How to get involved in Open Source?

Question

Duplicates:

• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/43649/how-to-get-involved-in-an-open-source-project
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/382977/what-are-the-steps-to-start-contributing-to-an-open-source-project
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/335036/what-is-a-good-resource-to-help-start-an-open-source-project
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/62694/how-do-i-start-working-in-open-source-projects
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/348269/i-want-to-get-into-open-source-development

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I see so many people talking about open source projects. There are so many out on the web that it's hard for me to pick on to start in. I've never actually worked in an open source project and don't know where to start. What websites should I use? Are there any really active projects out there? Should I even participate in a really active project or one that has only a few dedicated developers? I want to work in C# but would be willing to work in Java. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

www.codeplex.com has some good .net projects. Thats where I first started looking. I would choose a language and project that you personally enjoy, not just one that you can exercise your language skills. I think that way you'd be most productive.

Answer 2

Also code.google.com and www.sourceforge.net have some great projects.
As pointed out earlier, C# code tends to live on www.codeplex.com.

Answer 3

The way I get involved is to, when I'm building a project of my own, incorporate open-source solutions as I go along. If I can somehow improve the OS solution, I try to submit those changes back.

Alternatively, pick something you are very passionate about. Want to kill Microsoft Office? Get involved in OpenOffice. Want to help with ERP systems? DotProject won't be too far out of sight.

Just that - pick yourself something you like, then ask its maintainers what you can do to help - or browse through the code yourself and fix whatever needs fixing.

Answer 4

I think the best thing to get into open source development is the good old scratching your own itch.

If you are using an open source software daily, there is definitely something you don't like about it or you want to see some new feature or other improvements. Here is exactly the point of open source that you can change it yourself. So the best advice is to get on their development mailing list, dive into the source code and fix it. Most projects also have IRC channels where you can get into contact with the developers and you can also get some live assistance while making your first steps through the code. Submitting patches to fix minor things is the best start.

After you submitted your first patches and know some more about the source, look around in the bug tracker to find bug reports or feature requests you like. Debugging is a great help in most open source projects, so tracing a specific bug down can be a great help. While you might not be able to understand it fully yet, it helps other developers. Small feature requests are mostly easy to implement and will make the software better.

Be sure, if you took these steps you are fully into the project and know how it works. So eventually you might be granted with commit access to their code repository. And at this point you become a full developer for the project while you are still just scratching your own itch.