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A Beginner's Guide to Open Source

Arindam Majumder on February 18, 2023

Introduction Open-source software has been around for decades, but it's only in recent years that it has gained mainstream acceptance. W...
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Liyas Thomas

Good read 👏👏

I'd like to mention two posts I wrote previously which could be helpful to those who are trying to contribute to open-source projects.

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Lucas Barret

Really interesting article.
When I was a student (not so long ago 😅).
I have participated to an open source project of the linux foundation.
I've learned a lot (even make some money). I think it is one of the most valuable experience I had at the moment since it brings me a lot of others one for jobs.

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Arindam Majumder

That's a great

I would love to read about your experience!

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Lucas Barret

Yeah, I will totally write about that. :D

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Ben Ford

Open Source Software (OSS) is code that can be easily accessed by the public, making it able for them to see, modify or distribute said code. Open source is often decentralized based on community collaboration.

Fwiw, this is not the definition of Open Source.

Open Source software is code that is licensed such that users are granted the rights to use, study, change, and distribute it. It may or may not be developed collaboratively and/or in the public.

I don't mean to be pedantic here, but it's super super important to not get into the habit of assuming that just because you can access the source that a project is Open Source. That's how you end up inadvertently getting your company caught up in a legal battle.

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Arindam Majumder

Sorry,Ben!

It's my mistake!

Thanks for pointing out!

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Yegon Japheth

very well said and thanks for helping us newbies grasp the right info

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Medea

nice tips!

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Arindam Majumder

Glad you liked it!

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Chris Greening

Hey Arindam thanks so much for sharing these tips! Really love open source as a means of upskilling and building solid portfolio/resume experience

I come from a self-taught background and starting my own open source project in 2020 was without a doubt the defining start of my career in software engineering and I really owe a lot to the open source community as a result - it's a great way to meet a lot of really interesting people building really interesting projects

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Arindam Majumder

Thanks a lot for Chris!

Glad you liked my blog!