Thanks to Arnulf Cristl, Howard and I have a wonderful transcription of our presentation today at FOSS4G

The inner works of Open Source Projects
Hobu and Chris
"How many people have their first experience of Open Source today?" About half the audience raises their hands
"How many are developers?" >20
Title: Who is the project?
hobu explains how users tie into the process
Scratch itches, common interests scratch common itches, Example: OpenLayers
Venues for Finding Help
What as projects to scratch itches?
Explain how to find help through
Hobu explains BugTracker to a bunch of people who are at a FOSS event for the first time. I am impressed.
docs differ,
some are good, some are only comments in the source code
Chris takes over.
Don't piss off the develoers!
That is not helpful.
amen
The developers are the only ones who really know.
Mailing a developer directly and requesting for things is a mistake
First impression last a long time!
Chris has an elephant's brain when it comes to ugly user behaviour
If you found somethign that does not work for you: Expore the docs, bug tracker, FAQ.
SEARCH yourself.
Google for it.
Blog posts, mailing lists, and so on - this is all out there in the Web!
q="error name" projectname
Reproduce error,
write down references to dos
concise description
all the to the list ( version, data, other software involved fx broweser )
Be Polite, Be Concise, Be Gracious
When the answer comes:
Listen!
Make developers happy.
Explore Solutions
if it works, document it.
if not successful, file a bug.
include attempted solutions
check whether it has been filed already
document specific failures
document all relevant setup information, platform, etc.
Source code is pickeld, executable knowledge
Attempt to find the error
Don't be afraid of the Source Code.
A developer's time is a limited resource.
DONT WASTE IT!