Episode 210: Dr. Bryan Behrenshausen on GitLab

Guest Dr. Bryan G. Behrenshausen Panelist Leslie Hawthorn | Abby
Cabunoc Mayes Show Notes In this episode, hosts Leslie Hawthorn
from Red Hat and Abby Cabunoc Mayes from GitHub, welcome Dr. Bryan
G. Behrenshausen, a Senior Open Source Program Manager at GitLab.
This episode delves deep into the world of open source, discussing
its importance, challenges, and how companies like GitLab and
GitHub are navigating and supporting the open source community.
Bryan showcases GitLab’s initiatives to support open source
communities, touching on programs like the GitLab for Open Source,
and the exclusive GitLab Open Source Partners program. Throughout
the conversation topics like guidelines for diving into open source
projects, the intrinsic link between open source and business
strategy, and the role of effective social interaction in the open
source realm are explored. The significance of maintaining
transparent documentation, policies, and processes in an open
source environment is also emphasized. Press download now to hear
more! [00:01:29] Bryan tells us about his role at GitLab, where he
operates at the interface between GitLab, the company, and the
broader GitLab community, focusing on open source contributions.
[00:03:23] Leslie inquires about specific support mechanisms GitLab
offers to open source maintainers and Bryan mentions two
significant programs at GitLab: The GitLab for Open Source program
and The GitLab Open Source Partners program. He lists some major
projects associated with the GitLab Open Source Partners program
like Debian, Arch, Fedora, etc. [00:08:45] Bryan emphasizes the
importance of sustainability and how being a part of a community
can provide support, best practices, and even commiseration.
[00:10:01] Abby points out the challenges of community interaction
on platforms like GitHub and asks Bryan about the impact of his
efforts on community building at GitLab. Bryan acknowledges the
challenges and notes that while they’re seeing progress in
community building, it’s an ongoing effort. [00:11:38] We hear how
Bryan is handling open source projects that just need a private
repository for security releases. [00:12:38] Leslie mentions the
significance of sharing policies and processes publicly,
particularly in Europe, given the legislative environment. Bryan
explains how GitLab implements a management model called “team ops”
for best practices in an all-remote environment. [00:13:33] Leslie
stresses the importance of documentation, and Bryan shares that
GitLab is active on Discord, and he tells the story of how the
community started the server and later handed it to GitLab.
[00:15:33] Abby praises both GitLab and Red Hat for running open
source projects and documentation. Bryan highlights the challenges
and decisions behind using Discord. [00:16:50] Bryan provides
context for the open leadership assessment and talks about how open
source principles impact organizational culture and design, he
mentions he’ll be speaking with Heidi Hess von Ludewig about one of
his favorite projects at All Things Open-2023, and we hear about
the “open source way,” which is another project he worked on.
[00:20:58] Leslie raises the topic of interplay between work in
communities and the responsibilities to employers, and Bryan
explores the complexities of working in open source, the
challenges, and frictions when balancing between community
engagement and organizational objectives. [00:24:26] Abby asks if
GitLab is offering guidelines for diving into open source projects.
Bryan responds that GitLab’s handbook provides some basic guides
but lacks a full-fledged open source programs office. [00:25:42]
Leslie discusses a trend in technology industry where companies
scale back on their open source program office staff, especially
during rough economic times, and Bryan talks about the intertwined
nature of open source and business strategy in certain
organizations, and how the open source strategy is essential from
top to bottom. [00:28:27] Leslie suggests that achieving business
outcomes can be smoother with the right tools, including the skills
for effective social interactions in the open source realm. Quotes
[00:03:45] “We owe it to the open source ecosystem of which we are
a part to make sure that ecosystem is healthy and vibrant and has
what it needs.” [00:19:45] “I just think that open source
communities are really fascinating Petri dishes of
self-organization and self-governance.” [00:24:02] “Participation
in open source projects is all but unavoidable today as an
organization.” Spotlight [00:29:32] Bryan’s spotlight is his
favorite open source project, WordGrinder. [00:31:02] Abby’s
spotlight is Random Name Picker for Lucky Draw. [00:31:44] Leslie’s
spotlight is reading a chapter on ‘Communication Channels’ from the
guidebook, The Turing Way. Links SustainOSS
(https://sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Twitter
(https://twitter.com/SustainOSS?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)
SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/)
podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS
Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) Open
Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute)
(https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Twitter
(https://twitter.com/richlitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)
Leslie Hawthorn Twitter (https://twitter.com/lhawthorn?lang=en)
Abby Cabunoc Mayes Twitter (https://twitter.com/abbycabs?lang=en)
Dr. Bryan Behrenshausen Website (https://semioticrobotic.net/) The
Open Organization (https://theopenorganization.org/) GitLab
(https://about.gitlab.com/) GitLab for Open Source
(https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/open-source/join/) GitLab Open
Source Partners
(https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/open-source/partners/) All
Things Open (ATO) 2023 (https://2023.allthingsopen.org/)
WordGrinder (http://cowlark.com/wordgrinder/index.html) Random Name
Picker for Lucky Draw
(https://github.com/icelam/random-name-picker) The Turing
Way-Communication Channels
(https://the-turing-way.netlify.app/communication/os-comms/os-comms-channels)
Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/)
Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound
(https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr
Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest:
Dr. Bryan Behrenshausen.