[dpcan]

I think: By saying "appropriate" he wasn't really asking how to find open source projects in his language of choice, but how to know which ones will eventually get him noticed, or how to pick the open source project that seems to have meaning to other people, etc.

It appears that the op may have had a stroke of good luck by picking the perfect OS projects. It would be a bummer to extend yourself in an area that nobody cares about if the whole purpose were to get noticed.

If using Open Source as a self-promotion tool, it's important to choose wisely.

[zaphar]

What's important is getting noticed by whoever you collaborate with. That helps you form a network. It doesn't have to be a high profile project it just has to help you form a network of friends who know you and can vouch for your work.

[Paul_D_Santana]

Yes! Exactly. Thank you for understanding what I meant.

I want to hear about the decision process behind how or why Zaphar chose the open source project he did, and how others here choose their open source projects?

Just a little advice, so that I too (and others reading), can (wisely) choose our first open source project to contribute to.

[zaphar]

I just chose what I liked and had fun with. Hung out with people working on Blender. Hung out in the perl IRC channel on freenode. Hung out with a group doing an Open Source game called Planeshift which wasn't high profile in any way but it gave me experience. And put me in contact with people who had connections.

[Paul_D_Santana]

Hah I really like the IRC idea (especially since I don't know anyone like you do). Just joined the Ruby channel as a test at: http://irc.lc/freenode/ruby-lang