Open Source Stories

Emma Irwin explores a nuanced view of open source maintainership in today’s landscape, digging into what characteristics good maintainers cultivate, what role mentoring plays in maintainership, and how history influences who becomes a maintainer.

Nic Steenhout recounts how barriers to access led him to getting involved in the open source community, reflects on challenges that accessibility advocates face in the ecosystem, and gives some advice to projects on how to prove their commitment to accessibility.

Elana Hashman recounts her first contribution to open source, the ecosystem’s potential, how norms have changed over the years, and what keeps her involved and contributing.

Samson talks with amanda about his lifelong journey in open source, why growing a culture of sharing is so important, and how his early experiences influenced where and how he has directed his energy into re-centering the nexus of open source.

Joe Beda shares with julia and amanda about his multigenerational family history with computers, his changing experience with open source since submitting the first commit to Kubernetes, and how the future of open source contains both "danger and opportunity".

Josh Simmons spends some time with Open Source Stories discussing the finer points of navigating open source dynamics, reflecting on the adoption of codes of conduct, and progress made towards increasing representation. Josh also coins the best tagline for open source.

Aaron Patterson talks with julia and amanda about installing Linux for the first time, the story behind first patch, initial hesitancy around forking, and shares some advice for fellow programmers. Features plenty of bad puns from everyone.

Russell Keith-Magee connects with Open Source Stories to talk about his earliest memories of technology, recount how he got involved with the Django ecosystem, and share his thoughts on open source contractualism.