I never thought I'd be having so much fun with KDE and FOSS Software as a whole. Its such a good way to learn things and contribute to something which is really beautiful.
In January, I was studying Qt because I found it very interesting, and its cross platform nature really made me to plan serious development.
Then I started to use KDE, which has a very intuitive interface for users. But here comes the real benefit – KDE is a Free Software, so anyone can contribute to the system and improve on it.
I found some minor changes which could enhance user experience, so downloaded the source code, compiled using the instructions on the KDE Techbase, without a single problem.

Then I improved a Timer applet, which did two things – Improved its usability, and improved my C++ skills a lot. The second point is something that people speaking about advantages of contributing to Free Software often forget.
As the software I worked on was part of a real life software which people use, I LEARNT A LOT, mostly from the existing code, and the developers who patiently answered my queries on mailing lists and IRC.
It was not like some college project which you make and only usable for your purposes, its something which thousands of people will use and appreciate.

And today, I commited a patch using my own SVN account, and the words which try to express my happiness – Proud to be a KDE developer, proud to be part of the FOSS movement.
And as KDE says – “Be Free” and “Never Look Back” 🙂

Regards