I've made a bunch of PRs to projects that I happened to use but encountered bugs in. Likewise, I've received similar PRs (and issue reports).
I believe that all those were valuable even though they did not involve close participation in the project. But I have not always done that: only after learning how low the barrier to entry was by doing it the first few times, does the thought of submitting a PR now arrive automatically when I encounter such a situation.
I believe that all those were valuable even though they did not involve close participation in the project. But I have not always done that: only after learning how low the barrier to entry was by doing it the first few times, does the thought of submitting a PR now arrive automatically when I encounter such a situation.