Posts

GSoC Introductory Post

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My journey as a GNOME user started in 2020 when I first set up Ubuntu on my computer, dual-booting it with Windows. Although I wasn't aware of GNOME back then, what I found fascinating was that despite Ubuntu being open source, it's performance and UI was comparable to Windows. I switched to become a regular user of Ubuntu and loved the way the GNOME Desktop Environment seamlessly performed different tasks. I could run multiple instances of various applications at the same time without it lagging or crashing down, which was often a problem in Windows. A beginning in open source The first time I came across the term "open source" was while installing the MingW GCC Compiler for C++ from  SourceForge . I had a rough idea of what the term meant but being a complete noob at the time, I didn't make a decision of whether to start contributing. When I felt I had enough skills to contribute, I was introduced to  p5.js , which is a JavaScript library for creative coding. Wi

Being a beginner open source contributor

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In October 2023, with quite a bit of experience in web development and familiarity with programming concepts in general, I was in search of avenues where I could put this experience to good use. But where could a beginner programmer get the opportunity to work with experienced developers? And that too, in a real-world project with a user-base in millions... Few people would hire a beginner! We all know the paradox of companies intent on hiring experienced people for entry-level roles. That's where it gets tricky because we can't really have an experience without being hired. Well... maybe we can :) What is open source software? Open source software is source code made available to the public, allowing anyone to view, modify, and distribute the software. It is free and the people who work to improve it are most often not paid. The source code of open source software provides a good opportunity for a beginner to understand, work on, and modify a project to improve its usability.