If you are looking for a book on open source software, you have roughly a zillion options. Operating systems, languages, frameworks, desktop applications, whatever. Publishers have cranked out books left and right to teach you all about open source. Except for one small detail: how do you get started? Yesterday, The Pragmatic Bookshelf fixed that glitch. They announced the beta release of Forge Your Future with Open Source: Build Your Skills. Build Your Network. Build the Future of Technology by VM Brasseur.

I should disclose two things at this point: 1. VM is a friend and 2. I will receive a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for a technical review I performed. Now that I have fulfilled my ethical obligations, let’s talk about this book.

This is a very good book. It’s a book I wish I had years ago when I was first starting in open source. Brasseur covers understanding your motivations for contributing, determining requirements for a project you’ll contribute to, finding a project that matches those requirements, and getting started with your first contribution.

She assumes very little knowledge on the reader’s part, which is welcome. Don’t know the difference between copyleft and permissive licenses? That’s okay! She explains them both, including the legal and cultural aspects, without nudging the reader toward her preferred paradigm. Indeed, you’ll find no judgement of license, language, tool, or operating system choices. VM has no time for that in real life, so you won’t find it in her book either.

One of the better things about this book is that it is not really a technical book. Yes, it discusses some technical concepts with regards to code repositories and the like, but it puts great emphasis on the non-technical parts of contributing. Brasseur covers communication, community structure, and collaboration.

Forge Your Future with Open Source was not quite complete when I performed my technical review, but it was complete enough to know that this is an excellent book. Newcomers to open source will benefit from reading it, as will old hands such as myself. The final version will be published in June, but you can order a beta copy now through The Pragmatic Bookshelf.