In this blog, I will be talking about the hype that goes around Opensource programs happening all over the world and how it affects folks into Opensource. These are my views, I would love to know yours in the comments.

What are Opensource programs?

Opensource programs are events that promote contributing to Opensource and might be related to a particular company. Some of these events provide you with a decent stipend for contributing to projects, the duration varies from 1 to several months.

Examples: Google Summer Of Code, Hacktoberfest, MLH Fellowship (Opensource track), Girlscript Winter Of Code and so on.

Who can participate in these programs?

To be honest there are no such participation criteria for these events. Sometimes it might depend upon the amount of knowledge you have regarding the projects or the tech stacks they use. Beginners and people with very good knowledge both can apply to be a part of these.

The problems that arise

Just before some big programs, there's hype. That boosts the audience and lets more people jump in. It's not bad, but some problems arise because of these programs but people rarely notice this. These are my views but I think it happens with a lot of people around.

Tsunami of newbies

Because most of the programs do not require any criteria for participation there are a lot of newbies that get started with Opensource with the help of these events, therefore a Tsunami of newbies trying to contribute to Opensource. But eventually, they are left unguided, lost with a lot of their time wasted in figuring out codebases, and processes and also in some cases banned from the events.

Zero value contributions

More than the value, the majority is driven towards the prizes or "swags" that they'd receive after achieving certain goals in the program. As a result, we have a lot of spam, meaningless contributions and people trying to cheat their way in to receive some stickers and a T-shirt. This generates the mentality of "Opensource is all about swags" which is bad in every possible way.

Biased judgments

Programs like GSOC (Google Summer Of Code), MLH fellowships, and LFX are competitive to get in and as a result, a lot of people fail. Multiple time. That generates the mentality "that if I'm not able to get into those programs, I essentially suck at Opensource." which is not true. You can go contribute to Kubernetes, react, and Facebook, without being a part of those programs, all they do extra is provide you with some extra mentorship and stipend. So these judgments are meaningless yet it keeps coming.

Major FOMO

Imagine you get to know about Opensource today, and the next day you go to contribute to a very basic website and see that because of a program you are not able to figure out one single issue. People all over are raising all the beginner issues. You see your seniors getting to be a part of huge Opensource programs yet you are not able to. You watch people managing to complete 5-6 issues and here you are struggling with just one. These lead to FOMO, and tbh are tough for starters.

Conclusion: Is the hype good or bad?

Well, it depends on the way you look at it. As a beginner, even if the hype pulls you in, don't start with these events. It will be overwhelming the majority of the time, grow up slowly. As a person into Opensource for years/months - create opportunities for beginners, and give these programs a try, it's okay if you fail. These programs are good only when you can be a good part of it, but for beginners, I will highly recommend you not to nose dive your way in.

That's all for this blog, if you love what I do follow me on Hashnode and Twitter. Love you all, bye!