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The Next Generation of Open Source Contributors...

The Next Generation of Open Source Contributors (are not on IRC) [V2]

There is an entirely new generation of contributors, and they're not joining IRC. Why is that? And where are they going? And what should I do about it?

Here's some data, some insight into a different open source path, and some strong opinions on how to invite the next generation to your space.

Matthew (Brender) Broberg

September 10, 2020
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  1. Hi, I’m Matt Technical Editor for Opensource.com at Red Hat

    Member of OSI, PSF Contributor to Kubernetes, CHAOSS Graduate of OSI-approved Brandeis course on the Business of Open Source @mbbroberg
  2. < empty space > < empty space > < empty

    space > < empty space > @mbbroberg IRC (circa 1990)
  3. Yahoo (18 million in 2005) < empty space > @mbbroberg

    MSN Messenger (115 million in 2004) IRC (240k in 2005) ICQ (20 million in 2004)
  4. < empty space > @mbbroberg IRC ICQ MSN Yahoo <

    empty space > < empty space >
  5. Telegram (400 million) Twitter (326 million) Reddit (430 million) Slack

    (44m) G Discord (100 million) GitHub (44m) @mbbroberg Element (18m) irc
  6. * Twitter (126 million) Slack (12m) Telegram (200 million) Goo

    g Discord (250 million) GitHub (40 m) @mbbroberg MSFT (13m) Riot (13m) Facebook / WhatsApp (2.6 billion)
  7. My impression You 1) Seasoned open source participant 2) Can

    recite the OSD from heart 3) Contributed before git was cool 4) Are still active on IRC 5) Care about this community GitHub generation of open source Recently learned FSF & OSI are different See git as the lingua franca of tech Just joined IRC via Element Care about this community Me @mbbroberg
  8. New users and IRC What’s with the wizard-like syntax? Where

    is my chat history? Why does NAMESERV hate me? What clients consistently work? Why can’t I @ anyone? @mbbroberg
  9. The bar is higher than ever Modern sign up experience

    Mobile access by default In-app onboarding and guide Advanced moderation options Shared discussion history Multi-media support Notifications options IRC | Slack | Element (Riot.im) @mbbroberg
  10. IRC continues to shrink from +400,000 in 2004 to <

    100,000 in 2020 At a time when open source is more popular than ever
  11. But IRC has principles! Point License is (at least) open

    source Decentralized (Federated) End-to-end encryption
  12. But IRC has principles! Point License is (at least) open

    source Decentralized (Federated) End-to-end encryption
  13. The bar is higher than ever Modern sign up experience

    Mobile access by default In-app onboarding and guide Advanced moderation options Shared discussion history Multi-media support Notifications options IRC | Rocket | Element (Riot.im) @mbbroberg
  14. Sync For casual, high throughput discussion Async For a definitive,

    recorded answer News To stay informed and empowered F2F To build a formidable bond @mbbroberg
  15. Sync For casual, high throughput discussion Async For a definitive,

    recorded answer News To stay informed and empowered F2F To build a formidable bond @mbbroberg
  16. Don’t default to synchronous Synchronous chat is rarely the right

    place for your community (at first) @mbbroberg
  17. Don’t default to synchronous 1. Requires always-on participation 2. Difficult

    to follow multiple discussions 3. Sets expectation of immediacy in response 4. Divides participation by time zone 5. No continuation of knowledge @mbbroberg
  18. Advanced Sync Setup @mbbroberg Community #contributors #where-you-prefer-to-be #announcements (rename #general)

    #contributors #maintainers Bridges (Element) #maintainers #announcements Bots #social
  19. Advanced Sync Setup @mbbroberg Community #contributors #where-you-prefer-to-be #announcements (rename #general)

    #contributors #maintainers Bridges (Element) #maintainers #announcements Bots #social Be where future contributors are
  20. Because community is not always open • Proprietary hardware community

    • Proprietary virtualization community • Joining a proprietary code sharing site • Open source on a proprietary OS • Open core startups • Growing communities on GitHub • Open source communities • Opensource.com • A maturing obsession with licenses • Maintainer and contributor @mbbroberg
  21. Communication channels matter They imply who is welcome and who

    needs to “try harder” to be welcome. @mbbroberg
  22. Advanced Sync Setup @mbbroberg Community #contributors #where-you-prefer-to-be #announcements (rename #general)

    #contributors #maintainers Bridges (Element) #maintainers #announcements Bots (Slack) #social Be multichannel
  23. Thank you And thanks: ◂ To Open Source Initiative! This

    is such an honor. ◂ To the Mozilla team for inspiring research on this topic. ◂ To the Opensource.com team for their support. If you’re interested in sharing your open source story there, I’m mbbroberg online. ◂ Presentation template by Slidesgo, icons by Flaticon. @mbbroberg
  24. 1. Daily publication with over 3 million articles read a

    month 2. Publishing articles on anything with a strong open source story 3. Staff available to coach authors on telling great stories 4. Top articles in Linux, Python, Rust, Kubernetes, and open source news 5. An ever-evolving community of active participants Interested in writing with us? Go to Opensource.com/writers (or at me! @mbbroberg)