How to find Open Source projects on GitHub

Hacktoberfest kicked off last week and is now in full swing. This week on the GitHub Twitch Channel we did a walk through on all things Hacktoberfest.

We looked at what Open Source is in the first place and how Hacktoberfest got started. We took a deep dive into the State of the Octoverse where you can find lots of information and stats on Open Source Projects and Contributors.

What people really want to know is how to get involved. And not just how to get involved, but where to start. How do you find projects to contribute to? What's a good project? What if you want to simply learn to code? Or you only just started coding?

Finding a Project

On our Twitch stream, we answered them all. One of the coolest things our viewers loved, is where to find projects. It can often be a daunting experience when you first look at Open Source. There are so many projects and so many issues you almost don't know where to start. Hacktoberfest has made it easy by showcasing projects on their homepage.

But did you also know you can search trending Open Source projects on GitHub? You can even filter by programming language, spoken language, and even date. We ran through an example on how to find a top Ruby project. If you check out our search terms you'll find the top Ruby projects for today.

You can even search by developers. If you want to find a top developer contributing to the language you want to write, then you can do just that too. We found a Ruby dev with nearly 6,000 contributions just this year!

There's so many ways to find projects you're interested in. Taking a look at trending open source repos are just one way of doing this.

Open Source Friday stream

If you missed this epic talk on our Open Source Friday stream, don't worry. It's all recorded and will be uploaded to YouTube really soon. You can always join us on one of our Open Source Friday sessions. You'll meet lots of awesome developers, connect with the community, and have the chance to ask questions from both GitHub staff and open source maintainers.

Follow us on our Twitch Channel and join our Meetup Group. We post all our upcoming Open Source Friday streams, as well as meetups for your region. Looking forward to seeing you on the next live stream, and good luck with all your Hacktoberfest Contributions.