Ask HN: What open source projects need help?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overview

  • Thread is a call for open-source projects that need help, and a place for potential contributors to discover them.
  • Projects span many domains: transit, EDA, dev tooling, security, games, ML, payments, BIM/CAD, audio conservation, web frameworks, chat platforms, backup tools, etc.

Types of Help Requested

  • Coding across many stacks: C/C++, Rust, Go, Python, Java, Kotlin, Swift, TypeScript/JS, Ruby, Django, Rails, C#, Elixir, Postgres, Redis, Kubernetes, etc.
  • Non-code roles: product management, UX/UI design, documentation, testing, packaging, translation, and PR/communication.
  • Some projects explicitly advertise “beginner-friendly” or “good first issue” labels; others seek intermediate/advanced contributors.

Examples of Project Needs

  • User-facing apps: transit (OneBusAway), “web OS” file/cloud environments, Strava-like trackers, recipe simplifiers, presentation tools, backup tools, org-mode-to-HTML, real estate site builder, chat/Discord alternatives, 3D model galleries, games like Neverball and Theme Hospital clones.
  • Developer tools & infra: secrets management, SQS-compatible queues, reverse ETL, Git aliases, assertion libraries, Rust input simulation, C memory-safety variant, diffusion ML codebase, LLM agent frameworks, Kubernetes config tools, reverse-engineering tools, Parchive v3 reference implementation.
  • Domain-specific: privacy-preserving payments (GNU Taler), BIM/IFC toolkits, electronic passport communication, underwater orca monitoring, foraging maps.

Debate on Experience Requirements & Corporate OSS

  • Some maintainers explicitly prefer contributors with multiple years in specific stacks, citing limited bandwidth to teach fundamentals.
  • Others argue this is uncommon and can feel unwelcoming or “job posting–like,” potentially deterring capable contributors, including those leveraging tools like ChatGPT.
  • There is criticism of large corporations (e.g., Microsoft) appearing on “help-wanted” lists while being highly resourced; others respond that tags simply indicate contributions are welcome.

Effectiveness of Threads Like This

  • Skeptics doubt many people will meaningfully contribute to unfamiliar projects discovered in such a thread.
  • Others report actively looking for projects (e.g., to keep skills sharp or during sabbaticals) and say discovery threads do help.
  • Several tools for ongoing discovery are mentioned: GitHub “help-wanted” topic, CodeTriage, CodeShelter, Up-for-grabs, and project-specific “good first issue” labels.