I have been wanting to contribute to open source software since I started working as a software developer. I loved the idea of building things that others actually use, making people’s work easier, contributing to a common goal, and giving back to projects that I use. But I didn’t for my entire career. I always had an excuse, all of which ultimately came down to “I don’t have time”. Often that was because I had some ill conceived idea that I thought would become a thriving business if only I wrote code faster. Sometimes it was that I thought my “hobby time” was not enough to make any meaningful contributions. Sometimes it was that I didn’t know the languages for any of the projects I wanted to work on (there wasn’t a lot of stuff written in Go when I was first programming) and didn’t have time to learn the ones they used.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Open Source contributions don’t have to be grand gestures. You don’t have to be a master at the language. Heck, one of the biggest weaknesses of developers is their ability to write and document in plain English leading to subpar documentations and a huge opportunity for contribution. You don’t even need a ton of time, especially not necessarily in one sitting. I just solved a very small problem in a project I used over the course of several different sitting by figuring out a little more each time. You see, the biggest strength to bring to open source problems - especially bugfixing - is a willingness to analyze and problem solve. Next is probably a willingness to try. And those aren’t language-dependent skills. They’re not even really programmer skills, though I think they provide an important foundation to becoming a successful programmer.
But I think the principle is applicable anywhere. If you want to get into dog training, do you need to find hundreds of hours to go to training programs and read dozens of books? No. You need a dog - not even necessarily one you own - and a few minutes you can spare on some kind of regular basis. If you want to do woodworking, do you need to build a cabinet? No, and I don’t recommend it as a first project (ask me how I know). You need a few tools and a piece of wood. Build a little box or carve a spoon. If you want to serve in your community, do you need to open a nonprofit and quit your job? No, you can pick up some garbage on the street.
The point is, you don’t have to do big things to do things. You don’t need to be a super hero. You just need to do something. “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”
Go do something small and tell me how it goes.