Preface

Open source has become not only the most dominant software development methodology but also a preeminent strategy for rapid innovation, decentralized collaboration, ecosystem building, and career growth. You can’t go anywhere these days without interacting with open source. Open source is in your mobile phone, car, and refrigerator; it enables the distribution and production of your favorite show or movie, keeps planes in the air, and helps impoverished sectors of society leap forward to being a part of the digital world. It’s even responsible for helping write this book (thank you, Neovim and Pandoc!).

With the vast amount of open source out there comes immense variety. While one big part of that variety is the technology stack being used, another just as important part is how open source projects operate. There has been a cornucopia of intellectual property (IP) strategies, hosting and governance models, community structures, commercial engagement, and growth trajectories. While the technology stack of an open source project tends to be more of a science, the operational end is more of an art. No two projects are alike; what works for one project may not work for another.

This is precisely what this book is focused on; the art of how open source projects work. Chapters 1 and 2 will give you the base knowledge of an open source project, why you would participate in or create an open source project, and the characteristics of a good open source project. From there, you will dive into multiple aspects of an open source project; think of Chapters 3 through 14 as a cookbook. One big difference from what you might expect from a cookbook is that there is not a clear answer on “the right way” for any of the topics covered; you will learn from the examples of many projects that have been successful (along with ones that haven’t been as successful). These examples will hopefully resonate with the focuses your open source project might have and give you more of a framework for working through a focus. After all, open source is an art and not a science.