Shannon Crabill shares her open source journey starting from Hacktoberfest 2017. The importance of diversity and inclusion in tech is highlighted. The challenges, burnout, and community collaboration in open source are discussed, emphasizing the benefits of open source contributions and creating a supportive environment.
Contributing to open source is not as daunting as it seems, and local communities can boost confidence for contributions.
Promoting diversity in technology by making contributions accessible to individuals from diverse backgrounds is crucial for innovation and progress.
Deep dives
Overcoming the Fear of Contributing to Open Source
Contributing to open source projects can be intimidating, as highlighted in the podcast. The speaker shares their experience of nervousness when making their very first open source pull request. Despite initial apprehension, they found that the process was not as daunting as expected. The importance of local communities in boosting confidence for contributions is emphasized. The realization that making a contribution to open source doesn't have to be magical or terrifying is a key insight conveyed.
Importance of Making Contributions Accessible and Inclusive
The podcast discusses the significance of making contributions to open source accessible to individuals from diverse backgrounds. It highlights the efforts of organizations like Girl Develop It in creating a supportive environment for women contributors. Addressing barriers such as stereotypes, accessibility, and environment is crucial for promoting diversity in technology. Encouraging people from various backgrounds to participate in software development and open source projects is not only ethically important but also beneficial for innovation and progress.
Facilitating Contribution through Finding Niche Areas
The podcast stresses the value of finding niche areas within open source projects to facilitate meaningful contributions. Examples shared include how contributors, such as Vincent Batts, identified specific needs within projects that aligned with their skills. By focusing on reciprocal relationships with projects and communities, contributors can make impactful contributions even without extensive experience or formal qualifications. The message encourages individuals to start somewhere, willingly learn, and actively engage in open source initiatives.
Looking to get into open source but not sure where to start? Are you a contributor trying to understand why only some pull requests get accepted? Or are you a maintainer who’s feeling overwhelmed?
This episode looks at what it means to commit to an open source project. We follow our heroes as they progress through the roles of open source contributors: from finding projects and contributing to them, to building and maintaining thriving communities. Shannon Crabill shares how she got her start in open source at Hacktoberfest 2017, and Corinne Warnshuis describes how important it is to include people from all backgrounds to create good software. There are many ways to contribute to open source. Let’s walk through this together.
For more about the characters, history, and stories of this episode, visit redhat.com/commandlineheroes. While there, check out how you can contribute to hero-engine and Command Line Heroes: The Game — all levels welcome.
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