The Next Generation of Open Source Contributors (are not on IRC) [V2]

There is an entirely new generation of contributors, and they're not joining IRC. Why is that? And where are they going? And what should I do about it?

Here's some data, some insight into a different open source path, and some strong opinions on how to invite the next generation to your space.

Transcript

1. The next generation of contributors is not on IRC. https://speakerdeck.com/mbbroberg Matt Broberg @mbbroberg
2. Hi, I’m Matt Technical Editor for Opensource.com at Red Hat Member of OSI, PSF Contributor to Kubernetes, CHAOSS Graduate of OSI-approved Brandeis course on the Business of Open Source @mbbroberg
3. @mbbroberg Where were you When you first chat with an open source community?
4. < empty space > < empty space > < empty space > < empty space > @mbbroberg IRC (circa 1990)
5. Yahoo (18 million in 2005) < empty space > @mbbroberg MSN Messenger (115 million in 2004) IRC (240k in 2005) ICQ (20 million in 2004)
6. < empty space > @mbbroberg IRC ICQ MSN Yahoo < empty space > < empty space >
7. Slack (44 million) Element (Riot.im) (18 million) @mbbroberg IRC Gitter (100k)
8. Telegram (400 million) Twitter (326 million) Reddit (430 million) Slack (44m) G Discord (100 million) GitHub (44m) @mbbroberg Element (18m) irc
9. * Twitter (126 million) Slack (12m) Telegram (200 million) Goo g Discord (250 million) GitHub (40 m) @mbbroberg MSFT (13m) Riot (13m) Facebook / WhatsApp (2.6 billion)
10. @mbbroberg Where were you When you first chat with an open source community?
11. My impression You @mbbroberg
12. My impression You Me @mbbroberg
13. My impression You 1) Seasoned open source participant 2) Can recite the OSD from heart 3) Contributed before git was cool 4) Are still active on IRC 5) Care about this community GitHub generation of open source Recently learned FSF & OSI are different See git as the lingua franca of tech Just joined IRC via Element Care about this community Me @mbbroberg
14. New users and IRC What’s with the wizard-like syntax? Where is my chat history? Why does NAMESERV hate me? What clients consistently work? Why can’t I @ anyone? @mbbroberg
15. The bar is higher than ever Modern sign up experience Mobile access by default In-app onboarding and guide Advanced moderation options Shared discussion history Multi-media support Notifications options IRC | Slack | Element (Riot.im) @mbbroberg
16. IRC continues to shrink from +400,000 in 2004 to < 100,000 in 2020 At a time when open source is more popular than ever
17. But IRC has principles! Point License is (at least) open source Decentralized (Federated) End-to-end encryption
18. But IRC has principles! Point License is (at least) open source Decentralized (Federated) End-to-end encryption
19. The bar is higher than ever Modern sign up experience Mobile access by default In-app onboarding and guide Advanced moderation options Shared discussion history Multi-media support Notifications options IRC | Rocket | Element (Riot.im) @mbbroberg
20. IRC is not the right tool @mbbroberg
21. Choosing community channels @mbbroberg
22. Sync For casual, high throughput discussion Async For a definitive, recorded answer News To stay informed and empowered F2F To build a formidable bond @mbbroberg
23. Sync For casual, high throughput discussion Async For a definitive, recorded answer News To stay informed and empowered F2F To build a formidable bond @mbbroberg
24. Async Sync F2F News User groups & Conferences @mbbroberg
25. Don’t default to synchronous Synchronous chat is rarely the right place for your community (at first) @mbbroberg
26. Don’t default to synchronous 1. Requires always-on participation 2. Difficult to follow multiple discussions 3. Sets expectation of immediacy in response 4. Divides participation by time zone 5. No continuation of knowledge @mbbroberg
27. Don’t default to synchronous If synchronous is the right place for your community... @mbbroberg
28. Advanced Sync Setup @mbbroberg #where-you-prefer-to-be
29. Advanced Sync Setup @mbbroberg Community #contributors #where-you-prefer-to-be Bridges (Element) #maintainers
30. Advanced Sync Setup @mbbroberg Community #contributors #where-you-prefer-to-be #announcements (rename #general) #contributors #maintainers Bridges (Element) #maintainers #announcements Bots #social
31. Advanced Sync Setup @mbbroberg Community #contributors #where-you-prefer-to-be #announcements (rename #general) #contributors #maintainers Bridges (Element) #maintainers #announcements Bots #social Be where future contributors are
32. Because community is not always open • Proprietary hardware community • Proprietary virtualization community • Joining a proprietary code sharing site • Open source on a proprietary OS • Open core startups • Growing communities on GitHub • Open source communities • Opensource.com • A maturing obsession with licenses • Maintainer and contributor @mbbroberg
33. Communication channels matter They imply who is welcome and who needs to “try harder” to be welcome. @mbbroberg
34. Advanced Sync Setup @mbbroberg Community #contributors #where-you-prefer-to-be #announcements (rename #general) #contributors #maintainers Bridges (Element) #maintainers #announcements Bots (Slack) #social Be multichannel
35. Be inclusive first, educate on open values along the way @mbbroberg
36. Don’t love these types of problems? Recruit contributors that do. @mbbroberg
37. All communities that contribute to open source are open source communities @mbbroberg
38. Thank you And thanks: ◂ To Open Source Initiative! This is such an honor. ◂ To the Mozilla team for inspiring research on this topic. ◂ To the Opensource.com team for their support. If you’re interested in sharing your open source story there, I’m mbbroberg online. ◂ Presentation template by Slidesgo, icons by Flaticon. @mbbroberg
39. 1. Daily publication with over 3 million articles read a month 2. Publishing articles on anything with a strong open source story 3. Staff available to coach authors on telling great stories 4. Top articles in Linux, Python, Rust, Kubernetes, and open source news 5. An ever-evolving community of active participants Interested in writing with us? Go to Opensource.com/writers (or at me! @mbbroberg)
40. * Your current users/contributors Potential contributors @mbbroberg
41. * Potential contributors @mbbroberg Maintainers Your current users/contributors
42. Async Sync F2F News MozFest @mbbroberg Mozilla The Mozilla Blog
43. Async Sync F2F News GopherCon & Go Meetups @mbbroberg Go The Go Blog
44. Async Sync F2F News KubeCon & Cloud Native Meetups @mbbroberg Kubernetes The Kubernetes Blog ++
45. Async Sync F2F News & Add-on events @mbbroberg Defaults &
46. Async Sync F2F News All Things Open & Fosdem @mbbroberg Open Defaults &
47. Async Sync F2F News All Things Open & Fosdem @mbbroberg Open Defaults &