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general Beginner 21 lessons

Open Source Culture

Join the global code community. Understand licenses, contribution etiquette, and how to make your first Pull Request on GitHub.

Open Source Software (OSS) powers the world. This course guides you on how to become a contributor, not just a consumer. You will learn the difference between licenses (MIT, GPL, Apache) and what they mean for usage. We cover the unwritten rules of community etiquette, how to find 'good first issues,' and the technical workflow of forking, branching, and submitting a Pull Request. You will also learn that documentation and translation fixes are valuable contributions, making this accessible even to non-coders.

100% Free & Lifetime Access
⏱️ 5-Minute Lessons (Bite-sized learning)
🚀 21-Lesson Path (Independent modules)
📱 Mobile Friendly (Learn anywhere)
Community
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Complete Course Syllabus

  • 1
    OSS Philosophy
    History, values, and why open source matters.
  • 2
    Licenses 101
    MIT, Apache, GPL, and choosing the right one.
  • 3
    Finding Projects
    Using tags to find beginner-friendly issues.
  • 4
    The PR Workflow
    Forking, cloning, branching, and submitting.
  • 5
    Community Etiquette
    Communication, patience, and handling feedback.

Estimated completion time: 21 lessons • Self-paced learning • Lifetime access

Career Outlook

Estimated Salary
N/A

Career Paths

Open Source Maintainer Varies
Developer Advocate $120k-$160k
Community Manager $60k-$90k

What You Will Learn

Understand legal implications of different Open Source Licenses
Navigate community etiquette and communication norms effectively
Find beginner-friendly issues to start your contribution journey
Submit a Pull Request using the standard Fork and Branch workflow
Contribute non-code assets like documentation and translations

Skills You Will Gain

GitHub Flow Open Source Licenses Community Etiquette Collaboration Issue Tracking

Who Is This For

New Developers
Students
Non-code Contributors

Prerequisites

None
GitHub account

Open Source Culture FAQs

Coding req?

No, documentation fixes are great starts.

Is it paid?

Usually volunteer, but builds strong resumes.

My own project?

Yes, we teach how to open source your code.

Fear of rejection?

We teach how to handle feedback constructively.

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