The utilization of open-source software is advantageous for both developers and users. Many successful and innovative companies adopt open-source as part of their strategy. Participating in open-source offers various benefits, such as:

1. Develops experience Open-source software provides the opportunity to gain experience working with other developers. When contributing to open-source code, feedback and reviews are easily accessible to help improve code quality. Working in open-source helps develop teamwork and communication skills as users encounter bugs and request new features.
2. Collaboration with others Maintaining a codebase by oneself can be challenging. By making a project open-source, it allows other developers to contribute to the codebase by opening pull requests that fix bugs, enhance features, and add new functionality. This allows for a diverse range of people to collaborate on the project.
3. Increases job opportunities Being active in the open-source community can open up job opportunities as it grants connections and visibility to potential employers. By contributing to popular open-source projects, employers can view the contributions on a developer’s GitHub profile, making them stand out among other candidates. An open-source portfolio can also serve as a showcase of skills to potential employers.
4. Receive support through donations When a project becomes popular and widely used, users may begin to donate to the developer. This can serve as motivation to continue maintaining and improving the project. Additionally, companies may sponsor projects that become valuable.

If you want to get started on contributing to open-source, here are 40+ beginner-friendly open-source projects you can help out to kickstart your open-source journey. Or contribute to OSSPH’s projects on GitHub by taking a look at the open issues and making pull requests.