Contributed by Jordan K. Hubbard
<jkh@FreeBSD.ORG>.
So you want to contribute something to FreeBSD? That is great! We can always use the help, and FreeBSD is one of those systems that relies on the contributions of its user base in order to survive. Your contributions are not only appreciated, they are vital to FreeBSD's continued growth!
Contrary to what some people might also have you believe, you do not need to be a hot-shot programmer or a close personal friend of the FreeBSD core team in order to have your contributions accepted. The FreeBSD Project's development is done by a large and growing number of international contributors whose ages and areas of technical expertise vary greatly, and there is always more work to be done than there are people available to do it.
Since the FreeBSD project is responsible for an entire operating system environment (and its installation) rather than just a kernel or a few scattered utilities, our "TODO" list also spans a very wide range of tasks, from documentation, beta testing and presentation to highly specialized types of kernel development. No matter what your skill level, there is almost certainly something you can do to help the project!
Commercial entities engaged in FreeBSD-related enterprises are also encouraged to contact us. Need a special extension to make your product work? You will find us receptive to your requests, given that they are not too outlandish. Working on a value-added product? Please let us know! We may be able to work cooperatively on some aspect of it. The free software world is challenging a lot of existing assumptions about how software is developed, sold, and maintained throughout its life cycle, and we urge you to at least give it a second look.