The latest articles on DEV Community by Madhu Kaleru (@madhu_kaleru_c9c172618920). https://dev.to/madhu_kaleru_c9c172618920 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3592128%2F3e0d02e1-4712-40c7-b066-2316efeeb2bc.png https://dev.to/madhu_kaleru_c9c172618920 en Madhu Kaleru Sat, 01 Nov 2025 07:17:16 +0000 https://dev.to/madhu_kaleru_c9c172618920/my-open-source-journey-from-beginner-to-contributor-1gli https://dev.to/madhu_kaleru_c9c172618920/my-open-source-journey-from-beginner-to-contributor-1gli <p>When I first heard about open source, it sounded complex — but once I started exploring, I realized it’s all about learning, sharing, and growing together.</p> <p>🌱 What I Learned</p> <p>Before contributing, I focused on understanding the basics:</p> <p>🔍 What is Open Source</p> <p>🆓 What are Free Softwares</p> <p>📜 Different Licenses (MIT, GPL, Apache)</p> <p>🧭 Basic Git &amp; GitHub Commands</p> <p>This foundation helped me understand how collaboration in the developer world really works.</p> <p>💻 My Contributions</p> <p>Once confident, I took my first real steps:</p> <p>Self-hosted a server called Affine</p> <p>Contributed to 2 open source projects</p> <p>Raised 8 pull requests (PRs)</p> <p>Participating in Hacktoberfest 2025</p> <p>Each PR gave me more confidence — from understanding codebases to communicating with maintainers.</p> <p>💬 What I Gained</p> <p>Open source taught me more than code:</p> <p>How to collaborate globally 🌍</p> <p>The importance of documentation 📘</p> <p>Confidence to share my work publicly 💪</p> opensource hacktoberfest github developerjourney