Community Gardening: Lessons from Open Source Interactions

Open source software means different things to different people. Although collaborating across regional and corporate boundaries can be challenging, developing software in open communities has many benefits. Nothing is truly free, but Apache NiFi is one of numerous software projects with broad community interaction. This presentation offers some insights on open source development from an active contributor and member of the Apache NiFi Project Management Committee.

What are the characteristics of a helpful bug report? What makes a good pull request? How does the product handle security vulnerabilities? Project archives provide a rich source of material to answer these questions. After answering many emails, responding to numerous chats, and reviewing hundreds of pull requests, certain general positive qualities are worth highlighting.

Writing quality code is essential, but thoughtful comments, actionable feedback, and clear public communication are also important elements of successful open source projects. This session offers lessons learned from contributing to open source projects, highlighting ways to engage regardless of technical expertise or engineering background.