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| Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash |
Open-source software is everywhere! Today, it's highly probable that many of
the tools you use and love are open-source. For example, the internet runs on Linux,
SmartTVs, drones,
cars,
super computers,
Android
phone and yes, even your
iOS device (which's based on
BSD, a decades-old open-source project) runs some sort of open-source software.
There are hundreds thousands of projects you probably use
without knowing that are available for free.
But don't think you need to be a technical genius to help. On this post we will learn why and how to support free/open-source communities around the world.
Why contribute to Open-Source projects
Why contribute to open-source? Here are some reasons:
- You would like to help your favourite project grow
- You would like to participate in a broader community
- You would like to gain experience in a specific field
- You would like to make that project better
- You would like to fix that annoying error you keep getting
- You would like to give it back to your project of choice
- You would like to learn new things
Different Types of Contributions
And before jumping into the real actions, we'd like you to understand that open-source projects do not only need programmers! There's real need for volunteers in other areas such as translators, writers, designers and much, much more. So let's review them.
Contributing to Open-Source Projects
Let's review some concrete actions you can take today to help with your
favorite open-source project. Feel free to skip to section that makes more
sense for you.
How to help as a Programmer
If you know how to program, here are some ways you can help the community:
writing code, submitting pull requests, reviewing code and even fixing typos in
the documentation. But before modifying the code, it's important to understand
the project requirements, philosophy, workflow and communication channel.How to help as a Writer
How to help as a Designer
Helping in Events
Participating in Events
Open-source communities tend to be very active. They frequently organize
events (in-person/online) which will get more interesting with more people.
Look for events in your project's page for more information.
Testing the software
Translating
Speak more than one language? There's lots of projects looking for volunteers to help with translations. Search for information on your project's translation team.
Supporting other Users
Helping with Infrastructure
Packaging Software
Helping others
Writing posts
Donating
Finally, if you got no time or think you got no skills, have you considered donating to one of those organizations? Here are some tips:- Linux Foundation
- Free Software Foundation
- the Document Foundation
- GNU project
-
Mozilla Foundation
- Look for Patreons for FOSS projects you use;
-
GitHub Sponsor;
- and more, way more;
Reaching Out
Conclusion
On this post we reviewed multiple ways you too can become an open-source contributor. Most people think that contributing to open source is just about code while it is not. There's tons of ways we can start helping others out there.References
- How to Contribute to Open Source
- Curated list of awesome lists
- GitHub Explore - search for an open source project;
- What can I do for Fedora - has a nice yes/no tool to guide you to what/how you could help. Note that you don't necessarily need to do that for fedora but for a project of your interest.
