[TOS] OSCON submission (Your First Trip To Open Source Land: A Travel Agency Advisory)

[Mel Chua]

Sebastian and I just submitted this one.

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Title: Your First Trip To Open Source Land: A Travel Agency Advisory

Description:

Join your trusty guides as they introduce YOU (yes, you!) to the magic 
of an open source cultural exchange. From terrible mistranslations from 
our Hacker/Newbie dictionary to croissant-baking as a method of 
improving project documentation, this satirical three-act romp through 
the new project contributor process will leave you laughing and 
questioning the way FOSS culture looks to the uninitiated.

Abstract:

Join your trusty guides as they introduce YOU (yes, you!) to the magic 
of an open source cultural exchange. Just like study abroad experiences 
immerse students in a foreign land, contributing to an open source 
project can broaden your world and give you a critical career advantage. 
However, there are pitfalls that must be avoided - the way to hell is 
paved with good intentions. An example:

* Newbie says: I'd like to start helping with your project. Where can I 
begin?
* Newbie means: I want to make sure I'm not making any mistakes, because 
I don't know what's the proper thing to do in this unfamiliar context.
* Hacker hears: I have no direction and initiative. Please help me waste 
your time!

Fear not! Your tour guides will continue to lead the way, armed with wit 
and stunning color photographs shot on location. This tour is for both 
experienced contributors and recent newcomers: open source culture may 
seem natural to the former, but appears utterly bizarre to the latter 
for reasons seasoned contributors often can't see. Now we can find 
out... with TECHNOLOGY.

Using the powerful new SWIMNWIS (Say What I Mean, Not What I Say) 
translation engine, we'll go through some sample dialogues to 
demonstrate how two perfectly well-intentioned people can end up at each 
other's throats. (For instance, did you know the phrase "check out our 
open tickets" generally means "I want to make sure other folks will be 
interested in helping you on what you work on" not - as commonly assumed 
- "piss off"?)

Finally, there'll be documentation-croissants. 
(http://blog.melchua.com/2011/02/01/ive-followed-your-instructions-and-i-still-cant-bake-croissants/) 
How to make one? Join us. This satirical three-act romp through the  new 
project contributor process will leave you laughing and questioning the 
way open source culture looks to the uninitiated.