PyCon intro to open source

Goal #1: practice navigating from the command line

Many of the tools of open source development are primarily used via the command line. Let's get some practice with navigating the computer from the command line.

• Windows
• OS X
• Linux

Goal #2: install a text editor

We need a good text editor (not a word processor!) for editing Python code.

If you already have a preferred text editor, skip this step.

• Windows
• OS X
• Linux

Goal #3: install an IRC client

IRC is a real-time chat protocol that open source projects often use to talk about the project and as a medium for users and developers to help each other.

• Windows
• OS X
• Linux

Bonus material

Find and join an IRC channel for something you are interested in.

• On Freenode, try channels like #python, #django
• You can get a full list of Freenode's channels here
• Read through http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.html