What reasons keep you from contributing to GCC?
I tried this a while ago, but ultimately gave up because I could not get my
patches in. Some were applied, but many never made it. Admittedly they were
perhaps not of general interested, there were only improving compatibility
of the gcc base with C++ (what Ian Lance Taylor then did later).
The most frustrating part was not getting patches rejected (I could then
improve them, after all), but having patches ignored. You submit a number of
patches, and the result is... nothing. No response at all. Not exactly what
encourages gcc as a free time activity.
On the other hand I am a professional developer, too (even working on
compilers), and I myself would perhaps also be reluctant to spend time on
reviewing and merging patches that I do not really care about. So I
understand the gcc developers. But it is still frustrating for outsiders.