meta: Good first issue boilerplate #17317

Good first issues seem to attract new contributors, but often the contributors lack the motivation to think about the changes and put effort into their contribution. Also, the most common reply to a good first issue is "Can I work on this?".

So I suggest that every good first issue has a "Requirement", e.g.

• "Strong background in C++11 std::thread"
• "Experienced Qt5 GUI developer and async GUI design"
• "Basic understanding of Bitcoin mining and the Bitcoin Core rpc interface"

And finally a section like this:

Want to work on this issue?

Go ahead, there is no need to ask for permission. Anyone is free to contribute, and you are welcome to ask for help. ... (Maybe a link to contributing.md)

It could be done as an issue template: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/tree/master/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE

I think the "Can I work on this?" is also about "reserving" the issue. As a new contributor who is doing this after hours, it could take several days to do something that a seasoned contributor could do in <1h, so there could be a fear they start with something that is already solved when they are done. But everyone has to start somewhere so this is ok. I would actually encourage first-timers to indicate they are working on something and report more on their progress if they are stuck, so I like encouraging them to ask for help. I can imagine that sometimes it seems like a lack of effort when they are actually just overwhelmed.

I also like the "Requirement" as a hint of what skills could be useful so that newcomers don't dive into something that turns out to be too complicated for them. However, I would frame it a little softer as something like: "It would be very helpful if you have experience with...".

Actually, the main skill lacking in new contributors that I have seen (in my short time) was using Git properly. Since there are sections on that in contributing.md I would include it as well.

Maybe we could configure a bot to post the generic information as a message automatically when the 'good first issue' label is applied? Aside from the requirement which is different every time, that should work.

I think adding some description of what "Good first issue" means (and requirements) is a good idea. There is confusion around that. "Good first issue" doesn't mean it's a good place to start for someone who is new to C++, git, or development in general, just new to the bitcoin project.

Maybe we could configure a bot to post the generic information as a message automatically

I'd rather add it to the existing issue templates than to have bots post multiple follow-up comments for clarification. https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/new/choose

I think the "Can I work on this?" is also about "reserving" the issue.

I definitely agree with this. I wonder if the "official" process should be to announce you are planning to work on this issue as a new contributor. This doesn't stop other people working on it, it could encourage collaboration if more than one new contributor give it a go. But it is useful for both the new contributor to know if others are working on it and for experienced contributors to check in with the new contributor to see if they are making progress.

I wonder also if people who are active but still relatively new contributors can be assigned as good points of contact for basic stuff like Git. I think it is important to encourage new contributors but I really don't want to add to the workload of experienced contributors/maintainers who have got more important things to do.

Ok, thanks for the input. I have marked this as "up for grabs" if someone wants to go ahead at this.

Ok, I will and I'll run it past @fjahr before opening a PR.

agree with @fjahr & @michaelfolkson about

• encouraging first timers to communicate starting / progress / being stuck
• listing skills required to solve the problem is helpful, framing it as a requirement can unnecessarily discourage @michaelfolkson I'm also interested in providing feedback. feel free to tag me on the PR

"Requirement" looks a bit to "strict" for me. I believe that something like "Useful skills" is a better term.