So you read up on open source, read up on cbrtl and want to start hacking. There are some preliminaries that you should take care of first. These are listed in order:

  1. Create a GitHub account.
  2. Set up git on your local computer.
    • If you’re on windows, download GitBash and follow the install instructions.
    • Get a personal test repo set up and try out commands like push, commit, pull etc.
  3. Join the GitHub organization by adding yourself to the members list (More on that below).
  4. Join the Discord server.

Alright, you’re set to start out. At this point, I would recommend getting familiar with GitHub, reading up some articles and blogs. I highly recommend Atlassian’s git tutorials and documentation.

Making your first Pull Request

(NOTE: If you have experience using git and don’t want to waste time, just ping the @cbrtl moderator role on discord and we’ll add you).

If you had to follow through the above, then it’s likely that you’ve never made a PR before. To get your feet wet, make your first PR on our member’s list repo. Once you do that, you’ll be recognized as a member of cbrtl on GitHub. You will find a step by step guide on how to do that on the repository’s README.

Done? Great! 🎉

Now you’re going to have to wait for a moderator to merge your PR. That should be done by the time you’re done reading this article ;)

Getting the most out of it

The way you grow and shape your journey into Open Source is dictated by your level of engagement with people, and participation in projects, discussions and the like. Now then, how do you define “engagement” and “participation”? It can mean different things for different people, but the recurring ideas are the same.

Ways to participate

  • Contributing to the blog.
  • Part-taking in open source projects being built in the community.
  • Coming up with your own project ideas, and getting people to contribute.
  • Showcasing projects you have made on cbrtl blog and GitHub organization.
  • Contributing to larger open source projects outside cbrtl.
  • Asking questions, getting to know people better.
  • Volunteering on development and content moderation. Details here

Starting your own project.

It would be great to have more interesting projects available for people to work on. Look at the project showcase post for relevant information.