Establishing an Open-Source Community Inside an Organisation
Sep 22, 2023
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Natnael Belay, expert in establishing open-source communities inside organizations, discusses the importance of embracing an open-source culture and establishing an independent open-source community within an organization. They also explore the allocation of time between open-source and internal projects, emphasizing product value and feature priority.
Implementing clear mission and guidelines is crucial for successful open-source community establishment.
Clear ownership and enforcement mechanisms are essential to maintaining open-source community guidelines and fostering a thriving environment.
Deep dives
The Importance of Open Source Culture
Open source culture is a collaborative platform where people can come together to develop and improve various artifacts, such as software products. Embracing open source culture within an organization can foster transparency and openness. To successfully implement open source principles, clear mission and guidelines are essential. A well-defined mission helps align the community and ensure that its values align with the organization's goals. The guidelines should cover the ethos, technical aspects, and code of conduct for the community. It is crucial to have a separate open source community that is not affected by organizational hierarchies and where expertise and meritocracy are valued. Additionally, using open source dependencies and dedicating resources to the community's needs further enhances its success.
Potential Challenges and Considerations
While open source culture offers numerous benefits, there are potential challenges to consider. One such challenge is the risk of the community transitioning to a closed source system if major contributors decide to restrict access. It is important to uphold a code of conduct to ensure respectful and inclusive collaboration, as interactions primarily occur online. Clear ownership and enforcement mechanisms are crucial for maintaining community guidelines, and automation tools can aid in flagging inappropriate behavior. Organizations must also confront the potential clash between open source culture and existing organizational structures. While obtaining initial support from organizational leaders is necessary, it is essential to establish a separate community with its own leadership and charter to foster a thriving open source environment.
Benefits and Resource Utilization
Establishing open source culture within organizations offers several benefits. It fosters a sense of inclusion and ownership among employees, as their contributions reflect the community's values and principles. Open source development often leads to better resource utilization, with shared infrastructure supporting development processes. This enables dynamic scaling, facilitating cloud readiness and reducing energy consumption. Cost savings can be achieved through decreased laptop requirements and efficient resource allocation. The transition to open source also aligns with environmental sustainability efforts, as demonstrated by Etsy's 50% reduction in compute energy usage. Open source development models encourage adoption of cloud-based infrastructure, further speeding up an organization's cloud migration process.
In this podcast Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods spoke to Natnael (Nate) Belay about establishing an open source community inside an organisation.
Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/3PpkmS0
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