How do you guys get into open-source? It’s hacktoctoberfest and I am trying to contribute to ANY project. I searched a lot, the popular python libraries I use don’t really have many good-first-issue. Most issues are very very specific that the time I try to even understand it, the person who actually implemented will probably resolve the bug. Where to even begin? How will I know which project to contribute to? I have googled but never really got answer. Searched projects but most of them were dead.

Questions...

What project.

What language.

Do you write documentation?

Can you do bug triaging?

Good. Now look up any major project, check if they have discord / slack / irc / matrix / mailing list...

Write a short resume including the answers to the questions above.

Wait patiently.

We have a lot of timezones around the planet and some OSS projects consist of few developers who have to juggle family, full time job and OSS.

I recently figured out the problem you have!. Its simple; you have to search for a project you REALLY care about. You don't need a beginner issue. Tackle something that bothers you on a project you used. And if they don't merge in your changes. Import your own fork of the project instead of theirs.

1. Solve simple bugs in the order of priority/severity/complexity
2. Sift through the code and find your own bugs and send PRs
3. Find missing features and propose a design approach
4. Review others' PRs and share your comments or better yet fix for them

You can always review the docs and rewrite anything complicated in your own words, add new instructions (like how to dockerise this project), fix any typos, or even grammatical errors

The entry points are many. Just jump right into a project once you decide it looks nice and worth investing to. Keep watching everyday and in no time you will get a good familiarity

Find a growing and currently developing project,
Find some easy issue/task todo and get at work.

From there you'll learn more about the project, and can later even contribute to more complex solutions.