Hey there, I'm guessing you're a developer, designer, or writer and came here as soon as you saw "open source" right? Well, it is a good thing you opened this, In this article I will talk about open source, how you can contribute, the importance, and I'll highlight some open source projects.
Have Fun!🤪
What is Open Source
Open source initially referred to as open source software is a code that is publicly accessible. The code can be seen, modified, and distributed. Open source being a code that is publicly accessible has brought to the rise of collaborative production.
Importance of Open source
Open Collaboration: Open source gives room for collaboration. With the existence of open-source communities, you can work with different people with similar interests.
Transparency: Open source is open and that allows you to check and keep up with the changes that occur in your favorite software.
Flexibility: You are at liberty to use open-source software however you like. Because there are no restrictions in the license on how open-source projects are used, you can share it and even make it yours.
Reliability: Because open source software is not built by one person, you can rely on it not failing because is a community with people who are willing to keep the software up and running.
Peer Review: Because open source is accessible by anyone there will always be an active community that checks and improves the code.
How to Contribute to Open Source Software
Here are steps to contribute to open source software(projects):
Identify your tech skills: You can be a developer, writer, designer, event organizer, or speaker. You need to be sure what path you are good at and focus on it during your open-source project search.
Find open source projects: There are so many open source projects out there, you should pick one based on your tech skill.
You can search for projects here
Understand the project: You need some knowledge of how the project works before you send in your contribution. A good way to get a better understanding of a project is by joining the project's community group.
Make your Contribution: How you make your contribution to an open-source project differs based on your tech skills. So you should make your contribution based on what you are good at. You can look at the image below to know how you can make your contribution.
Inform the project maintainers of your contribution: I said earlier that open-source software can be modified by anyone but to maintain order, the project owners or maintainers have to verify every contribution made. Whatever contribution you made to the project, be it fixing bugs, improving docs, or whatever, you can inform the project maintainers of your contribution so they can proof-check. With that, you can call yourself an open-source contributor.
Examples of Open Source Projects
Layer 5
Layer5 projects are open-source software. Anyone can download, use, work on, and share it with others. It's built on principles like collaboration, globalism, and innovation. They build projects to provide learning environments and cloud-native infrastructure and application management tooling.
Appwrite
Appwrite is a backend platform for developing Web, Mobile, and Flutter applications. Built with the open source community and optimized for developer experience in the coding languages you love.
Million.js
Million.js is an extremely fast and lightweight <4kb virtual DOM that makes React up to 70% faster. By using a fine-tuned, optimized virtual DOM, Million.js reduces the overhead of React.
Free Web3 Resources(FW3)
FW3 is a project with a list of web3 learning resources. The FREE resources will make it easy for you to get started with building decentralized apps and interacting with the Ethereum network. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, we've got you covered.
Conclusion
Do you want to improve your skills, learn a new skill, meet new people, and possibly change the world? You should contribute to open source. I hope this introductory guide to open source helps you understand open source better.