Tomasz Urbaszek discusses lessons learned from one year of contributing to open source software projects. The presentation outlines 10 key lessons: 1) You can be young, as most open source contributors are over 40; 2) You don't need experience, as open source welcomes contributors of all backgrounds; 3) You don't need to know how to code, as there are many non-coding roles; 4) Open source is a great place to learn through feedback and without judgment of mistakes; 5) Community is more important than code, as code relies on community support; 6) Value people over code contributions, which may change; 7) Consider the big picture of stakeholders, decisions, and asking questions; 8)

1. Growing with the
Open-Source
Community
Tomasz Urbaszek
ApacheCon@Home 2020

2. Tomasz Urbaszek
@turbaszek
Software Engineer @ Polidea
PMC member @ Apache Airflow
Chapter Lead @ ALC Warsaw

3. What is this talk
all about?
● One year of doing Open Source
● 10 lessons worth knowing about OSS
● People from outside OSS as well as present contributors

4. Last year
2019 2020

5. Last year
2019 2020
June 2019
Joined Polidea OSS team
Polidea Airflow team:
5 people / 2 committers

6. Last year
2019 2020
June 2019
Joined Polidea OSS team
October 2019
ApacheCon EU
Polidea Airflow team:
5 people / 2 committers

7. Last year
February 2020
ALC Warsaw
Chapter Lead
2019 2020
June 2019
Joined Polidea OSS team
October 2019
ApacheCon EU
Polidea Airflow team:
5 people / 2 committers

8. Last year
February 2020
ALC Warsaw
Chapter Lead
2019 2020
June 2019
Joined Polidea OSS team
December 2019
Apache Airflow
Committer
October 2019
ApacheCon EU
Polidea Airflow team:
5 people / 2 committers

9. Last year
February 2020
ALC Warsaw
Chapter Lead
2019 2020
June 2019
Joined Polidea OSS team
December 2019
Apache Airflow
Committer
July 2020
Apache Airflow
PMC
October 2019
ApacheCon EU
Polidea Airflow team:
5 people / 2 committers Polidea Airflow team:
8 people / 3 PMCs

10. The 10 lessons learned after a
year of contributing to
Open Source

11. # 1
You can be young!

12. # 1
You can be young!
Participants under 24 represents
less than a 5 %
Source: The 2020 Apache Software Foundation Community Survey

13. # 1
You can be young!
Participants under 24 represents
less than a 5 % With the average of 40 years
Source: The 2020 Apache Software Foundation Community Survey

14. #2
You don’t need
experience

15. #2
You don’t need
experience
phd

16. #2
You don’t need
experience
phd
any degree

17. #2
You don’t need
experience
phd
any degree
formal
education

18. #2
You don’t need
experience
➔ Anyone
OSS welcomes everyone. Anyone can
join open source projects. There are no
requirements.
phd
any degree
formal
education

19. #2
You don’t need
experience
➔ Anyone
OSS welcomes everyone. Anyone can
join open source projects. There are no
requirements.
➔ Young people
OSS provides an amazing opportunity
to those who start their career or are
still studying.
phd
any degree
formal
education

20. #2
You don’t need
experience
➔ Anyone
OSS welcomes everyone. Anyone can
join open source projects. There are no
requirements.
➔ Young people
OSS provides an amazing opportunity
to those who start their career or are
still studying.
phd
any degree
formal
education
People with <1 year of experience
represent 10% of the contributors
Source: The 2020 Apache Software Foundation Community Survey

21. # 3
You don’t need to
know how to code!

22. Code

23. Code Docs

24. Code LogosDocs

25. Code LogosDocs
UI/UX

26. Code LogosDocs
UI/UX Mascots

27. Code LogosDocs
UI/UX Mascots

28. # 4
OSS is a great place to learn

29. # 4
OSS is a great place to learn
Feedback
When you contribute to
open source projects
you get a lot of
feedback.
It allows you to grow
and learn.

30. # 4
OSS is a great place to learn
Feedback
When you contribute to
open source projects
you get a lot of
feedback.
It allows you to grow
and learn.
Safety
In open source no one
will blame you for
mistakes or the fact that
you are still learning.

31. # 4
OSS is a great place to learn
Feedback
When you contribute to
open source projects
you get a lot of
feedback.
It allows you to grow
and learn.
Safety
In open source no one
will blame you for
mistakes or the fact that
you are still learning.
Diversity
People will not judge
you or your knowledge,
experience and skills.

32. Open source is all about...
“BUILDING COMMUNITIES
AROUND PEOPLE
WHO
ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT
SOLVING
PROBLEMS”
Ruth Holloway

33. # 5
Community > Code

34. It’s people who make the
open source.
The code will die without community.

35. # 6
Value the people
not the code

36. # 6
Value the people
not the code Tip
Don’t get too attached
to your code, logo or
any other type of
contribution.
If community agrees on
something else your
work will be thrown out.

37. #7
The big picture

38. #7
The big picture
➔ Code
The thing that makes a project work.

39. #7
The big picture
➔ Code
The thing that makes a project work.
➔ Stakeholders
Users and companies.

40. #7
The big picture
➔ Code
The thing that makes a project work.
➔ Stakeholders
Users and companies.
➔ Decision making
Process of consensus seeking,
discussions and planning.

41. #7
The big picture
➔ Code
The thing that makes a project work.
➔ Stakeholders
Users and companies.
➔ Decision making
Process of consensus seeking,
discussions and planning.
Don’t be afraid
to ask or
suggest

42. #7
The big picture
➔ Code
The thing that makes a project work.
➔ Stakeholders
Users and companies.
➔ Decision making
Process of consensus seeking,
discussions and planning.
Don’t be afraid
to ask or
suggest
Disagree but
engage

43. But...
HOW PEOPLE FROM
OUTSIDE OF
OPEN SOURCE
SHOULD KNOW IT ALL?

44. #8
Learn and teach “Try to learn something from
everybody, everyday”
Julian Feinauer

45. #8
Learn and teach
➔ Share knowledge
Allow others to understand how things
work and let them carry it on
“Try to learn something from
everybody, everyday”
Julian Feinauer

46. #8
Learn and teach
➔ Share knowledge
Allow others to understand how things
work and let them carry it on
➔ Support people
Help project’s users and contributors.
“Try to learn something from
everybody, everyday”
Julian Feinauer

47. #8
Learn and teach
➔ Share knowledge
Allow others to understand how things
work and let them carry it on
➔ Support people
Help project’s users and contributors.
➔ Spread the word
The only way to share knowledge and
experience is to talk about it.
“Try to learn something from
everybody, everyday”
Julian Feinauer

48. # 9
Create and look for
opportunity

49. # 9
Create and look for
opportunity
Give back
If your company heavily
uses an open source
project consider giving
your employees some
time to contribute.

50. # 9
Create and look for
opportunity
Give back
If your company heavily
uses an open source
project consider giving
your employees some
time to contribute.
Open source your
internal code!

51. # 9
Create and look for
opportunity
Give back
If your company heavily
uses an open source
project consider giving
your employees some
time to contribute.
Ask for
Ask your employer if you
can start to contribute
to open source project
during your work.Open source your
internal code!

52. #10
You can be paid
for OSS work
➔ Full time
When your main job is to grow and care
for open source project.
➔ Part time
When you use some of your work time
to contribute (OSS Fridays, etc.)

53. #10
You can be paid
for OSS work
➔ Full time
When your main job is to grow and care
for open source project.
➔ Part time
When you use some of your work time
to contribute (OSS Fridays, etc.)
RedHat,
Google,
Microsoft,
Polidea, ...

54. #10
You can be paid
for OSS work
➔ Full time
When your main job is to grow and care
for open source project.
➔ Part time
When you use some of your work time
to contribute (OSS Fridays, etc.)
“What we create
runs everywhere”
Rich Bowen
RedHat,
Google,
Microsoft,
Polidea, ...

55. #1 You can be young
#2 You don’t need experience
#3 You don’t need to know how to code
#4 OSS is a great place to learn
#5 Community > Code
#6 Value the people not the code
#7 The big picture
#8 Learn and teach
#9 Create and look for opportunity
#10 You can be paid for OSS work
The
10 OSS
lessons

56. #1 You can be young
#2 You don’t need experience
#3 You don’t need to know how to code
#4 OSS is a great place to learn
#5 Community > Code
#6 Value the people not the code
#7 The big picture
#8 Learn and teach
#9 Create and look for opportunity
#10 You can be paid for OSS work
The
10 OSS
lessons

57. Thank you!
@turbaszek
turbaszek@apache.org