Dr. Dawn M. Foster discusses building community around open-source software (OSS) projects, emphasizing the importance of transparency, governance, and encouraging participation. Key strategies include removing barriers to contribution agreements and utilizing public channels for communication. Resources such as the Linux Foundation's Todo Group and GitHub's open-source guide are recommended for further guidance.

1. Building Community for your
Company’s OSS Projects
Dr. Dawn M. Foster
Open Source Strategy at Pivotal, now part of VMware
Spring Live Virtual Event, March 2020
dafoster@pivotal.io @geekygirldawn
fastwonderblog.com

2. @geekygirldawn
• Geek, traveler, reader
• 20+ year tech career focused on
community & open source
(Intel, Puppet, Scale Factory, …)
• PhD from the University of Greenwich
focus on Linux kernel collaboration
• Kubernetes contributor
• OpenUK Board, CHAOSS Governing
Board and Maintainer, Bitergia
Advisory BoardPhotos by Mom, Josh Bancroft, Don Park
whoami

3. @geekygirldawn
The Problem is Hard
Communities are
made of squishy
humans 🤔

4. @geekygirldawn
Types of OSS Projects
Grassroots
Ecosystem
Company
Photo by David Jakes - CC BY 2.0

5. @geekygirldawn
Why Open Source?
Open source for
innovation and
adoption
Photo by C. Watts CC BY 2.0

6. @geekygirldawn
Transparency
Use public
channels
Photo by magpietales CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

7. @geekygirldawn
Governance
Transparent
decision-making
and a path to
leadership
Photo by Allen and Allen - CC BY 2.0

8. @geekygirldawn
Be Honest
With yourselves
and with the
community
Photo by Amanda Slater - CC BY-SA 2.0

9. @geekygirldawn
Remove Barriers
To CLA*,
or not to CLA,
that is the question
Photo by Kate Ter Haar - CC BY 2.0
* CLA = Contributor License Agreement

10. @geekygirldawn
Licenses
Can have a
big impact on
participation
Photo by Allen and Allan - CC BY 2.0

11. @geekygirldawn
Encourage Participation
Be proactive,
but leave space
for others
to contribute

12. @geekygirldawn
Marketing
Awesome,
not evil
Photo of page 66 of The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, illustrated by Paul Kidby

13. @geekygirldawn
Planning and Product Management
Feature planning
in the open can
be difficult
Photo by Natalio - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

14. @geekygirldawn
Managing Contributions
Feedback requires
time and skills
Image by Tomomi - CC BY 2.0

15. @geekygirldawn
Recruit Companies
Existing
relationships
and partners
Photo by Jan Fidler - CC BY 2.0

16. @geekygirldawn
Summary
Be open,
transparent, and
encouraging
CC0 license

17. @geekygirldawn
Resources
• Linux Foundation’s TODO Group
https://todogroup.org/guides/
• GitHub
https://opensource.guide
• opensource.com
https://opensource.com/resources
Photo by Abhi Sharma - CC BY 2.0

18. Thank You and
Questions
Dr. Dawn M. Foster
dafoster@pivotal.io @geekygirldawn
fastwonderblog.com
Open Source at VMware
blogs.vmware.com/opensource
@vmwopensource

19. @geekygirldawn