Hello All,
TLDR:
I would like to contribute to an Open Source project but don’t know where to start. Do you know any cool project that need help and have an “easy” codebase?
Long Version:
I am Coding for about 4 years now and did quite a few hobby-project on my own now. I would really like to step into some OpenSource Project for a few reasons:
- I hope to learn from others on that way. See how other devs write code or maybe improve mine or something along these lines.
- More users than on private projects. If I do a project on my own, no one ever finds it. And it would be really great to see my code “in action”.
- Giving back to the community. I am using a lot of Open Source Software and would like to support the community that way.
My Problem is, I don’t know where to start. There are so many repos on GitHub/GitLab that it is hard to find something with potential, that doesn’t have a few hundred PRs waiting because there are already to many people working on it. Or Maybe I am just searching wrong. If that is the case, please give me a hint :D My skill-level is somewhere in the middle. Not terrible, but not a pro either. Because of that I would probably focus on smaller issues to get started. But I always strive to improve and get better.
My preferred languages are Python, Go or Javascript.
If anyone of you know a not to complex but cool project, that needs support, let me know.
I am happy about any feedback.
This is an unusual question, but how have you been programming for four years and not know how OSS works?
Don’t you interact regularly with GitHub for work?
I have met a lot of people that don’t interact with most of the outside code world for various reasons. Mostly it’s draconian rules (sometimes company mandated, sometimes regulatory), but sometimes what they’ve been working on is just so niche that there really aren’t anything out there for them to interact with.
I’d be so sad if I were in that position :(
But maybe I’d also be making so much money that I’d be happy :)
They asked how to discover good projects to work on. They didn’t say they didn’t know how GitHub works. I’ve been a developer for almost 20 years and, while I love open-source software, I don’t interact with many open-source projects on GitHub because my day job and my own projects take up a lot of time. I’ve made a couple of contributions but time has never permitted me to get too deeply involved. Anyway, it’s quite possible to be a decent, even experienced developer and not to be an regular contributor to the open-source scene.
Eh its fair enough, but the actual process of OSS isn’t much different to just working software at a job.
Now finding a project to get your teeth stuck in, that’s a bit harder. But that’s less a technical skill and more about having enough introspection to figure out what you’d like to work on for free haha