Ask HN: What open source projects need help?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Open-source maintainers are highlighting a wide range of projects that need help, from transit apps, payment systems, and EDA tools to chat platforms, AI frameworks, and hobby games. Needs span far beyond coding—encompassing documentation, UX design, product management, testing, and community building—while some projects seek very specific language expertise and others are explicitly beginner‑friendly. Commenters also debate the practicality and ethics of volunteer work on corporate-backed projects, the value of curated “help wanted” lists, and how to make contributor experiences more welcoming and sustainable.

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.