QGIS Needs You! Help make QGIS 2.4 better
QGIS is now in feature freeze for the 2.4 release, that means no more features are going in and we need to focus on fixing any outstanding issues that are still hanging around before the release. 2.4 is going to be a good release, adding cool things like: multithreaded rendering; legend code refactor; colour blind previews; and a whole heaps of other cool stuff. We need your help finding and squashing bugs. This is where you come in.
Finding bugs
Grab the RC builds of QGIS from the downloads page. If you are on Windows I would recommand grabbing the OSGeo4W installer and installing the package called qgis-dev using the Advacned option. A new build will show up nighly and you can test the lastest version.
If you find a bug you need to log it at hub.qgis.org, if you don't we can't fix it. Don't post a tweet about it and hope that we pick it up because we may not, this happened recently and the person didn't file tickets when I asked them too and now it's forgotten.
We track everything at hub.qgis.org. We close tickets as we fix them so keep an eye out for ones that you open. Remember to always add as much information as possible, and answer questions if asked. We are aware that everyone is busy, as are we, however if you don't responed it can be hard to track down issues at times. It can take a bit of time to get used to what is a good or a bad ticket but it doesn't take long. Next time you see a bug file it at hub.qgis.org.
Squashing bugs
This is where the help really matters and is the best thing you can do for the project. If you're a developer and keen to try your hand at some bugfixing you can find the most important ones here.
Not a developer?
The next best thing you can do is fund some bug fixing. There are many ways to do this and this is the most effective way to get stuff done.
Your main options are:
- Donation to the QGIS fund - we use some of this money to pay for bug fixing.
- Hire a developer directly. This is a good way to go as it is focused development. You can find some of the devs here
- Rob a bank and send the money to us - No!11! Don't do that.
- Encourage your company - who maybe is now saving a lot of money - to sponser or hire a developer.
- Run a user group and charge a small fee to donate to the project - minus costs of course.
It's not just code.
There is more to QGIS then code and some application at the other end. With each release comes other non developer work.
These things include:
- Updating the manual
- Updating translations
- Helping with PR stuff like posters
- Ticket clean up
If you're not in a position to help in the other areas of the project these things need love to so don't forget you can help here.
We love that QGIS is free, that it opens GIS to a whole range of people who would never have been able to use it. It's a great feeling. It's also a great feeling when others get invovled and help us along to make it better for everyone.
