Supporting open-source PHP projects can be done by for example contributing code, writing or translating documentation or by fixing bugs. The latter is not usually the most exciting task, but still is quite important as the amount of bugs is an indication for the overall quality of the project. With this in mind, the Belgian PHP user group PHPBelgium and the Dutch PHP user group phpGG have decided to work together and launched a new initiative, called PHP BugHunt Days.

The purpose of such a BugHuntDay (somewhat similar to the PHP TestFest) is to find and squash bugs for PHP frameworks and libraries. On each BugHuntDay, we will try to have a core developer available to give a introductory presentation about the framework/library, and how a bug should be fixed according to the guidelines of that framework or library. After the presentation, it's up to the attendees to fix bugs and in the meanwhile learning about the inner workings of the framework in question. After such a bughunt day, the one who contributes the most bug fixes, could receive a little gift. ElePHPant's, anyone? ;-)

A few benefits:
  • Supporting the open-source community
  • Learning more about a framework/library
  • Learning how to fix bugs
  • Learning how to test code
  • Meeting other PHP enthusiasts

The first BugHuntDay is planned on Saturday, 8 November in Roosendaal, the Netherlands. If you're interested and in the area, come and join us at 11am to 6pm on the first BugHuntDay at Hotel Goderie. The first project we're going to cover is Zend Framework, one of the most adopted frameworks in enterprise and web application development. When having a look at the issue tracker, you can see quite some open bugs. By participating on this day, you can make the framework better!

As a last note, we hope to inspire other PHP user groups to organize a local PHP BugHuntDay. Events like PHP TestFest have shown us that such initiatives can be decentralized very easily, and the more love a PHP project gets, the better!

More information can be found on the PHP BugHuntDay website: http://www.bughuntday.org