A year in the Wikimedia technical community, and why a merged patch is where a contribution starts, not where it ends.

My first patch to Wikimedia software needed a lot of work. I did not really understand code review or why the automated checks had failed, and I submitted it half expecting nobody to reply. Someone did. They explained what was wrong and what I could try next, instead of simply closing it.

That reply is one of the reasons I am still here. It is also why I believe a merged patch is where a contribution starts, not where it ends.

Starting as a reader

For most of my life, I knew Wikipedia mainly as a reader. I did not realise that software, tools, and a large open-source community sat behind it, or that I could contribute to any of them.…