My First Hacktoberfest: A Developer's Journey Into Open Source
My First Hacktoberfest: A Developer's Journey Into Open Source 🎃 Hello, DEV community! 👋 My name is Malik Putra , a developer from Indonesia 🇮🇩, and this is my very first post on DEV.to and what better way to start than with Hacktoberfest 2026 ! Why I Decided to Join Hacktoberfest Honestly? I've been coding for a while, using open source tools every single day frameworks, libraries, packages…
Hello DEV community! I am Malik Putra, a developer based in Indonesia. This is my inaugural post on DEV.to and what better way to kick off than with Hacktoberfest 2026. My motivation for joining this event? I have been coding for some time now, utilizing open source tools daily - frameworks, libraries, packages - all created by individuals who chose to share their work with the world.
However, I had never contributed anything back until October arrived. I declared, it's time to give back. Hacktoberfest appeared as the ideal stepping stone. It offers a structured event, a friendly community, and a clear objective: make substantial pull requests and be part of something greater than my individual projects.
Let me clarify, I'm not an experienced open source contributor. Entering Hacktoberfest 2026, this is my current situation:
- Primarily working with web technologies and backend systems
- Continuously learning to navigate complex, unfamiliar codebases
- Aiming to contribute code, documentation, and tests, not just typo corrections
- Believing that every expert was once a beginner who took the courage to submit their first pull request
I am attracted to projects that:
- Are actively maintained (regular updates, responsive maintainers)
- Solve real issues for developers or general users
If you have a project that matches these criteria and needs a new set of eyes, please mention it in the comments. I would be delighted to take a look. To my fellow Hacktoberfest 2026 participants, whether you're new or experienced, I would love to connect. Share your objectives, project suggestions, or simply say hello. This month promises a journey of learning, contributing, and growing together.
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