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GitHub Seeks Feedback on 'Open Source Sustainability' (github.blog)
Devon Zuegel, "a developer with a passion for governance and economics," recently became GitHub's open source product manager to "support maintainers in cultivating vital, productive communities" -- specifically open source software (OSS).
Thursday they put out a call for feedback from open source developers about their contribution hours, their projects, and especially their issues: As the OSS community has grown in scale and importance, the way we think about working together has to evolve, too. What works in a village or a town needs to evolve to serve a metropolis. Open source has grown from a small, academic sharing network to a giant, global web of dependencies. It now forms the backbone of the internet and technology in general. Just like any growing city, we have to coordinate the knowledge, infrastructure, and tools for the good of the whole community. OSS is an essential and special part of software development.
OSS has also been the heart of GitHub since the beginning. However, there is so much more we could do to support the people behind it. I have many ideas, but first I want to hear from you.
The essay argues OSS maintainers and contributors "don't have all the tools, support, and environment they need to succeed," including analytics, communication resources, recognition and "proportionate incentive to contribute time and money to creating and maintaining projects." (As well as deficiencies in both governance and mentorship.) And at the bottom of the blog post, there's a contact form.
"I want you to be part of the conversation and our roadmap. These challenges are nuanced, and they are unique to each project and community, so it's crucial that we have an open dialogue as we focus on helping you address them."
Thursday they put out a call for feedback from open source developers about their contribution hours, their projects, and especially their issues: As the OSS community has grown in scale and importance, the way we think about working together has to evolve, too. What works in a village or a town needs to evolve to serve a metropolis. Open source has grown from a small, academic sharing network to a giant, global web of dependencies. It now forms the backbone of the internet and technology in general. Just like any growing city, we have to coordinate the knowledge, infrastructure, and tools for the good of the whole community. OSS is an essential and special part of software development.
OSS has also been the heart of GitHub since the beginning. However, there is so much more we could do to support the people behind it. I have many ideas, but first I want to hear from you.
The essay argues OSS maintainers and contributors "don't have all the tools, support, and environment they need to succeed," including analytics, communication resources, recognition and "proportionate incentive to contribute time and money to creating and maintaining projects." (As well as deficiencies in both governance and mentorship.) And at the bottom of the blog post, there's a contact form.
"I want you to be part of the conversation and our roadmap. These challenges are nuanced, and they are unique to each project and community, so it's crucial that we have an open dialogue as we focus on helping you address them."
1. Embrace
2. Extend
3. Extinguish
Wait, what was the question again?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
A man walks into the mayor's office and says, "What works in a village or a town needs to evolve to serve a metropolis. City management has grown from a small, academic sharing network to a giant, global web of dependencies. It now forms the backbone of the governance and economics in general. Just like any growing city, we have to coordinate the knowledge, infrastructure, and tools for the good of the whole community. So, hit the bricks as I remake NYC in my own image."
I think it funny, btw, that he's quick to spin "small, academic sharing network" and ignore that the "giant, global web" was also heavily supported by industry. What has made it work is heavily either (1) wide adoption of open standards and/or software or (2) monopoly position to create a de facto standard and/or software. Meanwhile, many foundations and organizations have arisen to address the many issues he has stated, with many such (Apache Foundation comes to mind) serving as an umbrella for critical software development when an author of an important project either asks for help or simply abandons it because they're no longer interested.
It's not that his concerns aren't warranted. It's that as best as reasonably possible they're currently being addressed as needed. He doesn't really bring new ideas to the table. His call for a conversation are at best naive because it implies that he actually can meaningfully provide support and guidance. His position, though, puts him in the same position as NYC mayor: deeply political with his or his handlers own vested interests making it impossible to ever really trust him.
There's simply little, to no point relying upon him until many years have passed and he's earned the trust of people just like many other foundations have done. That almost certainly means spinning Github off has a foundation separate from Microsoft with financial backing from multiple, potentially conflicted companies. That's the model that's so far shown to work. Everything else is too political and manipulative for most to get in bed with.
And if it all comes down to advice? Post it on all on a Github repository and let people clone and modify it to their hearts content. Instead of seeking our advice, give us yours so we know where you at least say you stand and leave us to choose how we shall carry out that advice.