The latest articles on DEV Community by Madhukant (@madhukant). https://dev.to/madhukant https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4165910%2F3d973ffb-2394-43d2-9eff-7746c31b3449.jpg https://dev.to/madhukant en Madhukant Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:20:40 +0000 https://dev.to/madhukant/starting-my-hacktoberfest-2026-journey-exploring-open-source-ai-k08 https://dev.to/madhukant/starting-my-hacktoberfest-2026-journey-exploring-open-source-ai-k08 <p>Hi everyone! 👋<br> This is my first post on DEV, and I’m excited to finally join the community — especially during Hacktoberfest 2026, which looks very different (and honestly, more exciting!) than previous years.<br> 🌟 What’s New in Hacktoberfest 2026?<br> If you remember Hacktoberfest as “open four PRs and get a T‑shirt,” that era is officially over. The 2026 edition has shifted toward learning, building, and experimenting with open‑source AI, not chasing pull requests.<br> **My Plan for Hacktoberfest 2026<br> Here’s what I’m aiming to do this month:</p> <ul> <li>Join the online events and follow each weekly challenge.</li> <li>Build a small open‑source AI project (maybe something with Gemma or a simple agent!). -Share my progress here on DEV. -Learn from the community and hopefully connect with other beginners. I’m especially excited about the idea of building something that runs locally or uses open‑weight models — the “AI belongs to everyone” theme really resonates with me </li> </ul> ai beginners hacktoberfest opensource