more pleased with my writing experience."
Email us to learn more or to share your feedback about writing for us.
Visit our Participate page to more about joining in the Opensource.com community.
What our writers say about contributing to Opensource.com
Writing for Opensource.com is a mix of sharing knowledge and improving my existing skills. My goal of my website, Slackermedia.info, is to be a guide for multimedia content creation on Linux. For the advice to be sound, there must be constant testing of the tools. This is where Opensource.com comes into play: by writing how-to articles about the tools, a big pool of open source users is able to try and test them. That's priceless. I write a lot for both professional and personal projects, and when you write, you always need a second opinion and set of eyes. Otherwise, everything might only make sense to you, the writer. The editorial team at Opensource.com is there to read, revise, copy edit, and provide suggestions. They have give me some pretty great ideas, which has been a huge benefit. Many people pay for this kind of editorial service for their writing, so having it be a part of the writing process for Opensource.com is wonderful. Professionally, writing for Opensource.com has been a huge benefit. I'm a big believer that actions speak louder than words, so if I go to a job interview and claim to know something, it makes a big difference if I have an article published on a respected website about that topic. I probably would not have gotten my most recent job if it had not been for my articles on Opensource.com.
—Seth Kenlon
Writing for Opensource.com has made a huge difference in bringing the issue of accessibility and assistive technology into mainstream discussions. The first time one of my articles was published, it became very popular and helped to get the word out about Universal Tux, a Google+ organization dedicated to making Linux and FOSS accessible to everyone. The platform and publicity that is available through Opensource.com is extremely valuable.
—Spencer Hunley
Recently a blog post I wrote for Opensource.com was picked up and used by a civic newsletter, the International Institute of Municipal Clerks News Digest. The municipal clerk in the city government where I work, the City of Takoma Park, Maryland, was happily and unexpectedly surprised to run into this writing from one of her co-workers. She sent me an email, which I forwarded to the city manager of the City of Takoma Park, who tells me she is forwarding it to our city council members—who decide the broad policies for our city's government. My blog post would never have traveled so far locally (and elsewhere) had it not first appeared on Opensource.com.
—Phil Shapiro
I wanted to contribute to Opensource.com for a long time, but I wasn't comfortable about my writing skills. I didn't think I was good enough. So, I've created my own blog and I've started writing about various topics that sounded interesting to me. A few months later, I felt like my writing and English skills have improved and I wrote a post that sounded like it would be perfect for Opensource.com. And that's how A beginner's guide to GitHub was made.
—Aleksandar Todorović
I couldn't have been more pleased with my writing experience. I really enjoy writing—it's one of the things I'm good at—and I especially love writing about accessibility and Linux. I don't know some of the technical things required to turn plain text documents into beautiful HTML, but the editors did a fantastic job, as well as smoothing off some of my rough edges. I'm definitely going to write more articles in the future, once I pick something to write about.
—Kendell Clark
I enjoy writing for Opensource.com, sharing my experience and knowledge in open source, which I gathered over the years. The team helps me, through feedback, on improving my writing skills. This is always welcome, especially since I'm not a native English speaker. My writing has also helped me with regards to visibility in the open source ecosystem. I have added my experience in open source, including the moderator program I'm taking part in, to my resume. This has also contributed in getting my recent job.
—Robin Muilwijk
Honestly, all of the articles I have written have helped me to learn and explore new ideas. The feedback I get in the form of comments, social media, and email is all great in helping me to enrich my perspectives. I love the Opensource.com team. I have known some of them for years and they are good people.
—Jono Bacon
Writing for Opensource.com has allowed me to give back to a community of users and developers from whom I have truly benefited for many years. In the process I have met many interesting people and grown both personally and professionally.
—Don Watkins
Writing for Opensource.com has expanded my personal and professional network exponentially. Writing for this site has given me an opening line when talking to open source enthusiasts, it has made me venture out more and attend conferences I wouldn't have ever had the opportunity to before.
—Nicole Engard
Writing for Opensource.com about open source content management systems has been a great experience. First, it helped my company share our stories and collect feedback and engage with wider communities. That broke down silos. The experience was also interesting and valuable because my company has been able to see what our peers have to say about open source content management systems. The articles helped open-up our vision and perspective in the space.
—Roland Benedetti
Writer and community success stories
Penn Manor High School launched a Linux laptop learning initiative, with a student-led help desk that supports peers and the school-wide laptop initiative. Charlie Reisinger, the IT Director for Penn Manor, first wrote about the initiative in September 2014. Then he spoke at All Things Open 2014 in Raleigh on Lessons from the Open Source Schoolhouse.
e-NABLE is a community of designers, makers, and enthusiasts creating open source designs for the creation of low-cost prosthetic hands. Peregrine Hawthorn shared his experience about getting a new hand made and how he uses it. And Jen Owen tells us in an interview how the e-NABLE group got started and how their mission is at the core of what they do.
The Asian Penguins are a middle school Linux club in Minnesota who learn how computers work and share their new technical skills with others. Leader of the group, Stu Kernoff, shares this story with us. During their end-of-year celebration this year, the Opensource.com showed our appreciation by sending each Asian Penguin a T-shirt.
WhiteBikes is a low-cost, open source solution for bike share systems. Daniel Duris wrote to us after the publication of his article in March 2015: "I just wanted to thank you once again for your valuable help in publishing the article on our open source bike share system. You helped us to promote it and we have already received few emails on how people can launch it in their own communities."
