Use the source
Join the force

A quick guide to contributing to Open Source Software

HI, I'm STEVE

https://github.com/sphere-group/sphere

Apache HTTP Server

WHY SHOULD YOU?

Sharing is caring

Sharing code is sharing knowledge. Let's make the human race smarter together!

Learning

You can learn a lot by reading code from good well-maintained projects. But you can also learn more through your interactions with other contributors.

Fame and glory

Companies now look for open source contributions in applicant resumes. Being a popular open source contributor can open up opportunities.

Scratching an itch

You found a bug or a missing feature in an open source library you've been using. You don't need to wait for the next version for a fix/feature. Patch or extend it yourself!

Make a living

Being an open source developer is a viable career nowadays.

Crowdfunding through Kickstarter

Patreon support

Bounty driven development

Metafizzy's Isotope dual license

Discourse SaaS

BIg companies

A lot of big companies support open source development.

I asked a few open source developers the same question...

rico sta cruz

because it's code you will write for your work anyway, why not share it with the world :P

Jeff lindsay

I contribute to open source because it’s all building blocks. I want blocks that I can use freely. And good blocks are too small to not be open source anyway.

DANIEL ROY GREENFELD

Open source means I'm working with excellent people from all over the planet. We get to learn and grow together, and improve the world while we are at it.

Finding projects

YOU'RE STARING AT IT

You don't need to look far! You can always contribute to open source projects you already use.

EXPLORE &
Follow people

You can always find the latest trending projects in GitHub from their Explore page. But you can also follow people you know or look up to for a feed of projects they star. It also gives you clue of what they're up to in case you want to collaborate!

Newsletters

Newsletters that list trending news are common nowadays. Some tech newsletters feature noteworthy open source projects. My favorite is The Changelog which focuses on Open Source. They also have Changelog Nightly which sends you a daily digest of the upcoming open source projects.

how can you contribute?

Contribute code

The primary way to contribute to open source software is through code. Fixing bugs, implementing features, refactoring, adding tests, etc.

Tip: Always check for the contributing guidelines!

Filing bugs and feature requests

Testing software is hard. A bug report for an edge case can be really helpful for project maintainers. Feature requests aid in figuring out the direction of a project.