Contribution check-in

So far, I was able to make two small contributions:

1. I added a source to a Wikipedia article about my hometown.
   1. Challenges: Finding an article with issues that I could solve rather quickly (such as adding a citation) was the biggest challenge. I decided to choose a subject I’m very familiar with, but I didn’t realize the time and effort it takes to comb through an article and research a decently credible source to add to it. Another challenge was understanding Wikipedia’s community standards to ensure that my edit wouldn’t get rejected right away. However, I found the built-in editing interface very intuitive, so there were no significant issues on that end.
   2. Proudness? I guess, I’m mostly proud of this contribution for sentimental reasons: it’s cool to have contributed to a page about your hometown. It is also my very first contribution to anything open source, which was for sure intimidating. But other than these two reasons, this contribution is pretty boring, and I wish I’d contributed something more major. Proudness level: 6/10
2. I removed a closed down restaurant on my block from OpenStreetMap.
   1. Challenges: The main challenge was familiarizing myself with the OpenStreetMap interface as this was my first time using it. I was surprised that editing a map is so easy and also does not require any review whatsoever (it’s very different for code-based contributions because of PRs, issue tracking, all that). Although I indicated in the contribution that a peer review would be good, I don’t think someone actually took a look at it.
   2. Proudness: Similarly, I wish I’d contributed something more major. However, Manhattan (a.k.a. the center of the world) is not really an uncharted territory that needs to be mapped out, and I don’t know any other borough (and even any other neighborhood besides Nolita/Chinatown) as well. While this contribution is very small, I still felt like I was helping others. After all, locals and tourists alike would appreciate accurate information on what’s open in the neighborhood. Proudness level: 6.5/10

Pre-Spring Break goals

My OSSD professor recommended to make as many contributions as possible before break, so I’ve set a goal to make at least 2 (two) more in the next 2 (two) weeks. I also want at least one of them to be a code-based contribution. Places I’m going to look at:

• the chat-e2ee repository that I did a project evaluation of: sometimes they post minor issues like changing a variable or rewriting some plain text, which could be an easy first contribution
• class website repository

Small comment about contributing to other OSSDers’ repositories: I know it is allowed or even encouraged, but I feel like a stalker looking at all of my classmates’ repositories looking for issues like broken links and typos. This feeling kept me away from reporting issues or making PRs. However, someone reported an issue on my repo, which turned out very helpful because I would’ve never spotted it on my own!