The Open Source Junkyard

RailsConf 2014 Chicago
About how gem maintainers need help else gems get abandoned and it hurts the end-user (us).
Was a lightning talk but I prepared, but we ran out of time.

Transcript

1. The Open Source
   Junkyard
   Benjamin Fleischer
   bf@benjaminfleischer.com
   github.com/bf4 twitter.com/hazula
   http://www.polleverywhere.com/devbenjamin
   

   View Slide

2. Where do the gems
   we use come from?
   

   View Slide

3. !
   !
   !
   !
   

   View Slide

4. People.
   Like me and you.
   

   View Slide

5. We depend on altruism
   !
   !
   !
   !
   • http://www.confreaks.com/videos/2901-
   rubyconf2013-maintaining-sanity
   

   View Slide

6. Important code maintained
   by only a few
   

   View Slide

7. So many ways to
   leave a gem behind
   

   View Slide

8. There’s no gem
   maintainer hotline
   nor gem clearinghouse
   

   View Slide

9. A tweet for help
   

   View Slide

10. Maintainer Classifieds
    http://stillmaintained.com/sferik/merb-admin
    

    View Slide

11. Abandonment notice in README
    

    View Slide

12. !
    !
    !
    !
    Users ask about maintenance
    

    View Slide

13. Posting on a list
    

    View Slide

14. Leaving behind the abandoned
    

    View Slide

15. Trusting a contributor
    

    View Slide

16. Accidental ownership
    

    View Slide

17. Github commit isn’t enough
    

    View Slide

18. Taking Ownership
    • 1) Get repository (GitHub) commit / ownership
    • Need GitHub username. Add to access group.
    • 2) Get rubygems.org push access
    • Need email for rubygems.org account
    • gem owner -a dev@benjaminfleischer.com
    • 3) Rubyforge? Mailing List? Twitter account? IRC?
    

    View Slide

19. Transferring ownership
    

    View Slide

20. Curating contributors
    

    View Slide

21. RubyGems.org can
    only do so much.
    It’s a lot of work.
    http://help.rubygems.org/discussions/questions/122-abandoned-gem-requesting-maintainership
    

    View Slide

22. How do I
    complain help out?
    

    View Slide

23. Bless a fork
    Otherwise there’s no place for people to
    contribute back to
    

    View Slide

24. CodeTriage.com
    

    View Slide

25. Let’s Discuss:
    !
    github.com/howto-ruby/
    rubygems-style-guide/wiki
    Benjamin Fleischer
    bf@benjaminfleischer.com
    github.com/bf4 twitter.com/hazula
    

    View Slide

26. The Twitter Gem and Ruby
    Hero Erik Michaels-Ober
    • Further Reading:
    • http://rubyrogues.com/127-rr-erik-michaels-ober/ grep for maintain
    • ERIK: It was basically just a giant yak shave. I think I just started working on it and then I
    said… So I … and then just so I just became the de facto maintainer of that.
    • KATRINA: What’s the most challenging aspect of maintaining a big popular project like the
    twitter gem?
    • ERIK: I don’t know. To me, I love it.
    

    View Slide

27. View Slide