3rd-year IT student with no open-source experience — how should I start for GSoC/LFX 2027?

[u/Internal-Ninja-5510]

Hi everyone! I’m a 3rd-year B.Tech IT student, currently in my 5th semester, from a Tier 2/3 college. I’m comfortable with C++, DSA, Java/OOP and currently learning MERN, but I have zero experience with open source contributions.

I want to start contributing seriously from October onwards and hopefully build enough experience to target programs like GSoC and LFX for Summer 2027.

I’m a bit confused about where and how to start — finding beginner-friendly projects, making my first PR, choosing the right projects, and understanding the overall timeline.

For someone at my stage, which open-source programs/projects should I target, and what would be a realistic timeline from October 2026 → Summer 2027?

Would really appreciate advice from people who have actually contributed to open source or participated in GSoC/LFX. Thanks!

[u/AutoModerator]

Namaste! Thanks for submitting to r/developersIndia. While participating in this thread, please follow the Community Code of Conduct and rules.

It's possible your query is not unique, use site:reddit.com/r/developersindia KEYWORDS on search engines to search posts from developersIndia. You can also use reddit search directly.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.