The Penguins ClubLinux & FOSS Community • Est. 2020
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UPSTREAM COLLABORATION & PR SPRINT🌐 In-Person + Stream

Contributing to Open Source Software & Git Best Practices

Hands-on guidance through cloning repositories, fixing good first issues, writing tests, and opening upstream pull requests. Learn how to communicate effectively with maintainers and write clean atomic commits.

Date & TimeThird Saturday • 15:00 - 18:00 BST
LocationCampus Lab Space & Online Live Stream
Admission100% Free • Open to All
COUNTDOWN TO GATHERING
BST (UTC+6) • Live Real-Time Ticker
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Attend via TelegramDownload .icsGoogle Calendar
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About This Event

Contributing to open source software can seem intimidating from the outside. How do you find a repository? What is an atomic commit? How do you rebase without losing work? How do maintainers review pull requests?

This meetup demystifies the entire workflow. Attendees will follow a practical case study, making changes on a real open source repository, writing clean documentation and tests, and creating a pull request that maintainers love to merge.

We also address the interpersonal and community aspects of open source: writing constructive issue reports, handling code review feedback gracefully, and building an enduring presence in international FOSS communities.

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Key Highlights & Activities

  • •

    🌿 Understanding Git internals: Trees, blobs, commits, and refs under `.git/`.

  • •

    🔀 Mastering git rebase -i, cherry-pick, bisect, and resolving tricky merge conflicts.

  • •

    ✍️ Crafting meaningful commit messages using the Conventional Commits specification.

  • •

    🎯 Navigating GitHub, GitLab, and mailing-list patch workflows (git-send-email).

  • •

    🌟 Reviewing real upstream issues from community projects.

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Event Schedule & Agenda

Timeline and sessions for the day (BST Dhaka Time)

15:00 - 15:45

Git Under the Hood: What is a Commit Really?

Core Developer SIG

Inspecting DAGs, refs, the index staging area, and SHA-256 hashes.

15:45 - 16:30

Branching Strategies & Interactive Rebasing Without Fear

Maintainer Panel

Squashing commits, rewording history, and resolving conflicts with surgical precision.

16:30 - 17:30

Live Upstream Pull Request Demo & Code Review Walkthrough

All Mentors

Watch a maintainer review and merge real community pull requests in real time.

17:30 - 18:00

Q&A, Mentorship Matching & Open Floor

Community Collective

Get paired with senior mentors for ongoing contribution goals.

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Prerequisites

  • Familiarity with basic terminal commands (`cd`, `ls`, `mkdir`).
  • A GitHub or GitLab account.
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What to Bring

  • Laptop with git installed and configured (`git config --global user.name ...`).
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Facilitators & Hosts

The Penguins Club Git Mentors

The Penguins Club Git Mentors

Open Source Maintainers

Seasoned contributors helping students make their first 10 pull requests.

github.com/the-penguins-club
❓

Frequently Asked Questions

Will there be code examples in different languages?

Yes, git workflows apply universally regardless of whether you write Python, JavaScript, Rust, C, or Markdown.

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