Introduction to Open Source Contribution

What is Open Source?

"Open Source" is the practice of publishing digital resources where the design, content, or source is publicly available to be used, modified, or shared.

For this session, we will use the term "open source" in the context of software projects.

What is Open Source Software?

Open Source Software is software whose code is available to: view, modify, and distribute.

"Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code." - The Open Source Definition by the open source initiative.

The software is usually created and maintained by a community of software developers, users, or anybody who wishes to contribute. Anyone with an internet connection can view the code, suggest changes, or point out issues to fix on repository hosting platforms like Github, Codeberg, Sourceforge, Bitbucket, etc.

Whether something is open sourced or not depends on if they have a LICENSE.

What's a License?

An Open-Source License is a license that allows and dictates how content is used, modified, and shared.

What is NOT Open Source Software?

Open Source Software is NOT proprietary code, which is code that only a few people can view and modify.

It is also NOT shareware, public domain software, freeware, or software that viewers and readers made freely available without access to the source code.

Why Would I Want to Get Involved?

Be involved with a community.

Improve coding and communication skills.

Work towards a software-specific Job or Career.

Contribute to creating software that can be more representative of you!

"I think having a voice in the tools that are being built is important. If you step back and think about what the point of technology is—it’s to help us, right? And if the people designing the technology don’t know who you are, they’re probably not going to be able to help you. This was part of the foundation of Processing." - Cassie Tarakajian in AIGA Processing: the Software that Shaped Creative Coding, Part II

Before I Begin, What Would I Need to Get Started?

• A Github Account
• Github Desktop
• A Device with Internet Access

If you don't have any of these prepared, please feel free to partner up with someone who does!