text: how should i approach open source software development? more specifically, should i start from scratch on an idea? or contribute to a similar existing project? i suggest you to start with an existing open source project. you can find very good open source projects at www.sourceforge.net   if you find a project you are interested, just send email to the project admin they can add you in. of course, if you have a very good idea, you can create your own sourceforge project, and share it with the rest of the world.