PeppyRaccoon

30+ GitHub Sponsors, 12K+ combined GitHub stars, Maintainer of 20K+ starred FOSS Repo — Ask Me Anything about Open-Source

I felt like doing this AMA since, recently, students and experienced folks are being lured by 'paid' open-source courses. Feel free to ask any questions without paying any $$$. I won't respond to questions which could potentially dox me though.

P.S. I know the post title is cringy, but I couldn't think of anything better ATM.

18mo ago

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GoofyDonut

Stealth18mo

How do you balance job and random open source contributions? Used to be active in the space, but ever since being employed full time, all contributions have been shifted to org work instead.

On the plus side, they also work on GitHub, so at least the lawn is still green, albeit with a boundary

PeppyRaccoon

Vercel18mo

I do contributions during weekends. Although, the 'actual' contributions I do have slowed down lately since most of the time I'm reviewing PRs & discussing issues as a maintainer. The dopamine hit I get when my PR gets merged keeps me going :)

GoofyDonut

Stealth18mo

Damn, turning system on on weekends! How do you find the motivation

FuzzyNugget

Stealth18mo

How can one contribute to open source as a beginner it is very difficult to understand codebase.

PeppyRaccoon

Vercel18mo

Be on the lookout for small or mid-sized repos, don't head straight into React or TS codebases for example. It could be a small library which you find interesting or have used in your projects. Don't contribute just for the sake of contributing.

Go through the README.md & CONTRIBUTIONS.md files
Tinker with the app & thoroughly read the docs
If you find any error in the docs or something lacking, create an issue explaining your problem
Discuss with the maintainers & then implement. Fixing docs is the easiest way to get started. Most of the docs usually have an edit button on each page which links directly to the respective GitHub file in the repo. So, you won't have trouble finding in the repo. If that button doesn't exist, use the search function in your IDE to find.
Now, you already have a basic idea of how to contribute and know a part of the codebase which has the docs. Go the already merged small PRs and understand how, what & why that PR was raised & merged.
Look for 'Good First Issue' tag. They are usually there for newcomers. Then, slowly and steadily move on to larger issues
Always ask for help from the maintainers if you're stuck somewhere or want to solve an issue but have no idea where to get started. No one will judge you. Treat them like friends.

Hope this helps!

PeppyRaccoon

Vercel18mo

*Go through

ZippyMochi

Stealth18mo

How would you say things have changed for better or worse since Microsoft's involvement in GitHub?

PeppyRaccoon

Vercel18mo

I would say it's like a double-edged sword. Like let's say for example, GitHub Copilot. Copilot has helped me spew out mundane & boilerplate stuff just by 'tabbing'. This helped me give more time to focus on logical stuff. However, this is also a concerning part, since it crawls through my code and the code available publicly on GitHub. I don't like the idea of borrowing code available publicly for free and monetizing them using copilot.

Microsoft also, has been promoting their own stuff through GitHub & isn't transparent about their future plans IMO. Products like VS Code have a facade of open-source even though it is not. I'm not completely hostile against MS but they're a very sketchy org regarding their future plans around open-source.

GigglyNarwhal

Stealth18mo

Microsoft's strategy of EEE(Embrace Extend Extuinguish) is in full throttle. Open Source !== Free Software(free as in freedom😅). If you are a FOSS maintainer, keep a remote kn GitLab as well.

WigglyPanda

Headout18mo

How can I generate some passing income from doing open source?

PeppyRaccoon

Vercel18mo

Find a common problem -> create a library solving that problem -> promote it -> start getting users -> setup a sponsor page -> people will sponsor if they find it useful & don't want you to abandon it
Start contributing to some well-known repos -> slowly & steadily keep taking issues -> start doing some major contributions -> build some reputation within that community -> creator or maintainer will start sponsoring you for your work if you're actively contributing

Both of these options will take time & patience.

PrancingCoconut

Accenture18mo

@tzr How do you promote your library?

BubblyMuffin

Amazon18mo

No questions tzr ser 🙏 thanks for doing this ama, some great insights and tips you've left here.

PeppyRaccoon

Vercel18mo

I was fed up of cringefluencers sharing handwritten git cheatsheets in the name of open-source tips, so I thought about giving this free gyaan I never got when I stepped into open-source 🫡

BubblyMuffin

Amazon18mo

Upload 76 pages of handwritten notes on how to make a PR else I'm not believing you're an OSS contributor. Also where is your GSSOC badge?

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