Red Hacks Practice Group
Tags: mentorship, group, redhat, opensource
Published: 2023-07-07 10:16:43

---
title: Red Hacks Practice Group
published: true
description: Let's practice open-source software engineering!
tags: mentorship, group, redhat, opensource
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1kmdrdp0i2sdjex370q3.png
---

# Red Hacks Practice Group

Our group is an open and safe space for practice in contributing to open-source projects, especially those maintained by Red Hat. This includes the projects created by this group as well as OpenShift, Quarkus, Ansible, and many related projects.

Our goal is to help developers be successful in their careers in open source. If you'd like to practice open-source development using the same processes and tools that world-class companies use, you're very welcome to join.

*DISCLAIMER: This is an independent group, not affiliated with Red Hat or IBM in any way.*

## What members get?

As a member, you will be granted access to our projects, meetings, and resources as if we were working in the same software team at an open-source company:

* Interesting and realistic projects
* Weekly meetings to sync in ideas and challenges
* 1:1 mentorship sessions with mentors
* Chat group and asynchronous collaboration
* Pull-request reviews
* Modern tooling (github, gitpod, AWS and more)

## What members need to know?

The group is open to all levels of seniority. There is no problem if you are just beggining in technology. However, there are at least two things you'll need to contribute to the conversation:
* Basic english communication skills to participate in the meetings and write comments or documents.
* Any modern programming language, preferably Python, Java or Go, where you'll find more peers here.

# What is expected from members?

Also, we expect that members:
* Respect our [code of conduct](https://thedevconf.com/code-of-conduct). TL;DR: Don't be an asshole.
* Drive its participation proactively: participate in the meetings, schedule mentorships, assign tickets, and engage others. 

The number of participants in the group is limited, please participate and make the most of your time in the group.

## How to join?

If you'd like to join the group, there are only two things you need to do:
* Sponsor Caravana Cloud on GitHub:
https://github.com/sponsors/CaravanaCloud
* Submit your contact info: https://forms.gle/GkudAYCoZa3M6pXq5


After that, you'll be added to our google group and github team. That should grant you access to all the links, invites and content. Send us a message if you need help with anything.

To accomodate everyone's agenda, we have two meeting times:
* 17:00 BRT on the first and third monday of the month
* 13:00 BRT on the second and fourth monday of the month

Nobody is expected to join all meetings. However, they are a great opportunity to ask, share and meet your fellow members.

# Where to find all the links?

All links to private meetings and channels are in the group private repo on github at https://github.com/CaravanaCloud/redhacks

# Frequently Asked Questions

*Is this free?*

No, but it's really cheap, $5/month. We just want to keep the trolls out and the lights on. 

*Where can I learn more?*

Besides this blog, you can send us a message on X/Twitter https://twitter.com/CaravanaCloud or email help at caravana.cloud

*Why is this in english?*

To better help members participate in real open-source, in english. Even thou we speak other languages, most open-source is done in english and we need to practice that as well. However, do not worry, it is perfectly OK to make mistakes, this is a place for safe, constructive practice.

*Why are people speaking portuguese and spanish?*

Our community is huge in Latin America, and sometimes we need to speak some "spanglish", please nevermind. We'll be back to english in a moment.

*Is it OK to speak portuguese in meetings?*

Yes IF YOU ARE SURE that *everyone* in the meeting speaks portuguese.
Please help us make everyone feel welcome.

*Do I need to go to all meetings*

No, but you are welcome to. Most members come on their prefered time, 2 times a month.

*Where does the money go?*

First, to the projects themselves, expenses like cloud services and developer tooling.
Then to donations to organizations selected by the group.