Dealing with the Demands of the Open Source Community

"Our open source customers are by far the worst..."

They don't pay us money. They don't understand the goals of the project. They don't even say "thank you". But studies and personal experiences have proven that users of open source software are _more_ demanding than those same users who pay for software. Why?

Understanding the "why" will help us discover the "how". How can we solve this problem? Because it's not a technical one - it's a cultural one.

Transcript

1. DEALING WITH
   THE DEMANDS
   OF THE
   OPEN-SOURCE
   COMMUNITY
   

   View Slide

2. View Slide

3. View Slide

4. Hey man, how's ________ going?
   

   View Slide

5. Hey man, how's ________ going?
   Awesome, but we've been having
   a lot of outages lately :(
   

   View Slide

6. Hey man, how's ________ going?
   Awesome, but we've been having
   a lot of outages lately :(
   Yea, gotta keep them paying
   customers happy!
   

   View Slide

7. Hey man, how's ________ going?
   Awesome, but we've been having
   a lot of outages lately :(
   Yea, gotta keep them paying
   customers happy!
   No, our open source customers
   are by far the worst...
   

   View Slide

8. Hey man, how's ________ going?
   Awesome, but we've been having
   a lot of outages lately :(
   Yea, gotta keep them paying
   customers happy!
   No, our open source customers
   are by far the worst...
   /me thinks why?...
   

   View Slide

9. @sethvargo
   

   View Slide

10. QUALIFICATIONS?
    

    View Slide

11. View Slide

12. View Slide

13. View Slide

14. View Slide

15. WHY?
    

    View Slide

16. 1,000,000
    2,000,000
    3,000,000
    4,000,000
    5,000,000
    2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
    

    View Slide

17. 1,000,000
    2,000,000
    3,000,000
    4,000,000
    5,000,000
    2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
    USERS
    

    View Slide

18. 1,000,000
    2,000,000
    3,000,000
    4,000,000
    5,000,000
    2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
    USERS
    REPOS
    

    View Slide

19. !
    USERS
    REPOS
    1,000,000
    2,000,000
    3,000,000
    4,000,000
    5,000,000
    2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
    

    View Slide

20. View Slide

21. 3 Simple Things
    

    View Slide

22. 1. Direct Developer Access
    

    View Slide

23. 1. Direct Developer Access
    2. Open Forum for Disputes
    

    View Slide

24. 1. Direct Developer Access
    2. Open Forum for Disputes
    3. Frustration
    

    View Slide

25. 1. Direct Developer Access
    2. Open Forum for Disputes
    3. Frustration
    Entitlement
    

    View Slide

26. 1. Direct Developer Access
    2. Open Forum for Disputes
    3. Frustration
    Developer Sadness
    

    View Slide

27. 1. Direct Developer Access
    2. Open Forum for Disputes
    3. Frustration
    Unrealistic Demands
    

    View Slide

28. 1. Direct Developer Access
    2. Open Forum for Disputes
    3. Frustration
    Bandwagons
    

    View Slide

29. 1. Direct Developer Access
    2. Open Forum for Disputes
    3. Frustration
    Do this for me now!
    

    View Slide

30. 1. Direct Developer Access
    2. Open Forum for Disputes
    3. Frustration
    

    View Slide

31. View Slide

32. HOW?
    

    View Slide

33. View Slide

34. HAVE
    AWESOME TESTS
    !
    # 1
    

    View Slide

35. HAVE AWESOME TESTS
    !
    Confidence
    "
    

    View Slide

36. Copy-Pasta
    #
    HAVE AWESOME TESTS
    !
    

    View Slide

37. Avoid Regressions
    HAVE AWESOME TESTS
    !
    $
    

    View Slide

38. View Slide

39. ADD CONTINUOUS
    INTEGRATION
    # 2
    %
    %
    

    View Slide

40. %
    ADD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
    

    View Slide

41. %
    ADD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
    

    View Slide

42. %
    ADD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
    

    View Slide

43. %
    ADD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
    

    View Slide

44. %
    ADD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
    

    View Slide

45. %
    ADD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
    

    View Slide

46. %
    ADD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
    

    View Slide

47. %
    ADD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
    

    View Slide

48. View Slide

49. SHIP OFTEN
    &
    &
    &
    # 3
    

    View Slide

50. & SHIP OFTEN
    Incremental Changes
    '(
    

    View Slide

51. Bug Fixes
    )
    & SHIP OFTEN
    

    View Slide

52. Betas
    *
    & SHIP OFTEN
    

    View Slide

53. View Slide

54. BE RESPONSIVE
    # 4
    +
    

    View Slide

55. + BE RESPONSIVE
    This is a really big patch. It
    may take me a few days to
    review :smile:
    ,
    -
    

    View Slide

56. + BE RESPONSIVE
    This is a really big patch. It
    may take me a few days to
    review :smile:
    ,
    -
    

    View Slide

57. + BE RESPONSIVE
    This is a really big patch. It
    may take me a few days to
    review :smile:
    ,
    -
    

    View Slide

58. + BE RESPONSIVE
    Outdated Pull Request
    .
    

    View Slide

59. + BE RESPONSIVE
    Outdated Pull Request
    .
    Apologize
    

    View Slide

60. + BE RESPONSIVE
    Outdated Pull Request
    .
    Apologize
    Is this still an issue?
    

    View Slide

61. View Slide

62. COUNT TO 86 400
    # 5
    /
    

    View Slide

63. / COUNT TO 86,400
    Frustration is high
    

    View Slide

64. / COUNT TO 86,400
    Emotions are high
    

    View Slide

65. / COUNT TO 86,400
    But don't let it die (#4)
    

    View Slide

66. View Slide

67. 11,230
    

    View Slide

68. 11,230
    11,679
    

    View Slide

69. 11,230
    11,679
    FEELS LIKE SHIT
    

    View Slide

70. 11,230
    11,679
    FEELS LIKE SHIT
    http://harthur.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/771/
    

    View Slide

71. 11,230
    11,679
    FEELS LIKE SHIT
    http://harthur.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/771/
    YOU ARE
    NOT YOUR CODE
    #6
    0
    1
    2
    

    View Slide

72. @sethvargo
    

    View Slide

73. @sethvargo
    Thank you!
    

    View Slide