Interested in contributing to ChromiumOS: What steps should I take to prepare? [closed]

Question

I'm a hobbyist developer of 16 years and would like to start contributing to the ChromiumOS project. I have extensive experience in developing for mobile and embedded devices, so my skill set is mostly limited to interpreted languages, with only enough low-level coding experience (C++/Obj-C, not C) to have gotten me through my CS degree.

Since I understand that working on a large operating system is more of a future goal for someone with my skills, what languages and topics should I focus on to prepare for this specific project, and what are some other smaller, open-source projects could I "cut my teeth on" that would hone skills that would transition well?

Answer 1

To be honest, don't bother cutting your teeth on a project you are not passionate about. That is called work.

If you want to contribute to Chromium (or any project for that matter).

1. find their development page,
2. join the discussion channels
3. immerse yourself in their direction by looking at the dev faq, roadmaps, and bug tracker
4. verify that you can contribute by checking out the code base, building, testing, and deploying it - you may need to get some tools.
5. learn the edicate around working on a bug/feature by looking at past examples and discussing with the rest of the devs - you may have to legally sign over your work.
6. find an issue that appears to be achievable by you with little or no hurdles
7. try to make a patch that solves this issue, learn what you need to.
8. submit the patch and actively discuss/update the patch to get it into shape.
9. find another issue, you know more now so the issues can be a little more complex.