503 days working full-time on FOSS: lessons learned
summary
503 days full-time on Textual yields concrete rules not platitudes: getting hired came from ~400 blog posts and persistent online interaction; bugs need issue templates and MREs that ask for terminal name/version; external PRs get quick replies, draft PRs and self-reviews, and salvaged commits with co-author attribution; accept code-review feedback, make honest mistakes but don’t repeat them, and prioritize users when designing APIs. Key operational advice: create a contributing guide, be so kind it's annoying, run the tests.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (17)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:56My personal experience
- 2:01The plan for today
- 2:55How to get a tech job
- 4:42How to be lucky
- 5:34Managing your ego
- 7:26Being ready to ask questions
- 9:21Embracing criticism
- 11:42Everyone makes mistakes
- 13:33Biggest curse of FOSS
- 14:30Create a contributing guide
- 15:08Issue templates
- 17:40Clear instructions
- 18:11Be kind
- 20:09Reply quickly
- 22:55Handle external pull requests
- 27:34Lessons learned
related talks
46m503 days working full time on FOSS: lessons learned
10mMy Year In Open Source : 10 Lessons in 10 Minutes
30mFrom no OSS experience to the core team in 15 minutes a day
01h 10mCareers with Free/Libre and Open Source Software
26mFrom 9-to-5 to Pull Requests: Sustainable Open Source Contribution
49mOpen Source At Work - How Contribute On The Clock
01h 01mLessons from a lifetime of doing, teaching, managing, and leading technical development
58mBackwards Compatible- Lessons from a Quarter Century in Software