One of the benefits of using community versions of open source software is the ability to change and modify the source code and contribute (or commit) the new functionality back to the community.  Acceptance of modified code contributions by the community will hopefully make the software perform better and become more secure.  For the individual coder working with open source as a personal interest, a hobby, a learning experience, or even as part of a formal education this flexibility to modify and contribute to the project provides the freedom to explore possibilities on the bleeding edge of major Internet technologies.  For the developer, engineer, enterprise architect, or system administrator working on a project for an employer, the freedom still exists.  However due to various business concerns, the modifications and contributions should be managed carefully. For the later category of open source software users, today’s blog article will cover a few basic guidelines to consider when contributing open source code modifications back to the open source software project.