I want to start contributing to open source. I think I know the mechanics of doing so. I have also skimmed through Open Source Resources for Beginners posted by @jess which I'll use the sources she provided to find projects. I have few questions
- After I contribute first time, am I illegible for
first-time-only
issues any more? How aboutbeginner
issues? - Should I ask whether I can work on the issue every time I want to do so?
- What happens if I claim the responsibility of wanting to solve an issue and after few days of trying I can't? Is it a bad thing to start the open source "career" as the guy that can't finish?
- Do I do anything if I have contributed but after a week the pull request hasn't been accepted?
- How about me taking the initiative of: correcting spelling, adding instructions to the readme, or (my favorite) creating demos. Should I just open an "issue" (even though it's not technically an issue) and ask if they want it, or should I just make the pull request and see what happens?
- Relating to question 5 (more for the github interface maybe), if I want to ask the owner "hey I see you made a function that let's you scroll to an element, but you haven't provided a demo, would you like me to do it" do I open an issue (even though it's not) or reach out to them through email or what ever else. Or is it ever a good idea just to make a pull request with a message and let them decide whether they want it
Context that made me ask the above:
I made my first contribution a week a go, I asked whether they wanted their document translated to Albanian, they said yes, but nothing happened after I made the pull request - everything fine in my end (hence question 4). Github timeline thing says that I made the first pull request (fireworks and everything)
Few days a go I found a fantastic issue, the owner had made it especially for beginners, it was as simple as adding two lines of code. But I had never come across of that issue before. I would have solved it with a bit of research. 23 hours later, I check back and they owner had solved it (which is fine) (hence question 3), in this case I know I would have solved it, but for the future what's the best thing to do.
Two more, sort of, unrelated questions:
- I read that new contributors should blog about it. I do not get that, what would I blog about? Isn't that just a tweet's worth of content "I contributed yet again". I'm serious, I'd love to get into this in every way I can!
- I've had few personal goals I needed to solve hence programming has been a hobby till now, as I start looking for work, do these contributions go on my CV under "work experience"?
Hope this made sense.
Thanks devs
Just wanted to share this additional resource that @bekka put together:
Wrap it up: Being a Good Citizen of Open Source by #devDiscuss
Rebecca