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Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

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Re: Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

#21

Post by kmike84 »

chatmasta wrote: post #17

Does anyone have a good writeup on the workflow for contributing to open source Python projects? I often fix small bugs, but it's a pain because I usually install via pip, then when I realize there is a bug, and fixing it myself is the fastest way to resolve it, I have to go out of my way to do so. I have to remove the pip package, fork the original repo, clone it into the repository of my current project (where I wo…

If you have a public repository anywhere (e.g. you've forked a project on github) then you can add a specific git commit to the requirements instead of pypi version.

See https://pip.pypa.io/en/latest/reference/pip_install.html#vcs...

Re: Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

#22

Post by jordigh »

k__ wrote: post #11
eatitraw wrote: post #5

I have an online friend who contributes to firefox. They are fairly beginner-friendly, though you probably need to have some C++ skills. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/contribute/

I contributed to Firefox. The Mozilla guys are awesome. But if you are used to Github/PRs their Bugzilla/Hg-Patches workflow feels like going back in time... way back to the old days.

Ignore anything about MQ. They have old docs on using MQ that we've been trying to wean them away from.

Modern hg is far better than MQ, and in some situations, better than git. You can edit, you can rebase, you can amend, you can evolve.

Re: Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

#24

Post by chatmasta »

kmike84 wrote: post #21
chatmasta wrote: post #17

Does anyone have a good writeup on the workflow for contributing to open source Python projects? I often fix small bugs, but it's a pain because I usually install via pip, then when I realize there is a bug, and fixing it myself is the fastest way to resolve it, I have to go out of my way to do so. I have to remove the pip package, fork the original repo, clone it into the repository of my current project (where I wo…

If you have a public repository anywhere (e.g. you've forked a project on github) then you can add a specific git commit to the requirements instead of pypi version. See https://pip.pypa.io/en/latest/reference/pip_install.html#vcs...

Exactly what I was looking for. This is why I come to HN. Very clever. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

#25

Post by honest_joe »

workonononon wrote: post #7

http://www.freesbd.org/ A fun open source operating system. Some C knowledge required.

You say some C knowledge required when we are talking about a complicated UNIX kernel.

right..."some"knowledge is really required...

Re: Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

#26

Post by thatsnotme »

MaxGabriel wrote: post #10

I strongly recommend trying to contribute to a project that you personally use. Once you've been using it for awhile, you'll be better equipped to make changes to it + you'll maybe find bugs that you can fix. While you're doing this, mark yourself as a watcher of the project on Github, that way you can see bug reports come in and maybe fix them. You can try to contribute to just any project someone here suggests, but…

I know C and also Javascript/jQuery/CSS/HTML and I want to work on a project, so as to apply what I've learnt into something that is actually useful.

Re: Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

#27

Post by k__ »

jordigh wrote: post #22
k__ wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I contributed to Firefox. The Mozilla guys are awesome. But if you are used to Github/PRs their Bugzilla/Hg-Patches workflow feels like going back in time... way back to the old days.

Ignore anything about MQ. They have old docs on using MQ that we've been trying to wean them away from. Modern hg is far better than MQ, and in some situations, better than git. You can edit, you can rebase, you can amend, you can evolve.

MQ?

Re: Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

#28

Post by dataker »

I'd first learn git basics and start my own 'testing' repos. Then, I'd start contributing to certain frameworks, libraries, modules/gems I use in my own side-projects.

Regardless, the rule of thumb is to not be afraid of contributing. As a beginner, that's usually the biggest issue.

Re: Ask HN: What are some open source projects that a beginner can work on?

#29

Post by Dewie »

ywecur wrote: post #14

This Hacker News app for Android is relatively small and readable, plus it would be great to get some more contribution going. Look into it. https://github.com/dinosaurwithakatana/hacker-news-android

Great! My shadow ban has been kind of subtle on the normal (desktop) HN version, but it was kind of too obvious on the mobile version. I think HN can do much better passive aggressive-wise, and waste people's time even more, on the mobile version. I intend to delve into that code base so that the mobile version can be as cryptic and still-works-but-kind-of-stand-off-ish like the desktop, with random long loading times, "you're submitting too fast" messages, shadow banned comments, etc.

Again, thanks for bringing that to my attention! Passive aggressive bans will soon be a force on mobile, too!

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