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I think the most vastly needed contribution to open-source is writing, fixing, and polishing the README.md file. Or at least one with the Often the newcomers a
by stared 4y ago
I think the most vastly needed contribution to open-source is writing, fixing, and polishing the README.md file. Or at least one with the
Often the newcomers are the best ones to do so, as they see things that are "obvious" for the maintainers but not necessary for anyone starting. It includes installation options (and what to do when seeing common errors), typical use cases, and links to further materials.
- ethbr0 4y agoI worked at a (non-tech) company that had internal org-wide code visibility + a strong culture of README always documenting "How do I run this?" It was a godsend and game changer for quickly finding reusable code and understanding how it did what it did. There were some key enablers (well-designed permissions request system, mature EDW), but at the end of the day it was people taking the time. Since then I've always tried to be that person -- if someone who knows nothing about the project can't get it running on a reasonably standard system by following the steps in the README, then the README isn't finished.