Hacktoberfest 2023 Voyage: Code, Challenges, and Tree Planting! 🚀🌳
Tags: hacktoberfest23, meshery, opensource, hacktoberfest
Published: 2023-11-09 12:11:23

Hey DevFam! 🚀 I’m Roshan Goswami an Entrepreneur, Software Developer and tester, and guess what? I dived energetically into the Hacktoberfest pool this year at https://github.com/csengineer1990, it was a wild ride! I'm no stranger to the open-source scene, but this was my first dance with Hacktoberfest. Buckle up, because I'm about to spill the tea on my highs, lows, and the whole shebang.

### Highs and Lows
Let me unmask the sap on the thrilling stuff! I dove into some cool projects Meshery, Layer5, and Aiven Open Klaw docs. Picture navigating the Git ocean, crafting pull requests like a seasoned pro, and participating in laughs with maintainers and fellow contributors. But, you know, it was not all smooth sailing. Some roadblocks felt. But guess what? I did not wince down. I reached out to the team, dived those challenges, and voila! That is the enchantment of the open-source fam. Oh, and did I mention, that both projects are stupendous? Faced a bit of a mystification in setting up the terrain and keeping the repo streamlined, but I cracked the law. A massive shoutout to the maintainers and reviewers your guidance was a game-changer throughout the issue- working trip! 

Absolutely! Have you ever found yourself scratching your head, thinking, "How on earth do I fix this?" Well, I sure have, especially when dealing with installation hiccups on Kubernetes and cloud platforms, juggling frameworks and libraries for the [Meshery](https://meshery.io/) project. Another challenge rolled in with the Aiven project, where updating a few frameworks and libraries made the installation a tad smoother.

It was like trying to solve a complex puzzle, digging into the intricacies. But here's the plot twist—I didn't throw in the towel. Instead, I teamed up with the community, asked for advice, and, ta-da, we investigated the mystery together. It felt like pure teamwork magic, teaching me the importance of perseverance and the power of a supportive open-source crew.

### Growth
Levelling up my tech game during Hacktoberfest was like going on a gaming spree. Before this epic journey, I had my tech groove, but boy, did I go wild with learning!

On one side, there was [Layer5](https://layer5.io/) an empowerer of engineers, the creator and maintainer of cloud-native standards, and the maker of [Meshery](https://meshery.io/), the cloud-native manager. Meshery, in particular, was my playground for exploring the intricacies of Kubernetes, Docker, and the cloud. As a newbie in this domain, I'm still wrapping my head around the project architecture. I actively participated by uploading an icon for the Kubernetes Component - Ingress and addressing a few documentation grammatical issues. I even tried my hand at a pull request, converting a class component to a functional one, a move that improved my React.js skills. The Meshery community, led by the fantastic Lee Calcote (https://github.com/leecalcote), was incredibly supportive and friendly. I attended their weekly meetings, introduced myself, and even got to learn about new project ideas during the CNCF meetings. For any dev out there, these projects are a fantastic starting point to learn and grow in the tech world. Go check them out, give them a star on GitHub, and join the community! https://github.com/layer5io, https://github.com/meshery/meshery.


On the other side, the [Aiven ](https://www.klaw-project.io/) Open Source Program Office (OSPO) housed the Avian Crawl project. Aiven Open is a space where all open-source projects are made and maintained by Aiven Open. Led by maintainer and contributor Mirjam Aulbach (https://github.com/programmiri), the OSPO was incredibly supportive and polite in guiding me through the process. I worked on updating branding.yml and respective files for better documentation use, learning about spell-checking concepts with Vale and diving into Docusaurus.
Go check them out, give them a star on GitHub, and join the community! https://github.com/Aiven-Open/klaw, https://www.klaw-project.io/

Both these projects broadened my horizon about the possibilities of open source in providing the world with new technology.

As for accomplishments, I was among the first 50,000 participants in Hacktoberfest 2023. And that wasn't all! I also received the "Tree Planted" award, and [Meshery](https://meshery.io/) was kind enough to honour me with the "First Hacktoberfest Participation" award.

![Holopin Badges](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/hgn2fmvmczxenygmuaq5.png)


## Exciting Rewards for Hacktoberfest 2023

**Hacktoberfest 2023** Reward Kit offers various rewards to participants who complete the event.
Congratulations on completing Hacktoberfest 2023! We thank you on behalf of the maintainers and projects that your contributions supported, and we hope that you will continue contributing to open-source in the future. Please enjoy these rewards from our partners that made Hacktoberfest 2023 possible.
Rewards

- Amplication
Free Amplication Pro Plan for two months and other amazing gifts.

- Appwrite
$50 in Appwrite Cloud Credits, valid for 90 days. Claim reward
DagsHub. Use DAGHACK2023 to get 1-month free trial of the Team tier, including up to 1TB of storage, data and notebook versioning, CI/CD/CT integration, and up to 5 Annotation projects. Claim reward 

- DEV
Earn dev.to badges for contributions, gain community recognition, and receive discounts for the Forem Shop. Claim reward

- DigitalOcean
$200 in Credits, valid for 60 days.

- GitHub
GitHub's Student Developer Pack offers verified students thousands of dollars worth of tools for free. 

- Hacktoberfest
Get featured in the 2023 Hall of Fame. Go to Hall of Fame

- Holopin
Use code HF10REWARDKIT to get one month free of the Holopin Starter Plan to create and issue 1 badge for up to 100 recipients. Claim reward

- Hugging Face
An exclusive Hugging Face badge and access to an organization that will provide early access to new features. Get access

- ILLA
Use the code ILLAHacktoberFest to redeem two months of free access to ILLA Cloud Premium, or ILLAHACKTOBERFEST2023 for 80% off for 6 months. Claim reward

- MLH
Claim a special Holopin digital badge to celebrate Open Source and MLH Global Hack Week, with some additional special perks. Claim reward

- OpenSauced
12 months of free access to all OpenSauced's paid features, and the chance to connect with other contributors and maintainers. Claim reward

So, wrapping up my first Hacktoberfest 2023 was like closing an adventure book filled with learning, growth, and meeting some incredible folks in the open-source world. It's wild how this single event can turbocharge your skills and swing open new doors in your career. Excited to see what Hacktoberfest 2024 brings! Because, you know, it's not just about where you end up; it's about the crazy journey and the amazing souls you cross paths with.

Stay curious, keep coding, and always be ready to dive into the next adventure! 🚀✨ Open source with Hacktoberfest is indeed awesome 🚀✨!