Beyond the obvious difficulties in the very nature of git and stuff like that to be very technical. Without knowing to much about open source projects it really feels it's such a tremendous difference in scope.
As a developer, you can contribute small patches, bits here and there or step in deeper and create new features or improvements within the current feature set.
As a designer, the bits and pieces option really is no option. Design can't be applied like that. It needs to be applied to the entire project in a consistent manner. Both visuals and user experience thinking. This makes it a far bigger commitment, something I imagine not everybody is willing to do.
As a developer, you can contribute small patches, bits here and there or step in deeper and create new features or improvements within the current feature set.
As a designer, the bits and pieces option really is no option. Design can't be applied like that. It needs to be applied to the entire project in a consistent manner. Both visuals and user experience thinking. This makes it a far bigger commitment, something I imagine not everybody is willing to do.