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How does one get into Open Source, generally? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 hours ago by TotallyWorthLife@lemmy.world to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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Hello,

I have been thinking about making the jump towards Open Source, not just using OSS but also contributing to it.

First, some OSS projects/apps I know of are Peertube, Lemmy (right now using Voyager app), Mastodon, Matrix (used to use the Element app, gave up because I realized it was too hard for those around me who got used to Whatsapp), OpenStreetMap (through OrganicMaps), Jellyfin, and Actual Budget, Godot Engine, Luanti, GrapheneOS... I might know more, but those are the ones I remember right now.

Second, I have some basic experience with programming (mainly Java [haven't learnt GUI yet tho], SQL, and C# for Unity videogames), but no experience entering an already created codebase yet, let alone making changes and sending them (and I admit I might need to get some practice with Git), so it is pretty intimidating. Do you have any advice about it?

Third, I'd like to hear about projects you find interesting or useful. Not neccesarily to contribute or even use them myself, but I'm interested in which other projects there are out there.

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[–] theherk@lemmy.world 11 points 7 hours ago

Lots of good advice here. Best method arises but cannot be sought. When you run into something broken or you don’t like, don’t set it aside hoping somebody else will fix it. Fix it.

Even if the maintainer doesn’t want your change. This is the best way to grow the seeds of software freedom you’ve already planted by caring. This is the fundamental ethos in my view of a good steward of the community. When something isn’t ideal, they make it work for themself and then are willing to share if others find it useful.