Hoping to do well in OSS

日本語版もあります.

Hoping to do well in… OSS!

There’s no particular reason I’ve picked up the pen today, but since it’s summer vacation, I figured I could take a short break and indulge in writing a bit of a poem.

How I first got Into OSS

When you hear “OSS activity,” what do you imagine?
Honestly, I’m not even sure anymore.

I’d occasionally filed small issues against large OSS projects before, but I’d never really had the kind of “I’m going to contribute to OSS!” moment, nor stumbled upon an obvious “contribution opportunity!”

And yet, out of nowhere, I suddenly became the maintainer of a rather large project.
That meant dealing with a large number of issues and PRs, and inevitably, I had to start acting like an “OSS contributor.”

Since then, I’ve grown more comfortable with the idea. Submitting PRs to a few projects, opening issues, and leaving comments here and there.

OSS and Communication

Naturally, OSS is a collaborative effort, and communication is key.

In my past experiences with team development, we always had clearly defined channels for communication and could coordinate closely. We could even hold face-to-face meetings if needed.

OSS development, however, is a different beast. Most communication happens through issues and PRs. And for me, that means using English, which I’m not fully comfortable with. Even a single joke can carry the risk of being misunderstood.

That lingering uncertainty, whether my way of communicating is appropriate, still follows me to this day.

OSS and conventions

Contributing to OSS means adapting to a variety of conventions.

Since I usually wrote one-off code for personal use, I hardly ever used issues, let alone proper PRs.
(Though I do have some team development experience, so I wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.)

When working alone, I’d push directly to main without a second thought.
Even in team development, if you set some loose rules, things generally worked out fine.

But OSS is different. Before contributing, you’re expected to research the project’s policies, conventions, and existing issues, then submit a PR that aligns with them. Passing CI is a given, but so are PR formatting, commit message style, and more. The list of details goes on and on.

As a maintainer, I also needed to make the project welcoming for new contributors. The sustainability of OSS depends on creating an environment where newcomers can easily join in. That meant writing good documentation, preparing a CONTRIBUTING.md, and following OSS customs I wasn’t used to.

I didn’t fully understand all of this at first, but I was fortunate to have guidance from a 15-year-old co-maintainer (so young!) and another co-maintainer who works at AWS. I’m deeply grateful to them.

Still, I learned something important. Many of these “conventions” aren’t obvious at first glance, and there’s surprisingly little information out there about them.

OSS is fun

This may feel like a sudden emotional shift, but OSS work is, at the end of the day, fun.

There’s a unique sense of achievement in collaborating with people who speak different languages, live in different time zones, and yet work together to make something better. Rules exist, but at the core of OSS are mutual respect and a spirit of helping each other. It’s within this culture that we move toward our shared goals.

Sure, problems get reported from time to time, but most contributors are kind and dedicated. Their work, often voluntary, is without a doubt one of the pillars supporting our convenient, modern society.

If you’ve never tried contributing to OSS, it might be worth giving it a shot. As long as you approach your fellow contributors with respect, they’ll likely teach you a great deal in return.

Acknowledgements

This post exists thanks to the kindness of my fellow OSS contributors. My heartfelt thanks go out to all of them.