reading-notes

Open-Source Software Contribution

What Motivates a Developer to Contribute to Open-Source Software?

It can be hard to imagine that many of the applications and programs we use today are built by hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people all over the world. Open-source software (OSS) is a rapidly growing industry that provides many benefits to the individuals and businesses who use it, as well as to its programmers.

  1. Improve Coding Skills

    • As with almost all professionals, the only way to truly learn and perfect your craft is to practice, practice, practice. However, few professions provide the means to practice on real projects. A mechanic, for example, can gain skills and experience by working on his own car or a friend’s, but won’t necessarily receive the valuable feedback from a seasoned mechanic needed to further develop his skills.

  2. Gain Early Experience

    • Another motivation that is closely related to the first point is that OSS provides young developers with useful and valuable experience often required by companies for employment, even for internships and entry-level positions.

  3. Increase Community and Peer Recognition

    • Most people who are passionate about something strive to be recognized for the quality work they produce, and for some, developing software is a huge passion. Recognition from members from the OSS community not only encourages and motivates a developer to improve his or her skills, it can also create a number of opportunities, such as job offers and invitations to attend conferences and events, etc.

  4. Greater Job Prospects

    • In the same way contributing to OSS can help you increase your chances of landing an internship, it can also improve your job and career prospects. Nowadays, when many tech companies receive a CV from a prospective developer, they usually skim over the sheets of paper and spend more time investigating the applicant’s Github account.

  5. Improve Software on a User and Business Level.

    • A lot of the time, developers first come across OSS as users. In this case, the desire to contribute to this particular piece of OSS stems from wanting to improve it for their own use – either by improving certain areas or by developing new features and functionalities. The beauty of OSS compared to proprietary software is that this is all possible. Even if a user isn’t a programmer, he or she can still suggest new features and functionalities to the software’s owner or core team.

Additional resources

First Timers Only

Motivates a Developer to Contribute to Open-Source Software

List of Beginner-Friendly Projects (select your language of choice, also search for label:first-timers-only) ******