#maintainership — Public Fediverse posts

Next Steps for the Caddy Project Maintainership

https://caddy.community/t/next-steps-for-the-caddy-project-maintainership/33076

#HackerNews #CaddyProject #Maintainership #NextSteps #OpenSource #CommunityDevelopment

The graying of open source is real—but it’s not inevitable.
We can support the next generation of maintainers by shifting how we lead, teach, and invite.

My **#OSSummit** talk is now live on YouTube:
🎥 https://youtu.be/LjP0zpLLvPQ

Slides (with full speaker notes + references):
📎 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wbvrBxO4j6ssQ-rSH7su8I8XwLWAf8wpGUcIbFhMqTY/edit

**#OpenSource** **#FutureOfOSS** **#Maintainership** **#GenZ**

I always wanted to give back and become an open source contributor, but I always struggled with dedicating time to something so altruistic.

There is a difference between solving a problem for yourself and solving it properly for everyone.

Today, I began with the smallest possible entry drug: I have become maintainer of a package script in the Arch User Repository: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/plasticscm-client-gui

Two, actually.
It's not much, but it feels good.

#OpenSource #Linux #AUR #ArchLinux #Maintainership

we need affirmative action in #programming and #maintainership tbh and this is a hill we're willing to die on.

New blog post: https://harihareswara.net/posts/2024/changelogs-and-release-notes/

- The distinction between detailed changelogs and brief release notes (with examples)

- Why it's worth doing both

- Why relying solely on GitHub as a project's communication platform discourages publishing and reading release notes

Spurred by @nedbat 's https://hachyderm.io/@nedbat/113152493265812268 , with references to @wiredferret @kfogel @leonardr @agateau @olivierlacan @xavdid @zwol @zulip and more.

#maintainers #opensource #FLOSS #maintainership #documentation

And: https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2022/six-key-maintainer-skill-guides/ several skill guides, such as:

https://docs.oscollective.org/guides/deciding-on-how-to-use-your-money "Deciding How To Use Your Project's Money": When should you spend or save? What's on your project's roadmap, and how could you spend to support it?

Especially relevant right now as we discuss funding as one way companies can support their #opensource dependencies. I share tips for using cash effectively even when it isn't enough for full-time employment.

4/4

#xz #maintainership

https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2021/what-would-open-source-look-like-if-it-were-healthy-video-transcript/#healthy-oss-legacy-ending What Would Open Source Look Like If It Were Healthy? In particular: I imagine a legacy project "failing" (or, rather, ending) when a maintainer decides to step away, and lay out what tools and practices we'd need to make a soft landing and good transition for everyone involved.

https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2023/maintainer-burnout-pycon-us-2023-followup/ Maintainer #Burnout -- covers work approaches that can help, succession/#sustainability, deprecating components/closing a project, and more.

3/n

#xz #maintainership

https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2024/trust-new-maintainer/#how-to-assess Whether And How To Trust A New Maintainer (pass this around in case your co-maintainers are asking "how can we promote a contributor ever again?")

* What is this like? Comparing this promotion to 4 other trust decisions helps us think about:
* How can we assess trustworthiness? Ideas for steps you could take.
* Can you reduce how much trust you need to give? Mitigate how much harm they could do.
* What if you don't have time? 3 options.

2/n

#xz #maintainership

New Changeset newsletter is out:

https://buttondown.email/Changeset/archive/2024-02-retaining-contributors-extending-trust-care-tips/

Guides on #opensource project management, caregiving and persuasion, arguing responsibly, and asking more effective questions. And: celebrating Beautiful Soup's 20th anniversary.

#Python #maintainership #FLOSS #burnout #sustainability #management

New post: https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2024/trust-new-maintainer/ Whether And How To Trust A New Maintainer

What kind of trust does a project #maintainer need to have in a new co-maintainer? To get better at #opensource #sustainability, we need to improve at recruiting, training, & promoting new leaders.

I cover attributes to check for.

I mine 4 comparable situations for assessment ideas, & explain how to reduce how much trust you NEED to give by promoting someone.

&: 3 options if you're low on time

#maintainership #FLOSS

You make the leap of faith that this stranger will stick around and be responsive for weeks/months of intermittent communication.

Or you don't. You ignore the patch, or leave it for a "later" that never comes. Or you explicitly say it's not good enough & you'd rather do it yourself, & close the thread.

Or maybe there's another way.

https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2023/set-contributor-expectations-to-reduce-ghosting/

Another post drawing from conversations with #maintainer @davidism.

#maintainers #opensource #FLOSS #ProjectManagement #maintainership

FYI – I’m available for #coaching / #teaching / conference talks / shorter #freelancing gigs (1-2 days at a time)

I’m right now primarily focusing on my own projects but happy to share my experience with others + never wrong to refill the wallet a bit.

Topics I’m extra thrilled about: #TypesInJS #vanillaJS #nodejs #fastify #opensource #npm #eslint #linting #maintainership #restAPI

#openToWork

New blog post on user support frustration, its causes, and how we could build the "infrastructure of equanimity" in #opensource, including ideas for potential cross-project tools & practices.

https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2023/user-support-equanimity-potential-cross-project-tools-practices-open-source/

Shout-outs to @davidism, Heidi Waterhouse, @offby1, @jacob, Nicole Harris, @bernard, + @georgia for work & conversations that I built on in this piece.

#maintainer #maintainership #FLOSS #UX #UserExperience #sustainability #ProjectManagement #Python #PythonPackaging #burnout

If you maintain #OpenSource software, or any public good, really, you owe it to yourself to read this post about (among other things) #Maintainership and tools by @brainwane: https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2023/user-support-equanimity-potential-cross-project-tools-practices-open-source/

Yup. Still burned out af. Opened up my GH notifications tab and: wow I super don't want to deal with any of this shit 😖

Gonna go work on stuff that makes me happy instead, like exploring a Paramiko auth overhaul, and fixing up my development environment. #SorryNotSorry #maintainership #OSS #OpenSource

The person who was setting up a conference session to discuss #Linux maintainer overwork and ways to address it couldn’t attend due to… burnout:
https://lwn.net/ml/linux-xfs/20220426024331.GR17025@magnolia/

I can very much relate to the account of what their daily life looks like.

#FreeSoftware #maintainership

@kmj Have you considered taking over the #maintainership over the #FreeBSD #Mastodon port?