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.
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For me, it was starting to use neovim that got me into open source. Because it has so many plugins, and authors are usually super thankful for contributions (most of them have day jobs and limited free time).
I wrote my own neovim plugin and I got like 10 people making contributions to it within a few months. It doesn’t sound like much but it actually feels really nice and fun.
But yeah, if you want python, it’s not the right start for you. Plugins are written in lua and it’s not as full featured as python. But much faster.
wait people still use lua?
There is nothing better for small footprint and amazing speed, unless you want to write C directly. Neovim has it integrated in it’s core, which means plugins are really fast.
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 :)
If you’re into JavaScript, https://github.com/dynamoose/dynamoose is a project I maintain, and has a lot of great documentation, Slack channels, and more.
Although my attention on it goes in waves, it could for sure use more help. I’m also totally willing to help answer questions and point people in the right direction.
We currently have 80 open issues, 6 open PRs. 9 of those issues are marked as “good first issues” and 8 are marked as “help wanted”.
So there are for sure some easy jumping off points to get started. But I’m also always happy to answer questions and assist in anyway I can as well.
Beyond that, it’s all about diving into something. I found Dynamoose when it was much smaller, and just started with small contributions and built up from there. Following developers on social media, and following programming communities and newsletters can be helpful too.
Sounds like you want to contribute to something for the sake of contributing (hopefully that’s not true). You’re skill is worth something.
Going to spew some jaded bs: Don’t pick a project that makes you sign some bullshit release, pick something that some rando started and released with no intention of monetizing. Volunteer to work on a passion project that you’re also passionate about. Not something that will be used by some 9-5 300k a year tech bro. That’s just my opinion though. “Open source” has been used by big companies to generate free labor (looking at you Adobe, etc).
Off the top of my head, the SignalK project is something I’ve wanted to volunteer for. They make some software that lets marine sensors (depth sounders, Windex, speed paddles, temp sensors, etc.) Communicate in one standard format. They built a web app with node and react as a proof of concept. It could for sure be improved. It’d be neat if it caught on because vendor lock-in is huge in marine hardware / software.
When I released my chrome extension a few years ago, someone went in and immediately send a pull request for dark mode support, then gone in a flash. I was super impressed.
Honestly, just contribute to whatever software you’re already using! The most obvious example (that somebody else mentioned already) is Lemmy itself, but surely there are many other open source pieces of software that you use on a daily basis. If there’s something that annoys you, or think it could be improved… there you go.
At least, that’s how I got into programming.
