How to succeed as an opensource developer.

1. 7 Secrets of Successful
OpenSource Developers
By Dimitris Andreadis
Software Engineering Manager
JBoss Application Server
JBoss, by Red Hat

2. How they do it?

3. The Basics

4. OpenSource Developer's Curriculum
 Programming Skills  Communication Skills
 Algorithms  Etiquette
 Programming Languages  Project web site
 Libraries/Frameworks  Mailing lists
 Build tools  Forums
 IDEs  IRC
 Version control  Wikis
 Continuous Testing  Blogs
 Issue/Bug tracking  Podcasts
 Profilers/Debuggers  Marketing

5. OpenSource Developer's Plan
 Find an interesting project*
 Follow closely the project developments
 Become an active/vocal member
 Establish yourself in the community
 Climb up the ladder (User, Contributor, Committer, Lead?)
 Present the Project at conferences
*or start your own

6. Where to start?
http://www.jboss.org/projects

7. The 7 Secrets

8. #1 Passion

9. Passion – you gotta love this stuff
 You are going to spend a lot of time doing it
 Most probably without pay
 You need to take pride and believe in it
 How else will others believe in you?
 Success is anything but guaranteed
 So you may just as well enjoy the journey

10. #2 Focus

11. Focus – on the right things
 To become an expert
 Gurus know few things really well
 Avoid distractions
 To be one step ahead
 What is the next big thing?
 What is the state of the art?
 What are the latest standards?
 Solve real-world problems
 Where is the added value?
 What can be extended?
 What's missing?

12. #3 Persistence

13. Persistence – want to be a Champion?
 There is no silver bullet
 You need to work hard
 In you spare time, too
 But there are only 24h in a day
 Make it part of your work
 Make it part of your studies
 It is a Marathon
 With short Sprints
 No Pain, No Gain

14. #4 Mastery

15. Mastery – develop your skills
 A developer needs 5-8 years of coding experience
 i.e. Senior level and higher
 The 10,000 hour/10 years rule
 Source code is the absolute truth
 Study other people's code
 The best training you can get
may the Source
 Code as much as you can be with you...
 In different languages and environments
 Using a variety of tools and frameworks

16. #5 Motivation

17. Motivation – Just Do It®
 Open Source is a culture of Doers
 Just get it done
 Show me the code
 Open Source is a culture of Freedom
 Need to figure out yourself what needs to be done
 Take the initiative to drive new things

18. #6 Connections

19. Connections – People I know...
 Find mentors/bosses/leaders/teams that inspire you
 Seek to work with the best
 Prepare to feel intimidated
 There will always be a bigger Geek than You!
 Communicate effectively
 English is the Lingua Franca of OpenSource
 Be tolerant to incoming traffic,
conservative with outgoing traffic

20. #7 Luck

21. Luck – when preparation meets opportunity*
 Expect the unexpected
Positive and negative surprises
 But think positive
 No venture, no gain
 Prepare the field
 And good things will happen
 When things don't work out at all
 Move on!
*Seneca

22. Recap

23. Recap – The 7 Secrets
1. Passion
2. Focus
3. Persistence
4. Mastery
5. Motivation
6. Connections
7. Luck

24. The End

25. dimitris@redhat.com dandreadis.blogspot.com