Oops! I Became an Open Source Maintainer! 😱

I consider myself relatively new to the open source world; my first open source contribution was in summer of 2016. Pretty soon I found myself being given commit rights to other people’s open source projects. Being a new open source maintainer brings a set of unique challenges that I was not fully prepared for. In this talk, I will share my journey and the things I’ve learned along the way, and some advice for other aspiring open source maintainers and contributors.

Transcript

1. 1 Oops! I Became an Open Source Maintainer M a r i a t t a W i j a y a @mariatta
2. 2 About Me " Python Core Developer @mariatta
3. 2 About Me PSF Community Service Award 2018 " Python Core Developer @mariatta
4. 2 About Me PSF Community Service Award 2018 Google Open Source Peer Bonus Award 2017 and 2020 " Python Core Developer @mariatta
5. 2 About Me PSF Community Service Award 2018 Google Open Source Peer Bonus Award 2017 and 2020 GitHub Sponsors Maintainer Spotlight " Python Core Developer @mariatta
6. 3 Oops! I Became An Open Source Maintainer! @mariatta
7. 3 Oops! I Became An Open Source Maintainer! Oops! How Did This Happen? 01 @mariatta
8. 3 Oops! I Became An Open Source Maintainer! Oops! How Did This Happen? 01 Oops! The Things I Didn’t Expect! 02 @mariatta
9. 3 Oops! I Became An Open Source Maintainer! Oops! How Did This Happen? 01 Oops! The Things I Didn’t Expect! 02 Oops! The Things I Did Wrong! 03 @mariatta
10. 3 Oops! I Became An Open Source Maintainer! Oops! How Did This Happen? 01 Oops! The Things I Didn’t Expect! 02 Oops! The Things I Did Wrong! 03 Oops! I Did It Again! 04 @mariatta
11. 3 Oops! I Became An Open Source Maintainer! Oops! How Did This Happen? 01 Oops! The Things I Didn’t Expect! 02 Oops! The Things I Did Wrong! 03 Oops! I Did It Again! 04 How You Can Do It Better 05 @mariatta
12. Oops! How Did This Happen? 4 @mariatta
13. 5 coala: Oct 2016 CPython: Jan 2017 pythondotorg: Dec 2016 @mariatta
14. What’s the motivation? 6 @mariatta
15. What’s the motivation? 6 Diversity problem within open source community @mariatta
16. What’s the motivation? 6 Diversity problem within open source community Doing my part to help @mariatta
17. Contributing to open source 7 @mariatta
18. Contributing to open source 7 Focus on modules that interest me @mariatta
19. Contributing to open source 7 Focus on modules that interest me Check out the repo and the contributing guide @mariatta
20. Contributing to open source 7 Focus on modules that interest me Check out the repo and the contributing guide Help improve the doc where it’s lacking @mariatta
21. Contributing to open source 7 Focus on modules that interest me Check out the repo and the contributing guide Find an issue in the bug tracker Help improve the doc where it’s lacking @mariatta
22. Contributing to open source 7 Focus on modules that interest me Check out the repo and the contributing guide Find an issue in the bug tracker Introduce myself to mailing-list Help improve the doc where it’s lacking @mariatta
23. Contributing to open source 8 Focus on modules that interest me @mariatta
24. Contributing to open source 8 Focus on modules that interest me @mariatta
25. Contributing to open source 8 Focus on modules that interest me Find projects that I care about, where my existing skills would be useful @mariatta
26. Contributing to open source 8 Focus on modules that interest me Find projects that I care about, where my existing skills would be useful Check out the repo and the contributing guide @mariatta
27. Contributing to open source 8 Focus on modules that interest me Find projects that I care about, where my existing skills would be useful Check out the repo and the contributing guide Help improve the doc where it’s lacking @mariatta
28. Contributing to open source 9 Focus on modules that interest me Find projects that I care about, where my existing skills would be useful Check out the repo and the contributing guide Find an issue in the bug tracker Help improve the doc where it’s lacking @mariatta
29. Contributing to open source 9 Focus on modules that interest me Find projects that I care about, where my existing skills would be useful Check out the repo and the contributing guide Find an issue in the bug tracker Help improve the doc where it’s lacking @mariatta
30. Contributing to open source 9 Focus on modules that interest me Find projects that I care about, where my existing skills would be useful Check out the repo and the contributing guide Find an issue in the bug tracker Help improve the doc where it’s lacking Wait for an issue that I can help with @mariatta
31. Contributing to open source 9 Focus on modules that interest me Find projects that I care about, where my existing skills would be useful Check out the repo and the contributing guide Find an issue in the bug tracker Help improve the doc where it’s lacking Wait for an issue that I can help with @mariatta Introduce myself (when possible)
32. Contributing to open source 10 It’s like starting a new job @mariatta
33. Contributing to open source 10 It’s like starting a new job No assigned mentor, no formal “onboarding” session @mariatta
34. Contributing to open source 10 It’s like starting a new job No assigned mentor, no formal “onboarding” session Takes time @mariatta
35. Contributing to open source 10 It’s like starting a new job No assigned mentor, no formal “onboarding” session Takes time It’s not just about code @mariatta
36. 11 Oops! The Things I Didn’t Expect! Lots of emails and notifications Making decisions Issue Triaging 100s emails/day @mariatta
37. 12 Oops! The Things I Didn’t Expect! Lots of emails and notifications Making decisions Issue Triaging Handling CoC cases Moderating communication channels “Representing” 100s emails/day @mariatta
38. 13 Making My Own Decisions without consulting the other maintainers Not Managing My Time Wisely lead to burnout and depression Oops! The Things I Did Wrong! Not Communicating Decisions with the other maintainers @mariatta
39. Oops! I Did It Again! 14 @mariatta
40. Oops! I Did It Again! 14 I really do care @mariatta
41. Oops! I Did It Again! 15 Growth and learning opportunities @mariatta
42. Oops! I Did It Again! 16 “In open source, the more you give, the more you get back.”, - Peter Wang’s PyCon DE Keynote @mariatta
43. Oops! I Did It Again! 17 Acceptance and sense of belonging @mariatta
44. 18 How You Can Do It Better @mariatta
45. 19 How You Can Do It Better Clarify the Expectations 00 @mariatta
46. 20 Have a Maintenance Guide 01 How You Can Do It Better Clarify the Expectations 00 @mariatta
47. 21 Have a Maintenance Guide 01 Have a Succesion Plan in place 02 How You Can Do It Better Clarify the Expectations 00 @mariatta
48. 22 Have a Maintenance Guide 01 Organize an Annual Sprint 03 Have a Succesion Plan in place 02 How You Can Do It Better Clarify the Expectations 00 @mariatta
49. 23 Have a Maintenance Guide 01 Organize an Annual Sprint 03 Have a Succesion Plan in place 02 Get Funding! 04 How You Can Do It Better Clarify the Expectations 00 @mariatta
50. 24 Have a Maintenance Guide 01 Organize an Annual Sprint 03 Have a Succesion Plan in place 02 Get Funding! 04 Take Care of Yourself 05 How You Can Do It Better Clarify the Expectations 00 @mariatta
51. THANK YOU @mariatta Sponsor me on GitHub: https://github.com/sponsors/Mariatta
52. THANK YOU @mariatta Sponsor me on GitHub: https://github.com/sponsors/Mariatta