Codidact uses the open source Qpixel, which is also maintained by CD admins.

Sometimes it is mentioned in passing that the devs are open to and interested in help with developing this codebase. I'm sure some contributors are resourceful enough as to simply skim the source and figure out everything on their own.

For those who are not able to do this, what mentoring (if any) is available from current devs? Are they open to jumping on some kind of chat to explain the code to me, will they help me troubleshoot trying to run the project locally, run tests, install dependencies, etc? Or is this a project where contributors should be self-sufficient and the current dev team does not have the resources to help them contribute? No specific expectation here - I'm cognizant not everyone has unlimited time to maintain a FOSS project.

According to Github, Qpixel uses: Ruby, HTML, Javascript, SCSS, Docker and bash. Implicitly, you also have to know git and proper pull review form. For those who are novices at these techs, are the maintainers interested in helping them also learn the language while attempting to contribute, or would they prefer if contributions came only from people who are already confident users of these tools? I know that many FOSS maintainers complain that dealing with low-quality PRs is a big time sink and they'd rather not have novice coders attempt to submit them.

Please note: I am not (despite my phrasing) personally looking to contribute to Qpixel right now, due to a lack of time. However, I think this is an important question for any potential contributor, and having it addressed can increase the chances of receiving useful contributions, so I decided to ask.

posted 8 months ago

CC BY-SA 4.0

matthewsnyder‭

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