How do I start working in open source projects?

Question

I'm planning to start working in open source projects. Give me some ideas related to that and give references also.

Answer 1

This Scott Hanselman article should help.

Answer 2

This has already been asked: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/43649/how-to-get-involved-in-an-open-source-project
And good advice has already been given.

Answer 3

I think some previous posts in SO already have some good info like this one:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/664/what-level-of-programming-should-i-have-to-contribute-to-open-source

Answer 4

Go to a project site like SourceForge, for example. Find a project that interests you, and that you feel you can contribute to. Check the bug lists, and/or see what needs to be done on the project, and jump in!

There is no hard or fast rule, but bug-fixes are a good way to start - or writing documentation, where required.

Answer 5

1. Find a project that interests you
2. Identify an area for improvement (Documentation is always a good place to start)
3. Contact one of the project owners
4. Do the work and contribute it

Answer 6

Either start your own or start contributing to a project you already like.

I co-started this one and contribute to a number of projects (WordPress, Drupal) that I use on a regular basis. Many projects have a page on how to start contributing - here's Drupal's.

Answer 7

There are a number of ways to get involved in open source projects. The first thing you should do though is become familiar with versioning systems like Git and SVN. After you're comfortable working with them, either start your own small project on GitHub or Google Code check out a larger project and see how you can help. It's all about learning, just poke around and experiment.

Answer 8

1) Find a project in a language you know that you're interested in.
2) Email the people in charge

Its pretty much that easy. The harder part is not screwing things up after you join.

Learn how to roll back changes in whatever source control they are using.
Learn how they do testing, and make sure to run all tests prior to checking anything in.
Learn what tools they use for project management. Stay within the scope of work defined.

Answer 9

Are you looking to start a project or just join an existing one? Also, what language would you want to work with?

There are plenty of different sites with open source projects...

Just to name a few:

• sourceforge.net

• codeplex.com

• code.google.com

Also, Scott Granneman has a decent post if you want more info on ways you can contribute...

-- Kevin Fairchild

Answer 10

Simply start. Do.

Find something you're interested in. Join the mailing list. Read their FAQ. Find an interesting bug in their bugbase (usually Bugzilla) and work on that.

http://savannah.nongnu.org/people/ -- Free Software projects looking for help http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/lkml/ -- The Big Kahuna, the Linux Kernel

As far as getting started in the Open Source culture, the ZDNet interview of Linus Torvalds has good information.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10018995-92.html