Originally Posted by kvedaa

Well I would think that a good way to start would be to find an area of interest for you and then look for a project in that area.

When you find a project that you think might be a potential place to dive into, take some time and become familiar with the project (what is the state of documentation, is it under active development, do people from the project seem to be accessible via forums or other methods, what language(s) are used by the project, how does the product currently work, etc.). Introduce yourself to the development team via their forum as you get to know the product. As you become more comfortable with the product, start pitching in on the forum by providing suggestions to people who are experiencing problems (this can help to make you more of a known quantity). Look over the code that they are using, see if you understand what is going on, if you do and have suggestions on how to fix problems, enhance performance, add functionality, etc. bring them up to the developers on the forum. This will provide you with the dialog necessary to get involved with a project.

A few items to keep in mind. I would suggest that you set your sights reasonably at first. For instance the group that works on the Linux kernel will want to know more about you before they will start blindly taking your suggested code and plugging it into the kernel. Having a track record of being a dependable contributor and and good coder from smaller projects would be a good starting point.









Second, remember that many people put a lot of energy into these projects and can often get emotionally connected with them. Hence, when making suggestions to change them, try to be gentle to avoid coming off as if you are insulting their work.

Happy Hunting!