Has Ruby on Rails been good to you? Has the framework helped you get a job or start your consulting career? If so, I challenge you to give 3 percent of your time for Rails 3 over the next few months. If you work 40 hours a week, 3 percent amounts to less than 5 hours a month! Could you donate half a Saturday a month to the framework that figuratively puts money in your bank account? I can, and that's why I'm pledging three percent for Rails 3 over the next few months.
The Bugmashes have been great, but there's still more to be done. The core team is dedicated and smart, but they can't do it all. As of the time of this post, there are 1199 open tickets in Lighthouse, 898 open bugs, and 301 open patches. Oh yeah, and by the way, Rails has been basically overhauled and re-architected in its entirety (You might want to kick the tires a bit).
Stop whining about bundler. Stop complaining about the new routing DSL. Instead of taking the time to talk about everything that's going wrong, put in the time to make it right. Here's why you should pledge your three percent today:
It Makes a Better Framework
How confident are you in a framework that has 1199 open issues that aren't going away? How much better would the framework be if developers like Jose, Wycats, and Koz were freed up to focus on the bigger picture? If you use Rails on a daily basis, your unique perspective matters, and you can help with the burden of all of these open issues.
It Makes a Better Community
Negativity is contagious. You can sit on the sidelines and complain about what's coming, or you can get in the game and help make things happen. What stinks is that if there's an obnoxious crowd heckling the players on the field, newcomers will be less inclined to jump in. Positivity can be a virus in the same way. If you truly love what you do and you're grateful, exhibiting that makes the community as a whole better and it attracts newcomers to the project.
It Makes You a Better, More Marketable Developer
Knowing the internals of the framework you use on a day to day basis definitely makes you a better developer. There is no magic behind Rails, just smart design and Ruby. Consider pair programming with someone more experienced than you and how that impacts your performance. Now, imagine working with the leaders of the community on core functionality and how that can improve your skills.
Consider the benefits from a professional perspective as well. Do you think being a core contributor differentiates you in a hiring decision? If you're a freelancer, does that provide you with something marketable over those still on the sidelines?
Get in the game. Pledge your 3 percent today and give back.