Should we encourage contributions to open source software as part of the Portfolio module?

[40thieves]

Initially discussed in Tech Ed Syllabus team on 2024-02-13, see minutes.

Originally inspired by Outreachy, which is an organisation that arranges "internships" that contribute to open source software (OSS) projects for recently graduated bootcamp students & self-taught developers.

This led to a question of whether we could encourage contribution to OSS projects through the Portfolio module, which I'd like to open for discussion here.

[40thieves]

An obvious drawback: OSS projects have a reputation of being unfriendly to newcomers, leading to trainees feeling hurt & demotivated.

[40thieves]

We discussed the idea of CYF operated projects being a "safe" project for trainees to practice contributions.

@SallyMcGrath created https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/First-Timers-Project to provide guidance around this.

[FridIsar]

Interestingly this is also a discussion we're having in Barcelona:

Recently, GitHub Education has partnered with OpenSauced, a social media for Open-Source contributions. Verified GitHub students can connect their OpenSauced profile to their LinkedIn profile for free (which showcases their contributions).

GitHub Education has made an Intro to Open-Source course with a "roadmap" (which seems more like a bunch of resources).

@isha789 (graduate & volunteer) volunteered to do the whole course. Once she's done it, I'll ask her to compare it with Sally's course and will report our findings back to you!