An open-source software or application is publicly available for us to use and contribute to it. We can contribute to its source code, documentation, writing articles about it, and many more.

There are many advantages in contributing to open source communities. A few are,

• Upskill yourself.
• Make the software/application better with code & documentation.
• Meet like-minded people, build networks.
• Understand the application development, maintenance cycles.
• Learn how to manage your code as open source.

For many beginners, the common question is,
How to get started with the Opensource contributions?

Here is a list of eight resources to get you started immediately with it. Also, I have a bonus for you at the end of the list.

1. GitHub Explore

🔗 Link: https://github.com/explore/

• Find repositories based on your interest.
• You can set the notification to get informed.
• Search repositories by topics, trends.

2. Contributor Ninja

🔗 Link: https://contributor.ninja/

• It provides you a list of languages to chose from, JS, HTML, rust, go, and many more.
• You get the cards of repositories to select from. A simple place to get started.

3. First Contributions

🔗 Link: https://firstcontributions.github.io/

• A vast list of open-source projects to search and filter.
• A very well-guided documentation to get started.

4. Code Triage

🔗 Link: https://www.codetriage.com/

• Mammoth list of projects with open issues.
• Shows a separation of issues and docs to triage. The website is beneficial.

5. Up for Grabs

🔗 Link: https://up-for-grabs.net/#/

• A comprehensive list of opensource projects to pick from based on your interest.

6. Good First Issues

🔗 Link: https://goodfirstissues.com/

• Perfect place to get started.
• Find repositories and issues based on your interest.

7. First Timers Only

🔗 Link: https://www.firsttimersonly.com/

If you have never contributed to an open-source project before and you’re just getting started, consider reading this page.

You may see many sources we have already discussed, but the page is full of motivations.

8. Open Source Friday

🔗 Link: https://opensourcefriday.com/

What are you doing this Friday, or the next one? How about investing a few hours contributing to the software you use and love? Please check this out and register.

Bonus

• Here is a comprehensive documentation of resources from freeCodeCamp to get started with the open-source contributions. Apart from various resources, it also provides information about tools, tips &t tricks, articles, and ecosystems—a must-read for beginners.

• Another invaluable article by Catalin Pit: Getting Started With Open-Source: How To Contribute As A Beginner is a must-read.

That's all for now. The eight resources discussed in this article was initially published as a Twitter thread,

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Hacktoberfest 2021 is just around the corner. I hope this guide helps you to get started.

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