Open Source is not just about disclosing source code. It is about a collective community coming together to solve problems and to push the industry forward. To achieve this we need to get more people involved in Open Source development, and encourage an Open Source mindset. One way to do this, I think, is to lower the barrier for new and experienced developers to get started with Open Source. A hypothesis of mine is, if a developer maintains open projects, they are more likely to contribute and treat other Open Source projects with respect.
To test this hypothesis, we need to help more people get started and cross the initial obstacle: What to do. I think there are many interested in doing hobby projects and contributing to the Open Source world that don’t know quite where to begin. On the other side, we have many developers overflowing with ideas but only lack the time and resources to realise them all. I propose we come together and solve both these problems with the help of each other.
I have a feeling that it’s not as common to share great ideas of what to make or what projects to work on. This leads to many ideas just fading away on some long forgotten TODO-list, and no one ever getting to see it implemented — or having the joy of implementing it. It is better to ignore the proprietary feelings we have about our ideas and share the ideas to the community — helping others in the process.
This is why I’m starting the Open Source Ideas Initiative. This is a repository where anyone can share ideas they have for new projects. And anyone can join in and work on an idea — and even collaborate with others on the ideas. You can also start a discussion on the original idea for feedback on the implemented project, to help beginners feel more comfortable. To improve the Open Source world, we lead by example.
So if you have any ideas you would like to share, head over and post a new issue. If you are looking for ideas or want to get started doing Open Source, there are some ideas already posted at the repo. They should be categorised by difficulty and amount of work to easier guide you to what project is best suited for you.
Categorised ideas of the Open Source Ideas Initiative
Read more about the initiative and help pull this off at https://github.com/mikaelbr/open-source-ideas.