The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

Every commit is a gift (Interview)

Jun 10, 2021

Brett Cannon, Dev Manager for the Python Extension for VS Code and a key figure in the Python community, discusses the vital role of maintainers during Maintainer Week. He emphasizes viewing contributions as gifts rather than obligations, and the importance of empathy in open source interactions. Brett sheds light on the challenges between user expectations and volunteer contributions, while advocating for respectful communication. His insights drive home the need for a cultural shift in appreciating contributors in the tech community.

01:07:40

Creator website

Episode guests

Brett Cannon

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

3min

Reflections on Education and Open Source

13min

Navigating Expectations in Open Source Contributions

4min

Respecting Humanity in Open Source Interactions

2min

The Importance of Empathetic Communication in the Digital Age

4min

Navigating Open Source Dynamics

18min

Navigating Innovation and Cost Management in Cloud Computing

5min

Navigating Expectations in Open Source Software

3min

Navigating the Nuances of Open Source Decision-Making

2min

10.

Navigating Open Source Challenges

11min

11.

Fostering Inclusivity and Balance in Open Source

4min

Maintainer Week is finally here and we’re excited to make this an annual thing! If Maintainer Week is new to you, check out episode #442 with Josh Simmons and Kara Sowles.

Today we’re talking Brett Cannon. Brett is Dev Manager of the Python Extension for VS Code, Python Steering Council Member, and core team member for Python. He recently shared a blog post The social contract of open source, so we invited Brett to join us for Maintainer Week to discuss this topic in detail.

Thank a maintainer on us! We’re printing a limited run t-shirt that’s free for maintainers, and all you gotta do is thank them, today!

Join the discussion

Changelog++ members save 4 minutes on this episode because they made the ads disappear. Join today!

Sponsors:

InfluxDB – InfluxDB empowers developers to build IoT, analytics, and monitoring software. It’s purpose-built to handle massive volumes and countless sources of time-stamped data produced by sensors, applications, and infrastructure. Learn about the wide range of use cases of InfluxDB at influxdata.com/changelog
Retool – Retool is a low-code platform built specifically for developers that makes it fast and easy to build internal tools. Instead of building internal tools from scratch, the world’s best teams, from startups to Fortune 500s, are using Retool to power their internal apps. Learn more and try it for free at retool.com/changelog
CloudZero – For software-driven companies focused on growing margins, CloudZero is the only cloud cost intelligence platform that puts engineering in control by connecting technical decisions to business results. Visit cloudzero.com/changelog to get started.
Grafana Cloud – Our dashboard of choice Grafana is the open and composable observability and data visualization platform. Visualize metrics, logs, and traces from multiple sources like Prometheus, Loki, Elasticsearch, InfluxDB, Postgres and many more.

Featuring: