Community

Open Source
& Community

Over two decades of giving back — contributing code, content, translations, and leadership to the global open source ecosystem, with a special focus on making knowledge freely available in Bangla.

24+
Years on Wikipedia
6
Active orgs
Bangla
Primary localisation language
∞
Free knowledge shared
Open Source Packages on GitHub

Laravel & PHP packages, developer tools, and Bangladeshi market integrations — free for everyone.

github.com/nasirkhan ↗
Initiatives

Contributions in Detail

🌐

Bengali Wikipedia

Volunteer Contributor
Since 2001
User profile ↗ Commons uploads ↗

Bengali Wikipedia is one of the most important repositories of knowledge in the Bangla language, serving over 300 million native speakers worldwide. Nasir has been contributing since 2001 — before most people had heard of Wikipedia — writing and editing articles, mentoring new editors, and serving as an administrator for a period.

Key contributions

  • Article creation and editing across technology, culture, and geography
  • Served as administrator — managing user rights, handling disputes, protecting content
  • Mentored new editors in wiki markup and editorial policy
  • Contributed high-resolution images via Wikimedia Commons
  • Translation of English-language technical articles into Bangla
  • Participated in global Wikimedia community discussions and policy-making
🏛️

Wikimedia Bangladesh

Founding Member
Since 2011
Wikimedia Bangladesh ↗

Wikimedia Bangladesh is the official national chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation. Nasir was among its founding members, helping to establish the governance, community programs, and outreach activities that turned it into one of the most active chapters in South Asia.

Key contributions

  • Co-founded the national chapter and helped draft its founding documents
  • Organised wiki-editing workshops at universities and schools across Bangladesh
  • Led "Wiki Loves Monuments" photography campaigns in Bangladesh
  • Represented Bangladesh at international Wikimania conferences
  • Coordinated partnerships with BRAC, ILO, and government institutions to contribute content
  • Trained hundreds of volunteers in wiki editing and open content licensing
🐱

MIT Scratch

Language Manager (Bangla)
Since 2014
Scratch Bangla ↗

Scratch is MIT's visual programming language used by millions of children worldwide to learn coding. As the Bangla Language Manager, Nasir translated the entire Scratch interface, tutorials, and community platform into Bangla — enabling children across Bangladesh, West Bengal, and the global Bengali diaspora to learn programming in their mother tongue.

Key contributions

  • Led the full translation of Scratch 2.0 and 3.0 interfaces into Bangla
  • Translated tutorials, guides, and help documentation
  • Coordinated a team of volunteer translators for ongoing updates
  • Worked directly with the MIT Scratch team on localisation tooling
  • Published "Scratch Programming" (2017) — a Bangla book teaching coding to children
  • Ran Scratch workshops in schools across Bangladesh
©️

Creative Commons Bangladesh

Country Lead
Since 2012
Creative Commons ↗

Creative Commons enables creators to share their work on flexible terms, expanding the global commons of freely reusable knowledge. As Bangladesh Country Lead, Nasir advocates for open licensing among creators, academics, government bodies, and media organisations — making sure Bangladeshi content enters the global knowledge commons.

Key contributions

  • Organised CC license awareness workshops for journalists, academics, and creators
  • Advised government institutions on open data and open content policies
  • Contributed to the translation of CC licenses and documentation into Bangla
  • Represented Bangladesh at Creative Commons Global Summit
  • Partnered with Wikimedia Bangladesh on "CC in Education" programs
  • All personal photography and writing released under CC BY or CC BY-SA
🤝

Bangladesh OpenSource Network

Joint Secretary
Since 2010
BdOSN ↗

BdOSN (Bangladesh OpenSource Network) is the national organisation advancing open source software, open standards, and digital rights in Bangladesh. As Joint Secretary, Nasir helps steer the organisation's advocacy, events, and community-building programs.

Key contributions

  • Co-organised annual "Software Freedom Day" celebrations across Bangladesh
  • Advocated for open source adoption in government IT systems
  • Ran Linux and open source workshops at universities
  • Represented BdOSN in international open source forums
  • Published articles and guides promoting open source in Bangla
  • Coordinated with international open source foundations on joint programs
⚙️

Open Source Code on GitHub

Developer & Maintainer
Since 2010
github.com/nasirkhan ↗

Beyond community work, Nasir has released several open source software packages on GitHub — primarily in the PHP/Laravel ecosystem. These packages are freely available, production-ready, and actively maintained. They address common developer needs in web application development and have been adopted by teams across Bangladesh and internationally.

Key contributions

  • Laravel CMS starter packages for rapid application scaffolding
  • Reusable PHP utilities and Laravel service providers
  • Contributed bug fixes and features to major open source Laravel packages
  • Published developer tools for Bangladeshi-specific integrations (payment gateways, SMS APIs)
  • Demo applications and boilerplates for the Bangladeshi developer community
  • Active contributor to community discussions, issue triage, and code review
Localisation

Software Localisation

Translating major software platforms into Bangla — so that 300 million+ Bengali speakers can use the world's best tools in their own language.

Bangla Language Manager

MIT Scratch

Full UI, tutorials, and community
Bangla Contributor

Bengali Wikipedia

Articles, templates, MediaWiki interface
Bangla Contributor

Ubuntu Linux

Interface strings and documentation
Bangla Contributor

Firefox Browser

UI localisation via Mozilla L10n
Bangla Contributor

GNOME Desktop

Desktop environment strings
Bangla Contributor

LibreOffice

Office suite UI and help docs
🌍
"Free knowledge doesn't just happen — it requires people to show up, day after day, in every language."

Open source and open knowledge have shaped everything about how I think about software, community, and impact. These contributions are not side projects — they are central to who I am as a technologist.

See my portfolio → Collaborate with me