I think for next edition: - Maintainers should create a month ahead opt-in and list some good issues for hacktoberfest. This means, we agree to help you start on OSS and have something which is meaninful for us listed. - A browsable list of projects which opted in. So you can look for projects to contribute. - It will look something more like GSoC. - What I think it would be great is if maintainers are willing to mentor newcomers so they are able to help more in the future, not only on a given october timeframe.