This week we learned git in depth and how it helps us to version control our code. It was especially helpful to know what git does in the background after we type git commands in the terminal. I got the chance to look at the .git directory, which stores the commit history and other data about our repository, and see it’s contents using git commands such as git log. I have only used git and github as a VCS for my own projects, but never for collaborating with others on a large project. I’m excited to use the new tools such as git branch when contributing to FOSS projects.

We also looked at open-source projects to evaluate them based on its activeness and easiness of contribution. Our group looked at Godot Engine, an open source game engine. We found the project to be very friendly to new contributors and very active. There were more than 3100 contributors and both the number of commits and issues were in the tens of thousands, and the latest commits or issues being submitted hours or even minutes before our review. There’s a clear document on how to contribute and there are example issues that are good for beginners to create.

I’ve also looked at the evaluations written by other class memebers, it seems like that most large open source projects such as Godot or Scikit-learn are friendly to new contributors and have a clear guideline to contributing. However, with these large projects it might also be more difficult for me to find places to contribute as I’m not so familiar with the project and doing so might take too much time. I think the part that excites me the most about working on an opens source project is knowing that I will be using the same project that I’ve contributed to. So I plan on looking into some projects that I’ve used and see if any of them are fit for me to contribute. At the same time, choosing a project that I’ve already used also means that I’m already somewhat familiar with the functionalities of the project, which will make it easier to understand the codebase.

I’ve also made some contributions on OpenStreeMap, updating the status of closed restaurants that have been replaced by new ones around my dorm. It’s exciting to know that I’ve made the map just a bit more accurate than before.