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What is Open Source?
A brief explanation for those who are unfamiliar with what an open-source project is -
Everyone has used VLC Media Player at some point in their lives. It is a media player or application that can play media files such as audio or videos. It was created by a group of French students to stream through satellite dishes. As students graduated, the project was passed down, and eventually, the team behind it decided to make the player available to all internet users for free. They eventually shared the project's source code on the internet, allowing anyone to find bugs and add features to the code, and it became open-source software.
Under a license, open source refers to source code that is made available to the public to view, use, modify, and distribute. In simpler terms, the project folder containing all built code and resources is made available to all.
For example, you may be using open-source software whose source code is available on GitHub. While using the software, you discover a bug that needs to be fixed, and you use your programming skills to examine the source code to determine the source of the problem. If you discover a problem, you can create a solution and request the repository administrator to commit the changes to the project. And if your request is granted, your contribution will be added to the project.
Where to find projects?
I am mentioning some of the best websites for beginners to start with and these are my favorites
There are numerous other websites that list the projects, but these are sufficient to get started.
In what ways you can contribute to the project?
Your contributions do not have to be limited to programming. You can help a project by adding context to existing code and APIs and writing project documentation. For example, Angular has two entire GitHub projects dedicated to documentation.
If you are a graphic designer, you can also contribute to the creation of a style guide to ensure that the project has a consistent visual design.
You can filter and search based on your skill set.
There are numerous other ways to contribute; try researching them on the internet.
How to contribute?
I've included a video link so you can see how the process of open-source contribution works with a guide on how git and GitHub work by Kunal Kushwaha .
Thank You, Keep Learning!
#WeMakeDevs #opensource #firstcontributions