> “Well why not get involved in open-source”, I can only say back “I’d love to, but with timezone differences, strong personalities and incredibly low self-este

> “Well why not get involved in open-source”, I can only say back “I’d love to, but with timezone differences, strong personalities and incredibly low self-esteem I don’t feel like I’d really be welcome there.” When it comes to many open-source projects, you've got people from all over the world participating, so time-zone isn't an issue. And most of us have strong personalities, yet low self-esteem and suffer from the impostor syndrome. That's the curse of being a human being. Some communities are more toxic than others. In some communities you've got jerks allowed to do whatever they want, like conducting personal attacks on other people. But most communities I interacted with are very friendly and civilized, most of them have a Code of Conduct as well. So if you had a bad experience, just remember that there are other communities out there far more welcoming. As for steps of getting started, pick a project you could see yourself contributing to, find the communication channels (mailing lists, IRC, Gitter, Slack) and start asking questions and answering the questions of beginners, which is a painless way to start getting involved and meeting people. Sooner or later you'll find yourself submitting PRs on Github and saving money to participate at conferences only to meet your peers face to face.