How do I find an open source developer?

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How do I find an open source developer? 37signals May 10 2010

7 comments Latest by Nick Dunn

A reader asks:

I have a question that I hope you can help me figure out. I am actively looking for a developer that I can team up with to continue updates, etc. on my web-based application.

You mention in ‘Getting Real’ finding people via open source and I was wondering if you used a particular website for finding open source developers or how you do go about finding someone reputable. Thanks!

GitHub is a good place to find people based on their open-source contributions. Typically, if you want to find an open source developer, you need to follow one or more open source projects and see who is committing actively. It’s not really a smorgasbord affair — at least, not if you want to find quality contributors. (And there’s always our Job Board if you want to place an ad that reaches out to developers.)

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7 comments so far

AAK 10 May 10

We’re right here!

Carlo Pecchia 10 May 10

Interesting insight about “how good/bad” a single open source project is going can be found at http://ohloh.net.

Here you’ll find a lot of interesting information, as well as people contributing to the project(s).

RadamR 10 May 10

OpenHatch is basically a matchmaking site for open source devs/designers and projects. Great place to find work or find talent.

Rob 10 May 10

Stack Overflow is another fantastic place for this. http://careers.stackoverflow.com/

Jeff Putz 10 May 10

Shameless plug: CodePlex

If you find a project that aligns with your interests, it’s good to reach out to the devs who maintain it.

Philip 10 May 10

BUILDITWITH .ME seems to be a great platform for connecting people with application ideas with developers and designers. Naturally you won’t be able to evaluate code like you would on github or CodePlex, but at least there will be developers actively looking for projects.