Create "How to succeed as a new contributor to open source projects" blog

[StackScribe]

Summary

We need a blog post with advice for junior contributors to open source projects. This supplement our "Contributing Guide" which has specific instructions and guidelines for contributing to Keptn and offers broader advice about how to approach contribution so that it is a good experience for the contributor and the project team.

Let's use this issue to record points that seem worth discussing. All community members (new and old) are welcome to post comments and suggestions as comments to this ticket.

Details

Some suggested topics:

• Start out by selecting several projects you want to consider. Look for projects that interest you and for which you have the requisite skills.
• Gradually narrow your list to just a few and get involved in them -- attend community meetings, look at the open issues and open PRs, study the source code to get a feel for it. Consider whether you would rather work with a fairly new open source project or a more mature one.
• You will probably end up selecting one or two projects where you will work but be professional in your interactions with all projects. Remember that you may run into some of these people in the future and behave so that, if they remember you, it is a positive memory.
• Most projects have good-first-issues that are contributions you can make without having a lot of product knowledge. It gives you a chance to familiarize yourself with the tools and procedures as well as the product technology.
• After you do one or two good-first-issues, you should look for a more complex issue to work on. The goal is to do substantive work and build your skills. Completing twenty good-first-issues is probably not going to do that.
• When you ask to be assigned to an issue, be sure that you can start work on it immediately. You should submit a first PR within a couple of days or at least within a week.
• The project teams want to help you succeed but you should try to figure things out for yourself before asking for help. Teams are more impressed by someone who says, "I think I need to do x then y then z -- is this correct?" or "I figured out x but I don't understand how y communicates with x" than someone who says, "So tell me how to do this."
• If you start an issue and can't finish it quickly because you have other obligations, please notify the team immediately so they can assign the issue to someone else.