How to contribute to open source

If you've never contributed to an open source project before, it may seem daunting. In this video I break down the process and show you how improving software isn't all that scary.

00:00 gdb bug
00:30 building gdb
02:32 reproducing the bug
02:54 finding the bug
04:55 adding a new setting
08:09 testing the setting
09:16 testing the fix
09:55 how to contribute
11:11 writing documentation
12:42 sending the patch
13:30 recap

[angryzor]

For me it’s usually

- identify problem
- checkout code
- attempt to build
- build fails because of missing dependencies
- spend an hour solving missing dependencies
- spend another hour looking for the correct outdated version of missing dependencies
- realize your OS doesn’t have the required version in its package manager and you have to start manually installing the dependency
- dependency now conflicts with OS version of dependency
- do arcane hackery to fix that
- one of the missing dependencies has to be built from source, and that one has another 3 dependencies that need to be built from source
- repeat previous steps 4-5 times
- obscure build error
- seems like you don’t have the correct compiler version
- attempt to manually install specific compiler version that has to be built from source
- repeat previous steps
- finally build
- tests fail
- throw computer through window

[dexterman]

Whoa. That's some god level shit right there. I don't think I could've moved around that quickly around code, get my bearing so quickly, figure out what to change and where. Damn, 45 minutes. Would've taken me 45 DAYS. I hope I get better lol
Nice video!

[javierflores]

You just demystified contributing to projects which are not in a code hosting platform such as Github or Gitlab to me, I often just feel reluctant to contribute when it comes to a project using mailing lists, it just seemed so intimidating for no reason whatsoever

[ara_pandemonium]

Great video! There really isn't much content out there that aligns with what you post. I really appreciate the content you produce. Great stuff, as always.

[jaredroder]

Thanks for letting us know you took a look at the code the day before. That kind of transparency is reassuring.

[bobbilderson]

I would love to see more of this.
Just walking through a debugging process. It's something we all try to figure out on our own, but don't get a chance to see someone think out loud because they're self conscious or something.
Amazing. I honestly love this so much.

[picklypt]

I would love to see more of these videos where you show what you did and break it down step by step.
It really helps new people getting into open source contributing

[pattyspanker]

4:15 was a good moment for me. I've started developing what I thought to be a strange habit of deleting code before trying to fully understand it. Can't tell you how many times I've dredged through random code with involving difficult mathematics only to realize hours later its not even being used anymore, its just being shadowed by a new implementation.

[kenneth_romero]

9:40 "i did not expect it to magically work" gotta love when this happens to you

[choilive]

is that a monospace comic sans font? a true chad.

[MistaSmith]

The world needs more content like yours. Thanks a lot!

[dominikoeo]

I think you could copy/paste from the gdb TUI window with Shift + mouse selection, without any change to gdb. It bypasses gdb mouse handling. The same happens in tmux or in vim for example.

[viyicciyiv]

This video pushed me to finally contribute to an open-source project, thank you! :)

[Erhannis]

My usual problem the couple times I've tried to contribute to open source code is after writing code for like 8 hours, submitting my patch and getting in a back-and-forth with the maintainer either about whether the change was necessary in the first place, or "cool; could you actually make it do X instead" "uh, ok I guess", for another 8 hours

[DaveChurchill]

Great video! What's the fish in the thumbnail?

[gymdis]

Just slightly worried that software projects become less usable through previously working default functionality being hidden behind obscure settings added as bug fixes.

[tbird]

From 1:00 onwards, typical Linux experience.

[MinNyeAccount]

ITs cool watching you blaze around in the editor, fast af

[theyreMineralsMarie]

"oh I see whats going on..."
"I think"
"I'm not sure"

"Anyway..."

[chris_kouts]

This guy reminds me how bad I am. Anybody else?