Thanks for your article. I've been trying to jump into contributing to OSS projects for some times but I've been unable to figure out where to start. "Scratch your own itch" is probably the best way to start for someone like me.
Another great way is to find a project you use, look at the bug reports, and start fixing them. Go after the small ones, or the fun ones, whatever seems appealing. Odds are that if the bug is still open but not critical, you'll be the first one to submit the fix and start to become loved by the community!
