Your First Open Source Contribution with VM Brasseur

About this Episode

Your First Open Source Contribution with VM Brasseur

TableXI offers training for developers and product teams! For more info, email workshops@tablexi.com or go to http://tablexi.com/workshops.

Guest

VM Brasseur: Open Source consultant, Vice President of Open Source Initiative, and Author of Forge Your Future with Open Source. vmbrasseur.com.

Summary

The Open Source world is large. It’s also complex and difficult to manage, especially for a novice. Our guest this week is VM Brasseur, who is the Vice President of the Open Source Initiative and the author of a new book from Pragmatic called Forge Your Future With Open Source. We talk how Open Source is different from free software, and how to get started in Open Source, how to pick a project, how to navigate a new project to make your first submission. We’ll also look at it from the other side, and talk about open source projects can make themselves more contributor-friendly. And we talk about the state of Open Source in general. We want to hear from you. What was your first open source experience like? Or, how do you handle new contributors on your project?

Notes

03:40 - Misconceptions Keeping People From Contributing to Free and Open Source Software

05:27 - Overcoming Impostor Syndrome

08:27 - Why Contribute to Open Source?

10:15 - What Project Do I Start With?

• Valentia
• Free Sewing

12:32 - Why NOT To Start With Documentation

14:24 - Getting Started With Your First Contribution

• Code Triage

20:20 - Advice For Navigating the Open Source Community

22:40 - The Importance Codes of Conduct

24:44 - The Evolution of Open Source

• Open Source Initiative
• Open Source Definition
• Updating GitHub From Rails 3.2 to 5.2

35:29 - Join VM at the Seattle GNU/Linux Conference on November 9th & 10th!

36:33 - Advice For Maintainers Wanting to Make Projects Welcoming

Related Episodes

• 20 Years of Web Development with Avdi Grimm and Sarah Mei
• Open Source and Companies with Nell Shamrell-Harrington
• The Social Responsibility of Coding with Liz Abinante
• Open Source: The Big Picture with Nadia Eghbal
• Open-Source Community Management and Safety With Coraline Ada Ehmke and Yana Carstens

Episode Comments