Starting the new year by attending a session today (2nd January 2023) conducted as a part of the #shebuild hackathon on the topic "Getting the Most Out of the Open Source Programs" spoken by Harsh Bardhan Mishra, Engineer @localStack, GSOC'21 @metaCall, GSOD'21 @mojaglobal. Just wanted to sum up all the points for my folks looking forward to participating in a hackathon.

How to start building stuff:

1. Figure out what you are good at: Know what your strength is and what you enjoy doing.

2. Learn by experimenting: Explore different fields.

3. Are things getting boring? Jump and find your next passion.

4. Build a depth in what drives you to build more.

Why contribute to open-source?:

1. 80% of maintainers have trouble finding new contributors.

2. 92% of projects have trouble finding open-source talent.

3. You can build a career in open source. Open source is not just about programs such as GSOC, Hacktoberfest, etc.

How can we build a career in open-source?:

1. Build, scale, and monetize your own open-source projects.

2. Collaborate with a company with open-source products.

3. Get sponsored to contribute to open-source sustainably.

4. Make a sponsoring page, so that different interested companies can sponsor you.

Contributing Streams: These are the various way you can contribute to in open source. Yes, it's not just coding, open source has many different streams.

1. Code

2. Documentation

3. Design

4. Accessibility

5. Testing

6. Advocacy

7. Mentorship

8. Management

Diving Further into open-source:

1. Focus on the quality and quantity of your contribution: Try to give a quality contribution to the quantity.

2. Adopt no-code contributions more for adjacent impacts. Try out other streams than just coding.

3. Give back and make people contribute to open source.

Why participate in Open Source Programs?:

1. Exposure to open-source development lifecycle.

2. Improved problem-solving & development skills.

3. Fosters domain-specify knowledge & expertise.

4. Develop new tech skills & soft skills to succeed.

Acing Open Source Programs?:

1. Find good projects; Don't just pick them because of the competition.

2. Introduce yourself early to the community & mentors.

3. Brainstorm & share feedback while asking hard questions.

4. Start working on your proposal while making good first contributions.

Navigating open-source programs:

1. Write meaningful code & docs that can be integrated at the end.

2. Ensure that your mentor knows your work & the progress you are making.

3. Engage with the community and let the benefits of your work be known.

4. Build skills & capabilities within the organizations and undertake initiatives.

5. Mentor & Guide others while helping the make their first contributions.

Open source gives you a launchpad for Software Development. Open Source programs are meant to make developers comfortable with real-world projects.