I’m not a programmer, so I can’t really do it myself. Is it allowed for me to go to some random dude, pay him 20 bucks to write the code, then have him add it to the GitHub?
(If you’re wondering what the app/feature is, I want to be able to shuffle play on the findroid app like you would be able to on the jellyfin web interface )
if it’s open source, you can definitely have someone copy that code, make the change you want and use that modified version.
if you wish to redistribute the modified version, some rules will apply depending on the type of licensing of the original program.
if you wish your changes to be integrated to the “official” version of the program, that’s a bit more difficult, as this change would have to be accepted by the owner of the code repository, it needs to fit the code quality, planned features implementation, pass the tests, and that people involved have time for and interest in your changes.
There is also unexpected consequences of that feature. Like that feature could create bugs that would go beyond just creating that feature. But at the end of the day create a feature request bug report with a very detailed ask. Then reach out to the owner and ask two things one would they be willing to implement the feature at all and if so would they prioritize it if you paid them and what you are willing to pay.
It’s very similar to artist commission negotiations. The third thing to ask is if they no to prioritize question is if you paid someone else to create a PR for your feature would they accept it. If the answer is yes you can try to find someone but it will always be more expensive. Since like others have said they have to learn the codebase.