Becoming a Good Open-Source Citizen

This talk was given at CMS Africa Summit 2019 (in Cape Town).
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The nature of open-source means that everyone involved in the project, whether as a user or contributor, is responsible for how they engage with the rest of the community. With most open-source projects being both global and online, it can be tough to navigate relationships, collaboration and involvement. How do you work alongside others online? How do you engage with contributors from other cultures? How do you make decisions across timezones? What do you do when conflicts arise? These challenges aren’t necessarily exclusive to open-source, but the solutions can be very unique and understanding your role as an open-source citizen will help you handle them effectively.

Transcript

1. Becoming a Good Open-Source Citizen
2. Hugh Lashbrooke WordPress Community Manager
3. What is open-source software?
4. “Open source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance.” -opensource.com
5. What is an open-source citizen?
6. How can you be a good open-source citizen?
7. Respect the project
8. Respect the project Code People Licence Services Supporters
9. Contribute
10. Code Events Support Localisation Documentation Contribute
11. Be patient
12. Open-source maintainers are people too Be patient
13. Give feedback
14. Be positive and constructive Give feedback
15. Help others contribute
16. Be patient Be available Write about it Help others contribute
17. “That's what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It's a positive feedback cycle.” -Linus Torvalds
18. Hugh Lashbrooke @hlashbrooke hugh.blog automattic.com make.wordpress.org