#DEVDiscuss: Contributing to OSS

image created by Margaux Peltat for the Chilled Cow YouTube channel

Time for #DEVDiscuss — right here on DEV 😎

How I Got Hired Contributing to open source projects

OGBONNA SUNDAY for OpenSauced ・ Jul 5

#opensource #webdev #javascript #career

Inspired by @og_dev's Top 7 post, tonight’s topic is... contributing to Open Source Software!

Questions:

• What was one of your first experiences contributing to OSS?
• Where would you recommend getting started if you were offering advice to a newbie?
• Maintainers, anything to add? What tips or tricks have helped you keep track of your codebases, especially while new folks are contributing
• Any triumphs, fails, or other stories you'd like to share on this topic?

Comments

[BekahHW]

• My bootcamp ran it's curriculum as an OSS, if that counts.
• A little bit of shameless self-promotion, but I'd encourage them to join us for #100DaysOfOSS, which I wrote about in today's post.
• Every time I contribute I learn something new and meet new people. My whole experience has been primed for growth and connections.

[Brian Douglas]

My first contribution was in 2015. I found a project using socket.io to auto invite folks to slack using a typeform. Different times back then.

The maintainer threw it up on GitHub as a proof of concept for socket.io to show the creator of socket.io (rauchg, also Vercel founder).

Long story short, I need to use it for my community and emailed the maintainer help me figure out my weird node errors. He was extremely patient with me and got me unblocked. I tried to pay it forward every-time someone opens an issue in one of my projects.

My advice is try using a small project that lacks documentation. If you can figure how to use and build something, consider updating the docs with the knowledge gained.

[Lionel♾️☁️]

OSS is the really best way to get feet wet into dev. It was the best feeling I had when I contributed and my contribution turned out to be a huge help.