Contributing to Open Source - Getting Started and Finding Inspiration
You wake up in the morning and think: “Today, I want to contribute to an Open Source project!” But where do you start? Whether you’re a newbie with limited experience making her first steps in the world of GitHub, or a seasoned developer seeking inspiration - choosing the Open Source project to contribute to is no easy task. To help you ease the process, I’ve collected a few links and resources to arm you with all you need to go to bed today having made a GitHub contribution.
Hello World - First Timer Contributions
If you’re an experienced contributor looking for new opportunities, skip this section and go right to the next - “Help Wanted”.
My personal journey on GitHub started very recently. I am not a developer. As a marketer and content writer, to me PR means public relations, and issues is what developers have with me when I go on and on about the importance or my kind of PR.
Making your first contribution can be scary, especially if you have little experience as a developers. It gets even worse for graphic artists, marketers, thinkers and copywriters. This is why multiple initiatives have popped up around the Open Source ecosystem aiming to do just that: make your first time painless and memorable.
First Timers Only
This wonderful website is a MUST for anyone and everyone looking to contribute to opensource for the first time. It includes links to a hands on tutorials for first time GitHub contributors, resources and even emphasizes the importance of the contributors Code of Conduct to ensure a pleasant collaborative environment for all.
Up For Grabs
A similar initiative to First Timers Only that encourages projects to get newbies contributing. To get the projects tagged for beginners, simply use those tags in the search.
Libraries.io - First Pull Request
Libraries.io is a great tool for exploring available projects looking for help. For beginners, there’s plenty to choose from under the “first-pull-request” tag. Be sure to narrow your search to get a more customized selection suited for your skills.
Help Wanted - Go Where You Are Needed
In addition to a multitude of website indexing GitHub issues, experienced contributors can discover cool projects elsewhere as well.
Dev.to Forums
A great place to talk development, this website offers daily threads for project owners looking for open source contributors for their project. Be sure to check the latest.
Libraries.io
Previously mentioned, this particularly useful index includes a “help-wanted” feed that’s easy to browse.
There are quite a few useful subreddit for open source contributors like /r/coolgithubprojects/, where you can find plenty of inspiration.
Got Git?
This is a very short list of resources, but that’s what the comment section is for. Share your favorite tools and resources for finding open source projects to contribute to!
(Source: XKCD, duh)
Thank yous and notes: Endless gratitude to @espoem , who patiently let me bounce ideas off him while planning this post. He’s brilliant. I’ve told him in person and now it’s on the blockchain too.
My apologies to my followers. No, I am not dead or sick, just working hard typing content for Utopian instead so my personal blog suffers terribly. I beg your forgiveness.
This is perfect. Yeah, Git is essential whilst working on projects but I'd say it is worth learning it if one wants to hop on the train full of open source projects.
And you gave a list full of helpful sites to find the first project to start working on. Great job in compiling the list.
Could not have done it without you! <3
Not gonna lie, that XKCD thing - been there, done that.
Great post! Thank you for continuing to bring awareness to the field we're all passionate about!
My big problem is that I have serious stage fright with my personal code. I keep thinking, 'one more point release until it's ready for anybody else to use'. I need to get over this and just put it out there.
If you are a sysadmin or someone who is good at writing documentation or even good at co-ordinating people, then I would suggest that you contribute to open source. You can start small by joining the mailing list of an open source project or whatever else they use to communicate on e.g slack, IRC, Discord etc. Most projects would like to have people involved and you would be surprised how many things that you can help to contribute with, without the need for the ability to code.
I can very much relate to this XKCD. In fact I have done this several times. Thanks for sharing, I am checking these resources.
I still get nervous pushing things into the Utopian git. Even though they're just texts, I am always scared I will break something.
Break something!? Awwwn 😂
Ahahaha I can relate and still have not done any Utopian contributions on some open source.
Very useful, thanks!
very useful article, I love to read it, thanks
thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely consider with the @Stormlighttech community trying to put some of our resources up there. Not sure where, but we've got some people talking with us, though getting contributions from mainstream sources has been not very easy.
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