The Importance of Leadership in Open Source Projects

Guest

Derek Kozel | Abby Cabunoc Mayes

Panelist

Richard Littauer

Show Notes

Welcome back to another episode of Sustain! The podcast where we talk about sustaining open source for the long haul. Richard is at the State of Open Con 2023 UK in London, and he’s excited to have his first ever in-person podcasts. On this episode he has two guests for us to enjoy. His first guest is the President of GNU Radio, Derek Kozel. Hear the moment Derek blows Richard’s mind about all the uses for GNU Radio. Plus, Derek gets into how a 22-year-old project gets effectively run and funded. Interesting! Then, joining him on the second half is Abigail Cabunoc Mayes. Abby is a fellow Sustainer, a “prominent” (not somewhat) voice in open source community, and the Open Source Program Manager at GitHub. Phew. Abby is here today to talk about the importance of maintainers. Enjoy these great discussions now, just click the download button.

[00:01:14] Derek explains what GNU Radio is and all its uses.

[00:02:15] Richard’s mind gets blown. (poof)

[00:03:08] Derek tells us the size of the GNU Radio community.

[00:04:10] This is a 22-year-old project, so grab some takeaways from this experienced community. Derek discusses how they’ve kept it going so smoothly.

[00:05:50] Wait, What??!! Richard’s mind gets blown 2.0. Derek tells us how the project all started from a court case.

[00:07:12] We learn they are funded by GRCon.

[00:08:31] Richard asks how GNU Radio is working to ensure inclusion and diversity.

[00:10:34] Derek circles back to funding and how they use funds generated for the project.

[00:11:58] Derek talks about his favorite workshop at State of Open Con 2023 UK and learning about succession planning.

[00:17:04] Want to find out more about GNU Radio and Derek on the internet? He shares where to find him and GNU Radio.

[00:19:09] Abby joins us for the second half and talks about her recent trip to FOSDEM and learning how GitHub IS a part of the open source community.

[00:20:05] Succession Planning was a talk she gave at FOSDEM and was well received.

[00:20:24] What were Abby’s main takeaways from FOSDEM?

[00:21:46] Richard circles back to Abby’s succession planning talk and they deep dive into it. Take notes!

[00:24:14] Abby gives advice for maintainers trying to get the right kinds of contributors for the future of your projects.

[00:27:41] Not everyone wants to be a leader, and Richard wants to know how people can position themselves that way within a project.

[00:29:02] Abby talks about what she’s been working on, which is the GitHub Maintainer Community, a private GitHub repo.

[00:30:24] Richard is interested to know if Abby has learned anything from talking to similar community leads at GitLab or Bitbucket.

[00:32:35] Find out where to follow Abby on the web.

Links

• SustainOSS
• SustainOSS Twitter
• SustainOSS Discourse
• podcast@sustainoss.org
• Richard Littauer Twitter
• Derek Kozel Website
• Derek Kozel LinkedIn
• Derek Kozel Twitter
• Derek Kozel Mastodon
• GNU Radio
• Abby Cabunoc Mayes LinkedIn
• Abby Cabunoc Mayes Twitter
• Abby Cabunoc Mayes GitHub
• Abby Cabunoc Mayes Hachyderm
• FOSDEM 23 – Creating Pathways That Invest in New Maintainers

Credits

• Produced by Richard Littauer

• Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound

• Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound

Special Guests: Abigail Cabunoc Mayes and Derek Kozel.

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