Once a Maintainer

Once a Maintainer profiles a different open source software (OSS) maintainer weekly, exploring their backgrounds, how they started in programming, their contributions to OSS, and their views on community engagement, diversity, and the growth of open source culture. It highlights individual journeys and insights into maintaining crucial OSS projects.

Open Source Software Maintenance Programming and Development Journeys Community and Diversity in Tech Open Source Contribution Strategies Educational Backgrounds in Tech Company Support for Open Source Transitioning to Software Development Learning and Sharing in Tech Communities

The hottest Substack posts of Once a Maintainer

And their main takeaways

Once a Maintainer: Ed Waisanen and Nate Papes

5 implied HN points • 19 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Open Source Software Development Collaboration Tools
  1. Gala is an open source education platform that promotes collaborative research and multimedia-rich learning. It started from a project at the University of Michigan focused on creating engaging case studies for environmental topics.
  2. The team is working on making Gala more accessible for anyone to create content, allowing more people to use the platform and develop educational modules.
  3. Future goals for Gala include growing a sustainable community of users and contributors, and increasing collaboration with other open source projects to enhance its capabilities.

Once a Maintainer: André Luis Cardoso Jr.

49 implied HN points • 18 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Open Source Programming Mentoring Community Engagement
  1. Getting into programming can start with just curiosity and having a computer. Self-study can lead you to discover what you really want to do.
  2. Contributing to open source is about giving back to the community and helps you grow as a developer. Even small contributions can make a big difference.
  3. It's important to teach younger developers about understanding the code under the hood, not just using tools. Encouraging contribution can keep projects alive and thriving.

Once a Maintainer: Stephen Ierodiaconou

5 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Community Software Development Ruby
  1. Stephen Ierodiaconou's journey into programming began with an interest in electronics and evolved into software development through hands-on exploration and community involvement.
  2. Open source played a significant role in Stephen's growth as a software developer, providing a platform for learning, contributing, and connecting with like-minded individuals.
  3. Stephen's experience highlights the value of community engagement, continuous learning, and sharing knowledge in open source projects for personal and professional growth.

Once a Maintainer: Robert Mosolgo

5 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Software Development Languages Performance
  1. Robert Mosolgo transitioned from a background in linguistics to becoming a prolific open source maintainer and creator of the graphql-ruby gem.
  2. He got involved in open source by taking over the React-Rails gem, contributing, and eventually becoming the maintainer, showcasing the accessibility and impact of open source contributions.
  3. His journey into writing parsers for the gem led him to explore his linguistics background, bridging the gap between human language and programming language parsing.
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Once a Maintainer: Michael Grosser

5 implied HN points • 20 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Ruby
  1. Michael Grosser started with programming by experimenting and modifying scripts, which led him to become a programmer.
  2. He transitioned from media informatics to software engineering due to a preference for programming over animation.
  3. Open source contributions like single_cov and parallel were born out of frustrations with existing tools and workflows.

Once a Maintainer: David Wobrock

2 HN points • 20 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Software Development Python Community
  1. David Wobrock got into programming due to his parents being involved in meteorology and him tinkering with terminal commands from an early age.
  2. Wobrock's journey into open source started during his studies, with his first major contribution being a Python plugin for Visual Studio.
  3. In the Django community, the maintenance work involves a core team, the Django Software Foundation, technical boards, and security boards, showcasing a structured and collaborative approach.

Once a Maintainer: Benji Nguyen

5 implied HN points • 28 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Software Development Community Engagement
  1. Benji Nguyen started programming after leaving medical school and discovering a passion for it.
  2. Erdtree, a multi-threaded filesystem tool in Rust, was born out of boredom and the desire to create a modern alternative to an old program.
  3. Getting more people into open source involves educating them on engagement etiquette and encouraging empathy for fellow programmers.

Once a Maintainer: Matt Wynne

1 HN point • 15 May 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Diversity Programming AI Ethics Community Building
  1. Diversity in open source is important and efforts should be made to create a welcoming community for everyone.
  2. Getting more people into open source requires making it equitable so that everyone can participate, and fostering a culture of learning and sharing.
  3. Contributing to open source should be a positive and welcoming experience, and individuals and companies should invest resources into supporting open source initiatives.

Once a Maintainer: Santiago Pastorino

0 implied HN points • 26 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Programming Open Source Software Development Computer Science Web Development
  1. Santiago got into programming through formal study in computer science and started his career as a consultant in Java. He eventually founded his own agency to explore new ways of working, which led him to contribute to open source.
  2. He transitioned to Rust programming after finding web development unsustainable due to changing technologies. He appreciates Rust's focus on safety and performance, aiming for a stable programming environment.
  3. The Rust compiler team operates on a bottoms-up approach, allowing contributors to lead based on their interests. Currently, Santiago is focused on improving async programming capabilities and user-friendly reference counting in Rust.

Once a Maintainer: Will McGugan

0 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Community Python Libraries
  1. Will McGugan started programming with a ZX Spectrum in the 80s and later worked on games.
  2. He learned graphics programming from books and built his skills without a strong local community for support.
  3. Creating the popular rich library led to the development of the Textualize application platform for building terminal and web apps.

Joakim Antman

0 implied HN points • 06 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Cryptocurrency Web Development Community
  1. Joakim Antman maintains jwt, a Ruby implementation of the JSON Web Token standard.
  2. Contributing to open source can be intimidating but rewarding with supportive feedback.
  3. Getting more people into open source involves being nice, giving time for contributions, and encouraging a culture of giving back in companies.

Once a Maintainer: Marit van Dijk

0 implied HN points • 01 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Diversity Software Testing Community
  1. Marit van Dijk studied a mix of social science and computer science, ultimately finding a passion for coding and open source projects.
  2. Getting into open source like the Cucumber project brought Marit great learning opportunities and a supportive community.
  3. Marit emphasizes the importance of diversity in open source, welcoming people from different backgrounds and languages to contribute and collaborate.

Once a Maintainer: Josh Branham

0 implied HN points • 09 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming Contributions
  1. Josh Branham transitioned from desktop support and systems engineering to software development by following his curiosity in automation and building tools.
  2. Getting into open source projects can be intimidating due to the asynchronous nature, contribution steps, and potential challenges in collaborating with maintainers.
  3. Being incentivized and supported by companies to contribute to open source projects can encourage mentorship and help junior engineers get involved in community-driven initiatives.

Once a Maintainer: Alex Rudall

0 implied HN points • 21 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Programming AI Ruby Community
  1. Alex Rudall got into programming by playing video games and building computers before pursuing a career in AI.
  2. He created the ruby-openai gem to access the OpenAI API in Ruby, finding a gap in the availability of a Ruby library.
  3. Alex emphasizes the importance of open source contributions, maintaining test-driven development, and fostering a friendly community in tech.

Once a Maintainer: Marco Roth

0 implied HN points • 23 May 23
🕹 Technology Programming Open Source Ruby JavaScript
  1. Marco Roth got into programming by building a class website with JavaScript and HTML in high school.
  2. He contributed to the Stimulus project after finding it a better approach than using jQuery in a Rails application.
  3. Encouraging more people to contribute to open source by understanding projects they use and companies supporting open source contributions.