Why is Open Source contributions the next big thing?
What is Open Source ?
The term "open source" refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.
The term originated in the context of software development to designate a specific approach to creating computer programs. Today, there are Open source projects, products, or initiatives which embrace and celebrate principles of open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community-oriented development.
Open source projects and software can be viewed, used, modified, and distributed by anyone for any purpose. These are followed by a set of permissions given in the Open source License.
Why Open Source ?
People open source their work or contribute to open source projects for 3 main benefits.
Collaboration: Open source projects can accept changes from anybody in the world.
Adoption and remixing: Open source projects can be used by anyone for nearly any purpose. People can even use it to build other things.
Transparency: Anyone can inspect an open source project for errors or inconsistencies.
Why you should contribute ?
Contributing to open source development helps you in getting feedback from developers across the world. You also go through the different ways of solving a problem which in turn, helps you learn new ways of doing the same thing and also in an optimized way.
It's also really beneficial as you could get to work with the top developers in various fields.
Imagine your contribution being used my millions of people worldwide. This helps in building up your name in the developer community. This in turn increases your chances in being recruited by top companies like Google.
How do you contribute ?
The most fundamental technology behind any application is a programming language. The most popular languages on GitHub (a collaborative code hosting platform) are JavaScript, Python, Java, Ruby, and PHP. There are a multitude of projects that might suit your skills and taste. After you've chosen the language you want to work in, you need to choose the type of project you prefer. GitHub projects are categorized into folders called Showcases. Here are some examples of Showcases: "security", "virtual reality", "text editors", and "CSS preprocessors." Just choose a topic that interests you.
Large software projects like VLC Media Player - with thousands lines of code – aren't the best choice for a beginner. When you contribute to huge projects, you're expected to meet the established requirements within that team. A here's another small tip: pay attention to issue labels. Some issues are labeled as "first-timers-only", "beginner", "easy", and so on.
[ GitHub is the most popular platform for open source collaboration, so you'll probably use it when exploring the world of OSS. First, you need to create a GitHub account and read the guide that helps you get started. On GitHub, you can contribute to projects by submitting issues and contributing code. Submitting issues means sending messages about errors in applications and suggesting ways to fix them. Contributing code involves sending pull requests with your corrections and improvements. ]
You can find many projects you are free to participate in on GitHub. Search for different Open source projects which are suited to your skills and motives. Use the tags or if you're up for it, browse through the trending section to look for various projects.
My Experience
My first contribution was towards an open source software known as Mediawiki.
Mediawiki is the parent organization of Wikipedia. It was through the help of my mentors in the amFoss club I was able to do it. We fixed bugs and sent patches for review. It was a really great experience. The contribution drive really helped me and my fellow members know about the importance of open source contributions and its value in the developer community.
If you want to know more about on how to contribute to MediaWiki you can follow this blog.
Cheers :)
Avanish K A
The term "open source" refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.
The term originated in the context of software development to designate a specific approach to creating computer programs. Today, there are Open source projects, products, or initiatives which embrace and celebrate principles of open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community-oriented development.
Open source projects and software can be viewed, used, modified, and distributed by anyone for any purpose. These are followed by a set of permissions given in the Open source License.
Why Open Source ?
People open source their work or contribute to open source projects for 3 main benefits.
Collaboration: Open source projects can accept changes from anybody in the world.
Adoption and remixing: Open source projects can be used by anyone for nearly any purpose. People can even use it to build other things.
Transparency: Anyone can inspect an open source project for errors or inconsistencies.
Why you should contribute ?
Contributing to open source development helps you in getting feedback from developers across the world. You also go through the different ways of solving a problem which in turn, helps you learn new ways of doing the same thing and also in an optimized way.
It's also really beneficial as you could get to work with the top developers in various fields.
Imagine your contribution being used my millions of people worldwide. This helps in building up your name in the developer community. This in turn increases your chances in being recruited by top companies like Google.
How do you contribute ?
The most fundamental technology behind any application is a programming language. The most popular languages on GitHub (a collaborative code hosting platform) are JavaScript, Python, Java, Ruby, and PHP. There are a multitude of projects that might suit your skills and taste. After you've chosen the language you want to work in, you need to choose the type of project you prefer. GitHub projects are categorized into folders called Showcases. Here are some examples of Showcases: "security", "virtual reality", "text editors", and "CSS preprocessors." Just choose a topic that interests you.
Large software projects like VLC Media Player - with thousands lines of code – aren't the best choice for a beginner. When you contribute to huge projects, you're expected to meet the established requirements within that team. A here's another small tip: pay attention to issue labels. Some issues are labeled as "first-timers-only", "beginner", "easy", and so on.
[ GitHub is the most popular platform for open source collaboration, so you'll probably use it when exploring the world of OSS. First, you need to create a GitHub account and read the guide that helps you get started. On GitHub, you can contribute to projects by submitting issues and contributing code. Submitting issues means sending messages about errors in applications and suggesting ways to fix them. Contributing code involves sending pull requests with your corrections and improvements. ]
You can find many projects you are free to participate in on GitHub. Search for different Open source projects which are suited to your skills and motives. Use the tags or if you're up for it, browse through the trending section to look for various projects.
My Experience
My first contribution was towards an open source software known as Mediawiki.
Mediawiki is the parent organization of Wikipedia. It was through the help of my mentors in the amFoss club I was able to do it. We fixed bugs and sent patches for review. It was a really great experience. The contribution drive really helped me and my fellow members know about the importance of open source contributions and its value in the developer community.
If you want to know more about on how to contribute to MediaWiki you can follow this blog.
Cheers :)
Avanish K A
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