"Be a lurker and start small. Read a PR, try to understand what’s going on. Leave a thumbs up 👍 if you like it. This is a very easy way to get started. And build a habit out of that". -- schneems

How to Open Source: Learn the secrets of successful contributors

Recently, Richard published the book “How to Open Source: Learn the secrets of successful contributors". The missing handbook will guide you from making your first contribution to building a sustainable practice.

Listen to and watch our conversation with Richard Schneeman (@schneems) about the book, and how to go from coder to contributor.

Episode Links

• Get to Senior
• Get to Senior Crash Course
• Podcast Interview
• schneems.com
• Richard Schneeman on Twitter
• How to Open Source
• Fearless Change: Learn the secrets of successful contributors
• Watch the interview on YouTube

Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:28 say hello to our cat, bob!

03:25 what prevents developers from contributing to open source?

04:58 the bystander effect

06:42 not comfortable contributing to new repo

08:30 be a lurker: read a PR and leave a thumbs up

10:12 building tiny habits for Open Source

11:19 do you really want to contribute to open source?

13:53 If you contribute to Open Source, can you skip coding interviews?

14:39 do you need a CS degree to contribute to Open Source?

15:14 use a fake account or nickname on GitHub

16:18 what prevents people from contributing more?

17:52 how do you find time to contribute to open source?

19:00 how to do open source work as part of my job?

21:53 how do you find Open Source projects to contribute to?

24:16 how to build a culture of open source at work?

27:20 what is CodeTriage & how it works?

28:56 writing the book How to Open Source

30:07 tips for getting started with open source

32:23 workarounds vs fixing bugs upstream

34:10 can you get promoted by doing open source work?

37:29 open source work and becoming Principal Engineer

40:26 making mistakes in public

41:57 merging the wrong commit in Ruby on Rails

44:39 what if my Pull Request is rejected?

50:00 how to build a contribution practice

55:14 closing remarks