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A Guide to Open Source Projects Seeking Volunteers

July 7, 2025
Open Source Volunteering Foss Web Development Ai C Game Development Non-Technical Community Self-Hosted
View original discussion on Hacker News

For developers, designers, and strategists looking to give back, the open-source community offers a vast landscape of projects that could use a helping hand. A recent call for volunteers brought a variety of fascinating Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects to the forefront, each with unique challenges and needs.

These opportunities demonstrate that contributing isn't just about writing code; it can also involve documentation, testing, design, and even marketing strategy. Here’s a look at some of the projects seeking collaborators.

Web & Community Platforms

  • Habitat: A self-hosted platform designed to help communities discover their local area. This solo-developer project aims to build a location-based social network.

    • Tech Stack: PHP/Symfony, Docker Compose, Ansible, Leaflet JS/OpenStreetMap, HTMX, Cypress.
    • Needs: The project is looking for contributors with experience in any part of its stack. The maintainer has set up a project board with help wanted and good first issue tags to help new volunteers get started.

  • Klutz: A free-to-use website that provides access to various LLMs for chat (including chatting with websites) and 19 other free AI tools.

    • Tech Stack: AI/LLM-focused web application.
    • Needs: This project's needs are less about code and more about growth. The maintainer is specifically seeking help with marketing and monetization strategies to ensure the project's sustainability.

Low-Level Programming & Game Engines

Several projects built with C are looking for technical contributors with an interest in protocols and classic game development.

  • Scorpion Protocol: A project developing a file-format and protocol.

    • Needs: Help is needed with implementing TLS support, adding HTTP POST/PUT methods, bug fixing, and providing feedback on the specification itself. There's a specific call to help create a better, simpler API for the OpenSSL library.

  • Free Hero Mesh: A game engine for puzzle games like Sokoban, created as a FOSS alternative to a proprietary engine.

    • Tech Stack: C, SDL1, SQLite3.
    • Needs: The project needs help with bug reports, feature suggestions, and converting puzzles from other games. There is a specific, challenging bug in the FALLING puzzle set that needs a solution.

  • Super ZZ Zero: A game engine with similarities to classic games ZZT and MegaZeux.

    • Tech Stack: C, SDL1.
    • Needs: The maintainer is open to many forms of help, including bug reports, feature suggestions, documentation improvements, code review, testing, and porting.

A Resource for Finding More Projects

If none of these projects fit your interests, a valuable resource is the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) Collection of High Priority Projects. This curated list highlights projects of great strategic importance to the goal of a world where all software is free, offering another excellent starting point for impactful contributions.

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