Pull in Viget posts

content/elsewhere/getting-into-open-source/index.md

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+---
+title: "Getting into Open Source"
+date: 2010-12-01T00:00:00+00:00
+draft: false
+needs_review: true
+canonical_url: https://www.viget.com/articles/getting-into-open-source/
+---
+
+When evaluating a potential developer hire, one of the first things we
+look for is a profile on [GitHub](https://github.com), and I'm always
+surprised when someone doesn't have one. When asked, the most frequent
+response is that people don't know where to begin contributing to open
+source. This response might've had some validity in the
+[SourceForge](http://sourceforge.net) days, but with the rise of GitHub,
+it\'s become a lot easier to get involved. Here are four easy ways to
+get started.
+
+## 1. Documentation {#1_documentation}
+
+There's a lot of great open source code out there that goes unused
+simply because people can't figure out how to use it. A great way to get
+your foot in the door is to improve documentation, whether by updating
+the primary README, including examples in the source code, or simply
+fixing typos and grammatical errors.
+
+## 2. Something You Use {#2_something_you_use}
+
+The vast majority of the plugins and gems that you use every day are
+one-person operations. It is a bit intimidating to attempt to improve
+code that someone else has spent so much time on, but if you see
+something wrong, fork the project and fix it. You'll be amazed how easy
+it is and how grateful the original authors will be.
+
+## 3. Your Blog {#3_your_blog}
+
+I don't necessarily recommend reinventing the wheel when it comes to
+blogging platforms, but if you're looking for something small to code up
+using your web framework of choice, writing the software that powers
+your personal website is a good option. [The
+Setup](http://usesthis.com/), one of my favorite sites, includes a link
+to the project source in its footer.
+
+## 4. Any Dumb Crap {#4_any_dumb_crap}
+
+One of my favorite talks from RailsConf a few years back was Nathaniel
+Talbott's [23
+Hacks](http://en.oreilly.com/rails2008/public/schedule/detail/1980),
+which encouraged developers to "enjoy tinkering, puttering, and
+generally hacking around." Don't worry that your code isn't perfect and
+might never light the world on fire; put it out there and keep improving
+it. Simply put, there's almost no code worse than *no code*.