Working Remotely on an Open Source Project

A few thoughts and info around working remotely on WordPress for Android.
Delivered at Electronics Lab, Physics Dept., University of Patras, Greece.

Transcript

1. Working Remotely on an Open Source Project Stefanos Togoulidis April 2016
2. ?
4. Stefanos
5. • BSc Physics, MSc Electronics until 2003 • Working professionally since 2002 • Remotely since 2012 • a11n since late 2015 • Family of 3 (1.5yo girl) Stefanos Togoulidis
6. Automattic
7. • San Francisco, 43 countries • Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress • 444 a12s and hiring • Hiring takes place over text chat Automattic
8. Automatticians
9. • Main goal: socialize with colleagues • All hands once a year • Team/squad twice a year • Participating/organizing local WP events, WordCamps Meetups
10. WordPress
11. • Open Source CMS, Site/Blog Engine • Powers 26% of the Internet, 60% of CMSs • Matt + 5 lead devs + 8 core devs + contributors + 3 designers WordPress
12. • Time.com, TechCrunch, Fortune, CNN • WordPress for Android - Manage your WP from the mobile WordPress
13. Tools of the trade
14. no email
16. • Source code available, GPL’d • a12s have commit access • Pull Requests (a12s, contributors) • Code reviewed on PRs • I submit a PR but merged by others • Issues GitHub - Repo & Collaboration
17. • Posts (with media if needed) • Comments • Collaboration • Decisions on features, architectures, etc WordPress P2s - Internal blogs
18. • Around the clock chat • Collaboration (questions, answers, etc) • Socializing • Weekdays are respected Slack - chat
19. • Cloudup for image/video sharing • Hangouts, Zoom for video conf • 1Password Other tools
20. Source-control
21. • “master” reflects the production • “develop” holds code ready for production • “feature-x” WIP code for a feature • “hotfix-x” fixes on production • “release-x” staging code git-flow
22. git-flow master hotfix feature develop
23. • Open an issue with feature/defect details • Work on the feature/fix • Submit a Pull Request • Get the PR reviewed, merged • Pick up another feature/defect and repeat The PR flow
24. WordPress-android
25. WordPress-android
26. • 160k LOC (300k including maintained libs) • Various archs - many devs/teams/squads • Currently working on implementing Gravatar- update WordPress-android
27. • Libs: Support, GCM, Simperium, EventBus, HelpShift, PhotoView, WP Networking, WP GraphView, WP Rest WordPress-android
28. Working remotely
29. • Discipline • Embrace distractions, within limits (earplugs!) • Strict, continuous 9-5 • Weekdays only Working remotely
30. The upside
31. • Travel and meet new people • More job opportunities • Money can be better than locally • Comfort of your home Working remotely - the upside
32. The downside
33. • Can mess your rhythms without a schedule • Physical body state can deteriorate • Need to make reasons to go out • Social life can suffer • Jet lag is real Working remotely - the downside
34. Thank you!
35. • “Stefanos Togoulidis” on GitHub/Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn • stefanos.togoulidis@gmail.com • https://automattic.com • http://workingnomads.co/ Links