Episode 137: A How-to Guide for Contributing to Open Source as an Employee, for Corporations

Panelists Richard Littauer | Deb Nicholson | Alyssa Wright | Josep
Prat | Duane O’Brien Show Notes Hello and welcome to Sustain! The
podcast where we talk about sustaining open source for the long
haul. We have an exciting episode today because just like long haul
truckers, open source maintainers are the people who are keeping
the world alive with open source. What we’re excited about is a
talk that we gave at OSPOCon in Austin. The talk was called, Panel
Discussion: A How-to Guide for Contributing to Open Source as an
Employee. This discussion was super important because employees do
put a lot of work into open source code, and we wanted to talk
about how to contribute to open source better. So, along with
Richard, we have four other esteemed colleagues that were a part of
this amazing talk, and we decided to put it on this podcast because
it represents an initiative that is going to try to showcase to
companies how to authentically participate in open source. The
panelists joining us are Deb Nicholson from the Python Software
Foundation, Alyssa Wright from Bloomberg, Josep Prat from Aiven,
and Duane O’Brien from Indeed. Go ahead and download this episode
now to find out more! [00:05:23] Duane starts us off by giving us a
little history lesson on the Principles of Authentic Participation
and how we got to where we are with the work today. [00:09:01] The
panelists will go through and explain what they think it means to
be an authentic participant in open source by going through the
principles in order. Josep explains Principle 1: Starts Early.
[00:10:24] Deb explains _Principle 2: Puts the Community First: the
collective holds the timeline. _ [00:11:10] Alyssa explains
Principle 3: Starts With Listening. [00:12:32] Duane explains
Principle 4: Has Transparent Motivations. [00:13:45] Josep explains
Principle 5: Enforces Respectful Behavior. [00:15:15] Richard
explains Principle 6: Ends Gracefully. [00:16:05] The last one is a
fun one which is _Principle 0: Don’t be a Jerk _;) [00:16:58] Duane
talks about some of the behaviors that were discussed with the
principles so that they make more sense. [00:20:23] The panelists
let us know what we can do to make sure these principles are
something that companies can adopt. [00:25:20] Deb touches on
commitments or cooperation commitments that people have signed up
for and she tells us about the GPL Cooperation Commitment.
[00:31:35] Alyssa tells us about their intent to finalize the
principles by the end of summer and put it out for community review
and feedback, as well as speaking about it as OSPOCon Europe 2022
in September. TODO GUIDE: Employee Open Source Engagement Guide
(https://github.com/orgs/todogroup/projects/3/views/3) Principle 1:
Starts Early Principle 2: Puts the Community First: the collective
holds the timeline Principle 3: Starts With Listening Principle 4:
Has Transparent Motivations Principle 5: Enforces Respectful
Behavior Principle 6: Ends Gracefully Principle 0: Don’t be a Jerk
;) Spotlight [00:33:52] Deb’s spotlight is Duane O’Brien.
[00:34:13] Duane’s spotlights are the book A Prayer for the
Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, and to take thirty minutes to sit
outside and watch people having fun because it will change your
day. [00:35:08] Alyssa’s spotlight is cold showers and AC.
[00:35:36] Josep’s spotlight is to do work with people you never
knew before. [00:36:25] Richard’s spotlight is Capital Grounds, a
café in downtown Montpelier, Vermont, and an amazing Irish barista
that works there. 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) Richard
Littauer Twitter
(https://twitter.com/richlitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)
Deb Nicholson Twitter (https://twitter.com/baconandcoconut?lang=en)
Alyssa Wright Twitter (https://twitter.com/alyssapwright) Josep
Prat Twitter (https://twitter.com/jlprat?lang=en) Duane O’Brien
Twitter (https://twitter.com/duaneobrien?lang=en) TODO Group
Issues-GitHub
(https://github.com/todogroup/todogroup.org/labels/Guide%20Employee%20Open%20Source%20Engagement)
Principles of Authentic Participation
(https://authentic-participation.readthedocs.io/) Justin W. Flory
Twitter (https://twitter.com/jwf_foss) Sustain 2021 Event Report
(https://sustainoss.org/assets/pdf/Sustain-In-2021-Event-Report.pdf)
TODO Guide: Employee Open Source Engagement Guide
(https://github.com/orgs/todogroup/projects/3) Principles of
Authentic Participation-How do the Principles help?
(https://authentic-participation.readthedocs.io/advocate-kit/intention/)
Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct
(https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/1/4/code-of-conduct/)
Join the GPL Cooperation Commitment
(https://gplcc.github.io/gplcc/) [A Prayer for the Crown-Shy: A
Monk and Robot Book by Becky
Chambers](https://www.amazon.com/Prayer-Crown-Shy-Monk-Robot/dp/1250236231/ref=tmmhrdswatch0?encoding=UTF8&qid=1659044078&sr=1-1)
Capital Grounds (https://www.capitolgrounds.com/) 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/)