Contributing to open source projects
Open source projects are heavily dependent on what people give back to the project, for example, submitting error reports if they find faults in the software or helping the project with solving bugs or developing new features. The community behind an open source project is often limited and doesn't have the resources to do everything by itself. Large projects such as the Linux kernel, OpenStack, and the Yocto Project have large companies behind them, allocating resources for helping out with those projects. The reason for this is obvious: the companies are using the project in commercial products and it's in their interest to make sure that the product has good progress. Many companies also use their own version of the project and want to contribute features and bug fixes in order to decrease the integration cost.
Tip
When working with open source, the term upstream is used from time to time. Upstream could basically be summarized as the original...