Keysight Connect #10 - Why It’s Important to Contribute to Open-Source Projects
[Presented by Tudor Cornea]
Have you ever contributed to Open-Source projects? From practicing your skills to gaining feedback from other professionals all around the world to helping the community at large, there are many reasons why developers should regularly contribute to Open-Source projects. And we’ve discussed them all during our last Keysight Connect meet-up.
Although it’s not remunerated in the traditional sense, contributing to Open-Source projects can open doors to new and exciting opportunities, some of which might not have been available to you otherwise. Not only do you get the chance to improve your coding skills, but you also gain exposure to new programming languages, SDKs, or libraries. Not to mention that you get to meet new people from all around the world and expand your professional network.
However, despite all the benefits, contributing to Open-Source projects is far from easy. Many programmers decide not to (although they might want to) for fear of being judged or their code rejected. But the reality is, it’s very rare that your first attempts will be accepted; you need to persevere!
Another common reason developers invoke is that their contribution won’t make a difference. That couldn’t be farther from the truth - the whole idea behind Open-Source is collaboration and knowledge sharing. So your contribution, no matter how small, does count.
And last but not least, contributing to Open-Source projects is often neglected for lack of time. But just like with anything in life, what is not prioritized doesn’t happen. If you want to contribute as an individual, you simply need to make this process a part of your routine.
Contributing as an organization is trickier as you sometimes need to justify ‘wasted’ time to your manager. However, you can address this issue by aligning your Open-Source strategy with the overall business goals of your organization. Thankfully, most companies today understand the benefits of contributing to Open-Source projects and encourage their employees to do so, so that shouldn’t become an issue.
Learn more about how contributing to Open-Source projects can help both you and the community from one of our engineers who has followed this practice for more than 10 years 👇
*This video was recorded during a Keysight Technologies Romania online meet-up. If you want to be notified about upcoming events, follow us on social media.