Krista Burdine

A tone of kindness

krista — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 22:37:29 +0000

No matter what government does or does not do, people need to remember the power is in their hands to make their small part of the world better. Set a tone of kindness.

~Danielle Colby

The last few weeks have been busy and inspiring amid a set of high-energy tech events, yet muted by an undercurrent of disbelief that my fellow citizens chose a charlatan and a bully to represent us on the world stage—over a competent, confident, former prosecutor preaching unity and being “better than this.” I have tried not to dwell on it, but in quiet moments my mind wanders to thoughts of states with more LGBTQ+ acceptance, or Caribbean nations less populated with hives of angry bees.

It is easy to frame this moment as one in which those who value human rights and decency lack power. To accept as inevitable that disaster rides toward our democracy on a pale horse. But the truth is, I do not cede the power of my well-being to anyone on this earth. Rather, I choose to look around me, and see where I might still do good. There’s the local food pantry where my daughter and I volunteer the first weekend of the month. There’s my adult son’s friend who has chosen us as her family for Thanksgiving for five years now. And there’s my personal circle of influence on the internet.

If I become quiet on one social platform or another, know that I am making a choice in a space that wants to obscure unity and reason. Why cast pearls before swine? I choose to practice a tone of kindness in my small corner of the world that I can help make better.

11 Key Roles Found in Healthy Open Source Communities

krista — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 04:46:22 +0000

Critical Success Factors of an Open Source Community

Whenever I speak about creating inclusive open source community, people approach me afterward asking specifically what they can do to help their community grow. I usually focus on the most practical thing, which is to start with a community health assessment to create some baseline metrics. This allows for growth measurements over time.

But perhaps the true first place to start is to stop and consider what any open source community requires in order to be successful. Today I’m going to look at necessary roles common to a thriving organization, regardless whether it is an open source community, or whether the roles are volunteer or paid full-time. Sometimes multiple people work on the same role; sometimes one person oversees multiple roles. The critical outcome is that at least one person has their eyes on any given role in the organization, and that person knows who they are and what needs to be done.

The critical outcome is that at least one person has their eyes on any given role in the organization, and that person knows who they are and what needs to be done.

In an open source technical community, there are at least 11 roles that contribute to its health, longevity, and forward momentum. Each role focuses on different aspects of the project, ranging from technical contributions to community engagement and project governance. Here’s an overview of the key roles, described in terms of what they do and why it is important.

1. Core Maintainers / Lead Developers

Responsibilities:

Make sure the product is correct, complete, and following the desired trajectory.

Review code;
Merge pull requests;
Fix critical issues;
Report bugs upstream;
Maintain the codebase;
Set code standards;
Document technical decisions;
Manage cadence and procedure of the release cycle.

Importance:

Effective guidance and technical leadership of core maintainers and lead developers keep the project’s mission clear, and ensures the quality of contributions to the codebase.

2. Contributors (engaged community members)

Responsibilities:

Perform the daily work of the project.

Submit patches, report and fix bugs, contribute to forums, add new features, add to and improve documentation, add to and help design user interface (code contributions).
Improve website, create marketing material, design logos for various communication campaigns (non-code contributions).

Importance:

The broader this group is, the better the community will thrive. Diversity of perspectives and skill sets helps the project stay healthy with fresh ideas, robust problem-solving, and forward momentum.

3. Community Managers

Responsibilities:

Bridge the space between core maintainers and contributors, by fostering relationships among the various roles in the community.

Address conflicts and mediate between different points of view to keep the community aligned and healthy.
Architect public information for easy discovery;
Moderate discussions;
Organize events;
Welcome new contributors;
Ensure that the community remains a welcoming and inclusive space.

Importance:

Good managers generate social connectivity within the project. When people are engaged, they contribute more and stick around longer, which helps prevent burnout among the core members.

4. Governance / Steering Committee (Project Board)

Responsibilities:

Provide strategic direction and governance for the project.

Define the project’s primary roadmap (charter);
Make key decisions about licensing;
Manage project funds if applicable.
Monitor adherence to project bylaws;
Oversee governance decisions, such as electing core maintainers or adjusting contributor guidelines.

Importance:

Effective governance reassures project contributors of the project’s viability through fairness and transparency in its decision-making. This provides stability and a sense of purpose for everyone in the community from key members to casual contributors.

5. Documentarians (Technical Writers)

Responsibilities:

With good documentation, a disorganized product can still develop a userbase. Without it, even an amazing product can fail. Software documentation is dynamic, requiring ongoing attention based on updates and changes in the codebase. Documentarians create and maintain the project’s documentation, such as the following:

Download and Installation instructions;
User guides;
API documentation
Tutorials;
Developer onboarding materials.

Importance:

Good documentation constantly strives to lower barriers to entry for users and new contributors, including through obsessing about accessibility and advocating for resources for contributors. It also improves the usability and long-term sustainability of the project.

6. Release Engineers

Responsibilities:

Coordinate packaging and releasing new versions of the software. Communicate with core maintainers to integrate new features, establish a cadence, and meet timelines.

Ensure that all critical bugs are addressed before a release;
Manage versioning;
Document release notes.

Importance:

A competent release engineering team builds community trust and project momentum by managing releases well, and keeping the software stable and up to date.

7. Testers / Quality Assurance (QA)

Responsibilities:

Ensure that new features and bug fixes work as intended, and that the software maintains high performance and stability on all supported architectures.

Develop and run tests;
Document/Provide feedback to developers;
Contribute automated testing infrastructure, if applicable.

Importance:

Excellent software demands robust testing. Sometimes one of the most active teams in a project, QA plays a pivotal role in catching, addressing, and documenting issues before they reach users, ensuring stability and community trust in the project.

8. Mentors / Onboarding Guides

Responsibilities:

Haven’t you historically performed better in a new position when you had a mentor? If you’ve never had one, perhaps you will agree it could have smoothed your path. In an open source project, mentors have a special ability to fill multiple roles.

Guide new contributors through their early contributions;
Explain the project’s processes and coding standards;
Provide support and feedback, helping new members become productive contributors.
Monitor the forums, answering common questions and pointing people to existing helpful threads.
Provide broader career and technical advice within the community, fostering a culture of learning.

Importance:

Mentors are critical to develop new contributors into long-term project members. When every project newcomer has a specific person to ask questions of, that lowers barriers to entry and creates an inclusive space where people feel valued and empowered to contribute.

9. Outreach / Marketing (Public Relations)

Responsibilities:

Promote the project to a broader audience, and increase visibility and adoption of the project. Communicate project updates and successes. Foster excitement and engagement inside the community, and grow positive vibes about the project with the general public.

Social media (SMM);
Blogs (tech writing, journalism);
Conferences and Tech events (event planning);
Partnerships (advertising).

Importance:

A well-perceived project attracts more users and contributors, helping to grow the community and increase its impact and longevity. Marketing and outreach also help a project stand out among its open source peers.

10. Sponsors / Partners

Sponsoring an open source project is a statement of support for open source values: Collaboration. Transparency & Open Exchange of Information. Rapid Prototyping. Inclusive Meritocracy. Community-Oriented Development.

Responsibilities:

This essential role within an open source community is often sourced from outside the community. Yet it is important in its own irreplaceable way. Project sponsors and partners provide financial and in-kind backing to support the development of the project.

Event funding;
Donated infrastructure;
Server hosting;
Development tools;
Architectures for testing;
Legal services;
Compensation for key contributors.

Importance:

Sometimes open source projects develop a product or service branch that creates financial viability for the community side. But more often, they require donated resources to thrive. Sponsoring an open source project is a statement of support for open source values: Collaboration. Transparency & Open Exchange of Information. Rapid Prototyping. Inclusive Meritocracy. Community-Oriented Development.

A third funding option is for open source projects is develop a grant strategy. This involves contracting with a professional grant-writer to get to know your organization and suggest a course for growing your project’s resources. Later you can extend the contract to have them implement the strategy. If you’d like to learn more about finding potential grants, message me hello@kristaburdine.com and let’s set up time to talk. This is a service I provide, and I currently have space for one new client.

11. Advocates (Evangelists)

Responsibilities:

Advocates promote the project in external spaces, serving as enthusiastic ambassadors who help people see the value and desirability of the project.

Conferences;
Meetups;
Online socials;
Community moderation;
Collect user feedback;
Connect the project with sponsors

Importance:

Without advocates, even the most awesome project can struggle with image and adoption. Advocates grow a project’s user base and keep it relevant in the tech landscape.

Conclusion:

All these roles contribute to the health and sustainability of an open source project. By nurturing technical excellence and the social fabric, a community can create an environment where people feel motivated to contribute, share knowledge, and push the project forward. An open source project thrives when technical oversight, community support, and forward vision are all functional and balanced.

On diversity of thought

krista — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 04:09:32 +0000

We need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges.”

– Sir Timothy Berners-Lee

In the history of humankind, three revolutions have marked human development more than any other. The Agricultural Revolution saw people figure out farming, the mass production of food. The Industrial Revolution saw people figure out machines, the mass production of goods. And the Information Revolution—I will never get over the fact that I got to live during one of humanity’s major revolutions—has seen people figure out connectivity, the mass production of communication, of knowledge.

Sometimes I wonder how much Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, thinks about the extent to which he helped turn the page on that third revolution of human achievement. What I do suspect is that he has always had some idea of why it is so important for people to be connected and to share knowledge.

He once said, “We need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges.”

These words comprise a simple statement, one that feels truer with every passing year. The challenges we face today, from climate change to digital privacy, are too complex for any one person—or even one field—to solve. We need people with different perspectives, experiences, and expertise to collaborate for humanity as we know it to continue.

It’s no coincidence that the Internet, his invention, became the greatest platform in history for connecting diverse ideas. The World Wide Web has given billions of people the chance to share their voices, and when those voices come together, they have the power to drive innovation. Diversity of thought fuels progress in ways we don’t always expect. When you bring together people from different backgrounds, you unlock new ways of thinking, new approaches to problems.

Of course, we’ve also seen the Web behave as the dark side of Berners-Lee’s original vision. The Internet’s Wild West Era is drawing to a close, as it becomes more controlled by a few corporate entities. The breadth of available information out there starts to drown out actual knowledge as we don’t always know what information to trust. It’s a sobering reminder that “diversity of thought” can’t just be a buzzword—it has to be actively nurtured. As a species, humankind needs to work together to keep the Internet open, inclusive, and a space where diverse voices can still thrive.

The Information Revolution is ongoing, and like those that came before, it’s messy. The bright spot we can hold onto is that progress happens when people from all walks of life are invited to participate in the conversation. As we face the challenges of tomorrow, we need that diversity of thought more than ever.

Building Bridges in Open Source

krista — Wed, 17 May 2023 19:43:00 +0000

Lightning Talk

Creating accessibility & inclusion in open source software community

Hello. I am the community manager for the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation. Our flagship project is Rocky Linux, an open-source enterprise-class Linux operating system.

My primary role is to drive engagement and grow the Rocky Linux user community. But how engaging can an operating system software be?

To accomplish this, I’ve chosen to build bridges by focusing on our language of accessibility and inclusion across all forms of content related to the project.

For accessibility, I mean at least two things.

Free. The software is free, the license to use it how you want is free, and so is the community.
Physical access encoded. Our content should be able to be accessed by those with visual and other impairments. This is a work in progress.

And for inclusion, I mean at least two things.

New-user friendly. Anyone, even without an understanding of Linux, should be able to understand our language and get themselves through the onboarding process.
Many-demographic friendly. Open source is for everyone. I want our language and engagement choices to reflect a genuine interest in and welcoming space for everyone.

I believe growing accessibility and inclusion happens two ways. First by taking this conversation into new communities. Women Who Code. Black in Tech. Write the Docs. And secondly by encoding it into our written content.

Documentation is a huge piece of that content. Our writing day project, that some of you participated in on Sunday, was part of a current initiative to review the entire current documentation tree for grammatical accuracy, as well as gendered, racial, and other outdated language. We appreciate the contributions and momentum that is already happening there.

Other forms of content being created across the project include our social media presence, as well as announcements, press releases, and long-form content.

My goal is to keep these two principles of accessibility and inclusion at the front of my mind when curating all of this content across the project.

I would love to hear your suggestions for more specific ways to be a bridge builder, and incorporate accessibility and inclusion in documentation and other outward-facing content.

Thank you.

Find me on Linked In

krista — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 06:02:00 +0000

Inclusive Tech Advocate | Community Builder | International Speaker | Kindness Matters

Founder, Baby Steps Tech: From Tech Curious to Tech Confident

Risoto with sea food and butter sauce

krista — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 16:02:06 +0000

In varius varius justo, eget ultrices mauris rhoncus non. Morbi tristique, mauris eu imperdiet bibendum, velit diam iaculis velit, in ornare massa enim at lorem. Etiam risus diam, porttitor vitae ultrices quis, dapibus id dolor. Morbi venenatis lacinia rhoncus.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean non enim ut enim fringilla adipiscing id in lorem. Quisque aliquet neque vitae lectus tempus consectetur. Aliquam erat volutpat. Nunc eu nibh nulla, id cursus arcu. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Nam at velit nisl. Aenean vitae est nisl. Cras molestie molestie nisl vel imperdiet. Donec vel mi sem.

Nulla sed mi leo, sit amet molestie nulla. Phasellus lobortis blandit ipsum, at adipiscing eros porta quis. Phasellus in nisi ipsum, quis dapibus magna. Phasellus odio dolor, pretium sit amet aliquam a, gravida eget dui. Pellentesque eu ipsum et quam faucibus scelerisque vitae ut ligula. Ut luctus fermentum commodo. Mauris eget justo turpis, eget fringilla mi. Duis lobortis cursus mi vel tristique. Maecenas eu lorem hendrerit neque dapibus cursus id sit amet nisi. Proin rhoncus semper sem nec aliquet.

Nulla facilisi. Vestibulum pretium, dui eu aliquam faucibus, est dui hendrerit nulla, mattis semper turpis mauris eget tellus. Nulla accumsan rutrum nibh, sed eleifend felis blandit.

Integer vel libero arcu, egestas tempor ipsum. Vestibulum id dolor aliquet dolor fringilla ornare. Nunc non massa erat. Vivamus odio sem, rhoncus vel bibendum vitae, euismod a urna. Aliquam erat volutpat. Aenean non lorem arcu. Phasellus in neque nulla, sed sodales ipsum. Morbi a massa sed sapien vulputate lacinia. Vivamus et urna vitae felis malesuada aliquet sit amet et metus.

Consectetur adipiscing elit vtae elit libero
Nullam id dolor id eget lacinia odio posuere erat a ante
Integer posuere erat dapibus posuere velit

Burger menu with fries and sauce

krista — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 15:45:36 +0000

Nulla facilisi. Vestibulum pretium, dui eu aliquam faucibus, est dui hendrerit nulla, mattis semper turpis mauris eget tellus. Nulla accumsan rutrum nibh, sed eleifend felis blandit.

Consectetur adipiscing elit vtae elit libero
Nullam id dolor id eget lacinia odio posuere erat a ante
Integer posuere erat dapibus posuere velit