Hello,
I have been thinking about making the jump towards Open Source, not just using OSS but also contributing to it.
First, some OSS projects/apps I know of are Peertube, Lemmy (right now using Voyager app), Mastodon, Matrix (used to use the Element app, gave up because I realized it was too hard for those around me who got used to Whatsapp), OpenStreetMap (through OrganicMaps), Jellyfin, and Actual Budget, Godot Engine, Luanti, GrapheneOS… I might know more, but those are the ones I remember right now.
Second, I have some basic experience with programming (mainly Java [haven’t learnt GUI yet tho], SQL, and C# for Unity videogames), but no experience entering an already created codebase yet, let alone making changes and sending them (and I admit I might need to get some practice with Git), so it is pretty intimidating. Do you have any advice about it?
Third, I’d like to hear about projects you find interesting or useful. Not neccesarily to contribute or even use them myself, but I’m interested in which other projects there are out there.
Edit: Thank you for the responses, what I got was basically find OSS to replace not-OSS I currently use, and contribute either fixing issues myself, helping with other stuff (making issues, writting or translating documentation, helping newer users), or giving feedback on the project.
If you want to text normal people, I recommend Cheogram (XMPP) rather than Element. It’s more of an open internet standard, it’s very lightweight and battle tested, and the app I mentioned for Android can be bridged to phone+SMS gateways, there are some default services available or you can be very industrious and make your own
If you’re looking for more examples of software to replace what you have, Pipepipe is probably the best vehicle to directly stick your thumb in Google’s eye. It’s the most frequently-updated NewPipe fork
do you know of there’s a web front-end/port/app for cheogram that can be used on a browser?
i started using cheogram recently, but it only seems to work on my phone and i’m too much of a crusty dinosaur to switch from using my laptop to using my phone most of the time.
Yeah they actually recommend the Cheogram web client as a way to use the phone gateway on desktop in addition to Dino (and the irritating Jitsi/Jami SIP setup that works if you don’t mind two apps and are attached to your Gajim setup). I had not noticed, or that there is in fact a directory of public Jabber rooms, until today
IIRC you are American (sorry for the insult if not) which means you have a great phone gateway option. I did not: had to contact my telecom tbqh it took like two months 🤣 🤫