How to start contributing to Open Source

or "how to become a (good) open source contributor in 1 hour"

Transcript

1. how to become
   an
   (good)
   open source
   contributor
   in 1 hour
   

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2. - Step 1 -
   Start Contributing
   

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3. - Step 2 -
   ...
   

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4. - Step 3 -
   PROFIT!
   

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5. how to become
   an
   (good)
   open source
   contributor
   in 1 hour
   

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6. how to become
   a
   n
   (good) open source
   contributor
   in 1 hour
   

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7. @
   simonbasle
   

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8. ideas and advice
   and NOT a perfect recipe
   In this talk:
   

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9. 1 Where
   to Start?
   

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10. familiarize with
    Git / GitHub
    

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11. picking a project
    
    

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12. documentation
    
    

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13. samples and tests
    ⚗
    

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14. opening issues
    
    

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15. engaging with the
    community
    
    

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16. actual code
    
    

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17. 2 how to
    do it well?
    

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18. the "don't be
    that guy" part
    

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19. "the good, the bad and the ugly"
    Dramatis Personae
    

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20. "the good, the bad and the ugly"
    
    Dramatis Personae
    

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21. Archetype
    ugly version of the archetype
    (don't be that guy)
    
    
    bad version of the archetype
    (try to not be that guy either)
    fix to the archetype
    (be THAT guy instead)
    

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22. the Diva
    
    

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23. the Diva
    feature X
    Unbelievable that feature X isn't included in this project. Please add it!
    

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24. the Diva
    feature X
    One feature that I'm greatly missing in this project is the ability to do X. Here is
    what I mean by feature X: (...).
    

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25. Discussion around adding feature X
    Hi! I'd like to discuss the addition of feature X and whether or not you have
    considered it in the past. If so, I'd like to know more about the rationale around not
    adding it.
    Here is a more detailed analysis of my use case and the need for feature X, as well
    at some implementation idea: (...).
    I'd be open to starting a PR exploring these too.
    the Diva
    

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26. the Riddler
    ❓
    

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27. the Riddler
    it doesn't work
    The other day while running this project I got an error.
    

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28. the Riddler
    Strange bug while running method foo
    While using this project, I tried to apply method foo and I got a strange error about
    an index that was out of bounds.
    Did I do anything wrong?
    

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29. the Riddler
    IndexOutOfBounds when applying method foo to an empty List
    Using method foo in my code, I ran into a bug where if I pass an empty List to the
    method, it throws an IndexOutOfBoundsException.
    Here is the stack trace and a reproducible test case:
    Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index: 0
    at java.util.Collections$EmptyList.get(Collections.java:4454)
    at some.library.LibUtils.foo(LibUtils.java:54)
    at my.project.Application.main(Application.java:59)
    

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30. the Artist
    
    

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31. the Artist
    
    I fixed a minor typo in LibUtils.foo javadoc and added the missing javadoc for
    foobar.
    Fix typo in foo javadoc, add missing foobar javadoc
    

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32. I fixed a minor typo in LibUtils.foo javadoc and added the missing javadoc for
    foobar.
    Fix typo in foo javadoc, add missing foobar javadoc
    the Artist
    
    
    

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33. the Artist
    I fixed a minor typo in LibUtils.foo javadoc and added the missing javadoc for
    foobar.
    Fix typo in foo javadoc, add missing foobar javadoc
    
    

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34. I fixed a minor typo in LibUtils.foo javadoc and added the missing javadoc for
    foobar.
    Fix typo in foo javadoc, add missing foobar javadoc
    the Artist
    (commit still contains a hundred line
    changes from spaces to tabs)
    

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35. the Artist
    I fixed a minor typo in LibUtils.foo javadoc and added the missing javadoc for
    foobar.
    Additionally I noticed there was no formatter setting shared in the project but it
    seemed to follow tab-based formatting, so I used that.
    Since foo javadoc formatting was off, I fixed it but limited my change to these 2
    methods...
    Fix typo in foo javadoc, add missing foobar javadoc
    

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36. the Alien-Abductee
    
    

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37. the Alien-Abductee
    
    
    

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38. the Alien-Abductee
    

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39. the Alien-Abductee
    

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40. the Quick Trigger
    
    

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41. the Quick Trigger
    
    

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42. the Quick Trigger
    
    

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43. the Quick Trigger
    

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44. a few github
    tricks
    

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45. 
    PR rights for maintainers
    

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46. ✏✏✏⌫✏
    commit often
    on PR branch
    

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47. commit often
    on PR branch
    

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48. ✒
    ...but squash & merge
    at the end
    

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51. ...but squash & merge
    ✒
    at the end
    (maybe as controversial as tabs vs space)
    ⚠
    

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52. 3 as a
    maintainer
    

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53. best effort
    
    

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54. don't be afraid to
    (gently) say NO
    
    

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55. 
    don't be afraid to
    (sternly) say NO
    

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56. foster a welcoming
    community
    
    

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57. guiding
    contributors
    
    

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58. don't be afraid to
    close issues
    
    

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59. 4 enterprise
    OpenSource
    

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60. should you open
    source stuff?
    
    

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61. how to convince
    your boss
    
    

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62. sometimes the problem is
    not the Boss
    (could it be the lawyers?)
    
    

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63. CLA and its
    usefulness
    ⚖
    

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64. reduce friction
    invest in tooling
    
    

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65. a few governance
    alternatives
    
    

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66. conclusion
    

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67. it's not that hard
    

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68. don't forget there's a
    human on the other side
    of the screen
    

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69. Thank you!
    

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70. Questions?
    

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71. credits
    • Whiteboard - CC0 (via WikiMedia)
    • Cork board - CC-By-NC-SA (Caitlin Bussey, via Flickr)
    • Tack - CC0 (via PixaBay)
    • Sketch of The May House in Avondale - CC-By-Sa (Evan Roshek via
    WikiMedia)
    • Joy Oil gas station blueprints - PubDom (via WikiMedia)
    • Pilots at work on Thai Smile Airbus A320 - CC-By (Max Alpha X-ray via
    WikiMedia)
    • Meeting Room - CC0 (via Pexels)
    

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