Hacktoberfest 2020: My Journey as a contributor
Tags: hacktoberfest, opensource, github, digitalocean
Published: 2020-10-18 11:42:18


> “ I think Open Source is the right thing to do the same way I believe science is better than alchemy. ” - **Linus Torvalds (2007)**

### **What is open source? 🤔**

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/1rkbnudy8qu7jkpc8z8d.gif)
 
The term open source refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.

### **What is open source software?**

Open-source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance.

### **Benefits of contributing to open source?**

- Contributing to open source can be a rewarding way to learn, teach, meet people who are interested in similar things, and build experience in just about any skill you can imagine, 

- Working with others on a shared project means you’ll have to explain how you do things, as well as ask other people for help. The acts of learning and teaching can be a fulfilling activity for everyone involved.

- By definition, all of your open source work is public, which means you get free examples to take anywhere as a demonstration of what you can do.

- Whether it’s coding, user interface design, graphic design, writing, or organizing, if you’re looking for practice, there’s a task for you on an open-source project.

If you’re a new open source contributor, the process can be intimidating. How do you find the right project? What if you don’t know how to code? What if something goes wrong?

Not to worry! There are all sorts of ways to get involved with an open-source project

### **What is Hactoberfest?** 

Hacktoberfest 2020 is a month-long virtual festival event to celebrate open source contributions presented by Digital Ocean, Intel, and DEV. It is the easiest way to get into an open-source!

During the entire month of **_October 2020_**, all you have to do is contribute to any open-source projects and open at least **_4 pull requests_**. Yes, any project and any kind of contributions. You don’t need to be an expert in programming or coding. It can be a bug fix, improvement, or even a documentation change! And win an **_awesome T-shirt and awesome stickers_**.


![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/nbwgomvsbp1bytearewq.gif)


But, it’s not just about **_t-shirts or stickers_**. It's about supporting **open source**. It's about celebrating open source and giving it back. If you’ve never contributed to open source before, this is the perfect time to get started because Hacktoberfest provides a large list of available contribution opportunities (and yes, there are always plenty for beginners too).

### **So how did I get to know about hacktoberfest?** 

I heard about hacktoberfest from **_YouTube ads_**, after that I was curious to know more about it, so I just went to google and read some of the blogs from medium and watched some of the youTube videos.

### **📚 How Can I Contribute?**

First, you need to get yourself registered for Hacktoberfest. Signup at the Hacktoberfest 2020 website below.

**Link** : [http://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/](http://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/)

After signup, you can log in with your GitHub account

#### **NOTE** 

- Read the guidelines before doing any contribution 👇 

**Link** : [https://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/hacktoberfest-update](https://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/hacktoberfest-update)

- Read the rules carefully before the contribution, there might be a chance that rule gets updated so keep checking the website. 

**Your Pull request gets counted only if you are following these criteria** 

> PRs count if:
  Submitted during the month of October AND
  Submitted in a public repo AND (
   The PR is labeled as **_hacktoberfest-accepted_** by a maintainer OR
    Submitted in a repo with the **_hacktoberfest_** topic AND (
    The PR is merged OR
    The PR has been approved
   )
 )  

### **So how do we find the repository for contribution? 👀** 

Now search for the available issues for Hacktoberfest on the following link and start fixing those and contributing.

**Link** : [Click Here](https://github.com/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3AHacktoberfest) 

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/u3xj3kj4e94ym4wvrwpq.png)

Go to one of the repositories, ask maintainers to assign the particular issue, after project maintainers assign you the issue then only you can elect to contribute. 

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/orn80bk2h1jvhu6mtfyi.png)

### **Steps for contribution 👇**

- **Fork the repository**

Fork this repository by clicking on the fork button on the top of this page. This will create a copy of this repository in your account.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/pbxijfq5l4q9ezg06xsi.png)

- **Clone the repository**

Now clone the forked repository to your machine. **Go to your GitHub account**, open the forked repository, click on the code button, and then click the copy to clipboard icon.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ek1485mt2yxeo01v0ohk.png)
Open a terminal and run the following git command:

```sh
git clone "URL you just copied"
```

where "URL you just copied" (without the quotation marks) is the URL to this repository (your fork of this project). See the previous steps to obtain the URL.

For example:
```
git clone https://github.com/this-is-you/first-contributions.git
```
where **this-is-you is your GitHub username**. Here you're copying the contents of the first-contributions repository on GitHub to your computer.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/jsr1zfj7bdx2ahfnzim4.png)

- **Create a branch**

If you go to the project directory and execute the command **git status**, you'll see there are changes.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/d7qzds64dn1yujqnvpn8.png)

Change to the repository directory on your computer (if you are not already there):

```sh
cd first-contributions
```
Now create a branch using the git checkout command:

```
git checkout -b your-new-branch-name
```
For example:

```
git checkout -b add-alonzo-church
```
(The name of the branch does not need to have the word add in it, but it's a reasonable thing to include because the purpose of this branch is to add your name to a list.)

- **Make necessary changes and commit those changes**

Add those changes to the branch you just created using the git add command:

```sh
git add filename
      or
git add .
```

Now commit those changes using the git commit command:

```sh
git commit -m "Add <your-name> to Contributors list"
```

- **Push changes to GitHub**

Push your changes using the command git push:
```
git push origin <add-your-branch-name>
```

replacing **<add-your-branch-name>** with the name of the branch you created earlier.

- **Submit your changes for review**

If you go to your repository on GitHub, you'll see a **Compare & pull request** button. Click on that button.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/mhhgrqpmyg94mq0whz9u.png)

Now submit the pull request.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/4mqmwwuucylfrp9x9vce.png)

Soon project maintainers will merge all your changes (if and only if PR is valid) into the master branch of this project. You will get a notification email once the changes have been merged.

That's how you can complete all **4 valid pull request** and you get a chance to win **Hacktoberfest t-shirt and swags** 🎉

### **📈 How Can I Check My Status?**

To check if you have made at least 4 pull requests, and eligibility for your contributions, you can check the Hacktoberfest’s own website below:

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/aaos0297ijkpwcej56bk.JPG)
 
### **What after successful completion of the hacktoberfest challenge?**

After successful completion of the 4 pull request, then wait for the review period, after the review period is over which takes approximately **10-12 days** then you will be notified through the mail that you have successfully completed the **Hacktoberfest challenge**

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/xieg5oi84bbpwadphe1u.JPG)

### **Hurrey 🎉, you have successfully completed the Hacktoberfest challenge**

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/s6wc2yir1i3e1bj72jlu.gif)

Now, go to your profile, you will see something like this 👇 

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/809cpuue36whdzyryrn4.png)

The Digital Ocean team should eventually contact you asking for your shirt size and shipping address. (Keep in mind they are shipping 40,000 shirts so this process will take a while.) And yes, they will ship internationally.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/pmnklqrcrtzlm2p1gs9x.png)

I hope, I have given enough information related to the hacktoberfest challenge if you have still any doubt related to hacktoberfest, feel free to contact me 😃

### **React out to me 👓** 

**Website** - [https://hritik5102.github.io/](https://hritik5102.github.io/)

**Twitter** - [@HritikJ71241501](https://twitter.com/HritikJ71241501)

**Linkedin** - [@hritik-jaiswal-22a136166](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hritik-jaiswal-22a136166/)

**Github** - [@hritik5102](https://github.com/hritik5102)

**Facebook** - [@hritik.jaiswal.56808](https://www.facebook.com/hritik.jaiswal.56808)

### **References**

- [Opensource resources](https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-source)

- [Open source guide](http://opensource.guide/how-to-contribute/)

- [firstcontribution repository](https://github.com/firstcontributions/first-contributions)

- [The beginners guide to hacktoberfest 2019 winning the t-shirt](https://android.jlelse.eu/the-beginners-guide-to-hacktoberfest-2019-winning-the-t-shirt-1a03b67e68)

### **🎉 Happy Hacktoberfest & Happy Coding!!! 😃**