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A worrying change in Open Source perception

Christian Heilmann on July 12, 2019

Open Source is an excellent idea. It proved itself to create large and complex products with a shared workforce. It also allows products to follow ...
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Nick Taylor • Edited

Great write up @codepo8 ! As a contributor and maintainer in OSS, this is spot on.


Nailed it!

One good thing about the bad seeds is their comments are public in repos, so seeing that in the open is a free red flag not to hire those people.

Also, when people complain about a repo, the easiest response is "PRs are welcome!" πŸ˜‰

On the good side of things though, I love OSS as a way to help others and share knowledge (as you mention in your post).

#

Great work everyone. 😎

Keep being awesome and looking forward to your next post.

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Florian Rand

Really great read!

I was wrong. People are people and they come with their flaws and ideas, biases and prejudices.

Yes, it's sad. I love OSS since I installed my first Linux distribution in '98.

I can relate to the horror stories you mentioned. I've tried to contribute to some Linux distributions (not important pointing out which one), and I left after few days in the mailing list. I just can't tolerate elitism and unfounded insults. Some things are more rotten than it looks from outside, sadly.

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Thorsten Hirsch

Writing great code doesn't require good communication skills. But building a welcoming community does. Unfortunately a CoC does rarely help here. It can even worsen the situation, as seen in Katie's example - because it makes people with low communication skills think that their communication is good as soon as their point can be proven by written rules like a CoC. That's not what a CoC is for.

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Markel F.

OSS should be a welcoming place, where we can learn from each other. Sad to see this kind of reputation πŸ˜“.

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Bob McCann

This is the article we have needed on this subject for a very long time. Thank you so much for writing it!

I have repeatedly been told how important contributing to open source projects is to my career in computer programming. In interviews, it has not been uncommon for me to be asked if I have worked on anything that is open source so the interviewer might observe how I write code in the context of a large project with multiple contributors. I have always had to admit, with some sense of shame, that I have not done so.

I was always intimidated by the complexity of FOSS projects as well as the semming level of expertise of all of the other participants. Whether it was reading pull request notes in Github, or posts on Open Source discussion boards and subreddits, I felt way out of my depth. There was no way that I would be able to contribute anything of value to those people. I expected any comments I made would be ignored, and if I dared to submit a pull request, the review of my proposed changes would read like a character assassination. Happily, I want to assure you that while there are some out there who seem to make a sport out of swatting down n00bs, most folks in the FOSS community are welcoming, helpful and patient. There is plenty of work to go around, and even the most rank beginner's efforts will be appreciated somewhere!

So, for anyone else out there that is interested in becoming involved with an Open Source project but doesn't know where to start, here are a few links I have collected that are for Open Source beginners. I cannot personally vouch for every project or contact you might find on these sites, but I will say that overall, these sites will provide you an easy entry into the Open Source world! Good luck!

firsttimersonly.com/

up-for-grabs.net/#/

gauger.io/contrib/#/language/javas...
(You are not limited to JS either. Select the language drop-down menu at the top of the left-hand column to choose from ~ 30 different programming languages!)

issuehub.io/

codetriage.com/

And finally, a good guide to best practices from the Linux Foundation:

linuxfoundation.org/resources/open...

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Dory Owen

I'm currently volunteering in a citizen science project that involves a lot of data collection and there are similar issues with experts vs amateurs. Many noobs told me they are too intimidated to participate. Subject matter experts aren't always interpersonally gifted or even data savvy. Things improved after a motivated leader helped build subteams w/experts coaching the noobs, using each person's best skills appropriately, choosing weekly goals & focusing on those as a team. We have been crushing the targets, everybody's got a special interest, having fun, teaming up 1-on-1 for short term efforts, eager for the next challenge. "Maintainer" is still top dog setting the rules. But 2nd tier lieutenants who mobilize contributors & foster teamwork/respect keep quality & momentum going.