Open source participation is crucial to maintaining software infrastructure by contributing to the improvement and development of code within a community (Oreg & Nov, 2008). Motivations to contribute overlap as there are significant benefits to any participation, providing or being given access to the knowledge of other contributors. The approach to this contribution was inspired by improving as a developer by considering other’s perspectives and needs, as well as shaping a project by providing a community with an additional perspective and approach. While coding one has to consider other’s perception and understanding to a greater extent, providing a notable focus on users in the development process. A user’s experience was kept in mind as it can differ greatly from one’s own as the developer isn’t necessarily the user. 

Contribution to an open source project was an opportunity to build something by providing one of the building blocks. The knowledge of gaining experience without pressure or risk was a nice reminder to simply learn and improve a little bit as a developer. Contributing an additional perspective to the project, a building block others might continue to shape or build on top of, was an addition to the community. This approach might differ from someone else’s, inspire another developer, change someone’s approach or represent a solution to another’s problem. 

Overall, open source participation is taking a part in a community whilst building a network of relationships benefitting one another. Code is better when maintained by a whole community.

Bibliography

Oreg, S. and Nov, O. (2008) ‘Exploring motivations for contributing to open source initiatives: The roles of contribution context and personal values’, Computers in Human Behavior, 24(5), pp. 2055–2073. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2007.09.007.