Breaking into open source can feel intimidating, especially for beginners — but it doesn’t have to be. In this talk, I’ll share practical, proven strategies on how anyone can get started in open source and use it as a launchpad to grow their skills, build global networks, and unlock life-changing opportunities.

We’ll explore how programs like GSOC, Outreachy, MLH Fellowship, LFX Mentorship, and OnlyDust lower the barriers to entry, giving contributors structured pathways to meaningful projects while connecting them with world-class maintainers. I’ll highlight CNCF’s and opensource ecosystem — from OpenStack, Kubernetes, and OpenTelemetry to newer projects shaping the AI-driven era — and show how they’re not just tools, but communities driving the future of technology.

Drawing from my own journey — contributing to OpenStack Ironic and Bifrost, mentoring with She Code Africa Lagos, and engaging with AWS Cloud Club Unilorin among other community — I’ll share actionable tips on:

How to craft applications that stand out for open source programs

How to get your first PR merged and stay consistent in a project

How open source contributions can lead to international opportunities like KubeCon, OpenInfra Summit, and beyond

Why loyalty and persistence in a community can 10x your developer growth and even lead to paid open source work

Attendees will leave this session with a clear roadmap to kickstart (or scale) their open source journey, plus the confidence to transform from consumers of tech into global contributors shaping the future.

This talk builds on my direct contributions to OpenStack Ironic & Bifrost, core projects under the OpenInfra Foundation (now part of CNCF), where I contributed to code reviews, bug reporting, and release documentation efforts:

OpenStack Ironic Contributions: bossfreeman9@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://review.opendev.org/q/owner:bossfreeman9@gmail.com

Launchpad Profile for Reported Bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/~freemanboss

Technical Requirements:

Projector and stable internet connection (for optional demo showcasing provisioning via Ironic and Bifrost).

Pre-recorded or live code demo highlighting integration of Ironic with Kubernetes and GitOps workflows.

Target Audience:

Cloud engineers, DevOps practitioners, and contributors interested in bare-metal provisioning within modern CNCF ecosystems.

Open source developers exploring interoperability between OpenStack, Kubernetes, and CNCF observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, and Argo CD).

First Delivery:
Based on learnings from my contributions to Ironic, and mentorship experiences at She Code Africa Lagos (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sca-lagos_scalagos-devops-technicaldeepdive-activity-7342914010343792640-Gr2y
) and ALX Software Engineering (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/habeeb-babasulaiman_as-a-community-champion-at-alx-while-tutoring-activity-7294235175490617344-B1E9
).

Community & Advocacy Work:

Contributor to CNCF and Linux Foundation ecosystems via projects such as Layer5 / Meshery (https://github.com/layer5io/layer5/pulls/FreemanBoss
), NFTOPIA (https://github.com/NFTopia-Foundation/nftopia
), and Veritix-Python (https://github.com/Lead-Studios/veritix-python
).

AWS Cloud Club Maintainer for UNILORIN (https://github.com/AWSCC-Unilorin/Official_website
) and community speaker at AWS Community Day West Africa 2025 (https://www.youtube.com/live/2k2kd0njoTY?si=yXXAaMiQHj-EPEqf
).

Selected MIT AI Global Hackathon Ambassador, promoting African participation in AI and open innovation (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/habeeb-babasulaiman_mit-hacknation-ai-activity-7382700188538146816-8OAR
).

Preferred Duration: 30 minutes (25-minute talk + 5-minute Q&A).
Presentation Format: Technical walkthrough combining demos, visual diagrams, and narrative storytelling—from low-resource environments to contributing upstream to OpenInfra and CNCF.

Previous Speaking Highlights:

Hacktoberfest 2025 – Open Source 101: https://bit.ly/alx9ja-se-hub-Open-Source-101-HacktoberFest-2025

AWS Community Day West Africa 2025: https://www.youtube.com/live/2k2kd0njoTY?si=yXXAaMiQHj-EPEqf

DevFest Ilorin 2025 (Volunteer & Speaker): https://gdg.community.dev/gdg-ilorin/